Ethereum layer-2 network ZKsync unveiled 'Airbender Prime', a zero-knowledge prover for Ethereum.

In ZKsync tests, Airbender Prime continuously proved 7,200 Ethereum mainnet blocks using a single Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPU. It took less than 10 seconds to prove 99 percent of the blocks.

Airbender Prime is based on the open standard RISC-V and adopts hash-based STARK proof technology to maintain security in the era of quantum computers. It also provides a separate verifier to enable independent verification.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (비탈릭 부테린) also congratulated the Airbender team's results. He said the race to speed up proofs for the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine, or zkEVM, has effectively reached a conclusion and stressed that security should be the top priority going forward.

Buterin cited three tasks that zkEVMs must solve through formal verification.

He said the core tasks are ensuring the proof system's computation fully matches the Ethereum protocol specifications, strictly setting an upper bound on proof generation costs in line with block gas usage, and verifying the security of the zero-knowledge proof system itself.

With proof performance having risen sharply, the development focus for zkEVMs is expected to shift from speed to security.