Ethereum Foundation Enhances zkVMs with Significant Investment

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has made a notable financial commitment to the advancement of zero-knowledge Virtual Machines (zkVMs), a technology at the forefront of enhancing both scalability and security within the Ethereum network. This strategic investment, amounting to “tens of millions” of dollars, was announced by Justin Ðrake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, through a post on X.

Ethereum Foundation’s Strategic Funding for zkEVM Innovations

zkEVM Formal Verification Project: A Core Initiative

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At the heart of this substantial financial commitment lies the zkEVM Formal Verification Project, detailed on verified-zkevm.org. This initiative is committed to applying rigorous formal verification methods to zkEVMs, ensuring their robustness and security. The project’s overarching goal is to achieve “bug-free zkEVMs” through a structured approach involving grants and bounties over an 18 to 24-month period, covering multiple developmental phases.

Objectives and Approach

The project seeks to raise awareness about formal verification techniques specific to zkEVMs, document their applications, and foster their widespread adoption. Additionally, it aims to enhance collaboration among various teams within the Ethereum ecosystem, develop essential tools and standards for maintenance and extensibility, and explore improved integration of formal verification methods into software development and maintenance processes.

Project Tracks and Structure

Focusing on RISC-V zkVMs capable of running an EVM compiled to RISC-V, the initiative is organized into three primary tracks:

• RISC-V zkVM Track: This track emphasizes verifying the accurate implementation of a RISC-V CPU, arithmetization, and circuits. It ensures that circuits are neither under-constrained nor over-constrained, maintaining computational accuracy. Formal verification of precompiles is also a key focus.
• EVM Track: This track aims to validate that an EVM operating on RISC-V complies with the EVM specification. Verification candidates must present efficient and compilable EVM implementations on RISC-V zkVMs, such as revm/Reth.
• Cryptography Track: This track seeks to verify the specifications, security proofs, and implementations of cryptographic primitives and protocols employed by zkVMs, with a focus on FRI and Circle STARKs integrations.

The project emphasizes flexibility in methodologies to leverage community expertise and facilitate the comparison of various approaches. “We will support different approaches where possible to benefit from the varied expertise within the community,” the project outlines, adding that successful methodologies may be prioritized in subsequent stages.

Applications for Stage 1, focusing on establishing maintainable and extensible frameworks, are currently open. Proposals must include comprehensive overviews, technical approaches, project management plans, and team information.

Poseidon Initiative: Enhancing Cryptographic Security

Another pivotal component of the EF’s investment is the Poseidon Initiative, detailed on poseidon-initiative.info. Poseidon and Poseidon2 are hash functions optimized for verifiable computation protocols, specifically crafted to minimize circuit size over prime fields. These functions play a crucial role in various Ethereum applications leveraging zero-knowledge proofs.

The initiative’s objectives revolve around enhancing the security analysis of Poseidon instances to determine their suitability for high-value applications within Ethereum. Phase 1 of the project is set to run until December 2025, with Phase 2 scheduled for mid-2025, concluding in December 2026. The project is managed by the Ethereum Foundation Poseidon Group (EFPG), which includes experts such as George Kadianakis, Dmitry Khovratovich, and Antonio Sanso, and is overseen by an advisory board featuring prominent figures like Eli Ben-Sasson of StarkNet and Daira-Emma Hopwood of ZCash.

Bounty Program and Collaborative Opportunities

A standout feature of the Poseidon Initiative is its comprehensive bounty program, offering a total of $130,000 in rewards for breakthroughs in cryptanalysis. Bounties are available for various security levels across different Poseidon instances, incentivizing researchers to discover vulnerabilities or validate security assumptions. For instance, solving a 32-bit preimage attack on Poseidon-256 could earn a researcher $10,000, while higher security levels offer up to $15,000.

The initiative also supports workshops, retreats, and schools focused on Poseidon cryptanalysis, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing within the cryptographic community. Short-term grants ranging from $20,000 to $40,000 are also available for research addressing critical security questions related to Poseidon variants, Groebner basis attacks, and non-algebraic attack vectors.

Future Prospects: ethproofs.org Development

While ethproofs.org is still under development, it is expected to serve as a platform for L2beat integrations for zkVMs, further enhancing transparency and accountability in zkVM performance and security metrics.

At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) was valued at $3,590.

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