zkEVMs can validate and execute blockchain operations without needing to expose all the details. It's like saying, "I can prove this transaction or contract is valid and follows the rules, but I won't show you all the inner workings of it." Image source: Chainlink

Challenges of building zkEVMs

While zkEVMs opened promising doors, they realized their potential posed major technical challenges. The EVM was never designed with proof, so several aspects conflict with this new paradigm.

For one, the EVM's stack-based architecture proved difficult to convert to a format compatible with proving. Its special opcodes for error handling also confounded efforts to build verifiable circuits.

Storage was another hurdle, as the EVM's Merkle Patricia tree clashed with proving needs. Replacing the KECCAK256 hashing function helped but risked breaking infrastructure compatibility.

Most significantly, zero-knowledge proofs demand computationally-intensive operations that drive up costs, especially on-chain. Generating and verifying proofs for each smart contract execution transaction consumed prohibitive resources.

Addressing these issues required rethinking core EVM components and sparking innovations in proofs like optimized circuits and hybrid STARK-SNARK schemes. Much progress has been made, though optimizations continue as the field matures. Perfecting zkEVMs necessitated reconciling two dissimilar yet essential technologies.

Types of zkEVMs

While research continues, several zkEVM systems have already launched, each approaching the technical challenges somewhat differently:

• Polygon Hermez: Leverages a combination of SNARKs and STARKs along with an EVM bytecode interpreter on a zkEVM. Powered by the MATIC token.
• zkSync: Their zkEVM relies on custom zk-opcodes and a register-based virtual machine design. There’s no native token yet, although speculation around an upcoming airdrop launch exists.
• AppliedZKP: An implementation focused on developer ergonomics through Solidity integration.
• Matter Labs ZKSync: Matter Labs uses intermediate representations and an optimizing compiler.

Beyond technical distinctions, these zkEVMs also vary in features, user experience optimizations, and partnership ecosystems. All represent significant milestones in proving EVM compatibility while maintaining practical usability and performance.

Popular zkEVM Projects and Focus Areas

Benefits of zkEVMs

By reconciling Ethereum's versatile smart contracts with privacy-preserving scaling, zkEVMs promise a wealth of benefits for both users and developers:

• Faster and Cheaper Transactions: With transactions executed off-chain in batches, zkEVMs can process thousands of transactions per second versus Ethereum's 15 TPS. Gas costs are far lower as well.
• Enhanced Privacy: Users benefit from robust privacy without trusting centralized services, as only cryptographic proofs are revealed on the public blockchain.
• Smart Contract Scaling: dApps gain the ability to scale via layer 2 while retaining core Ethereum benefits like decentralized security.
• Development Continuity: Developers leverage the same Solidity/Vyper languages, tooling, testing frameworks, and vibrant ecosystem of Ethereum.
• Cross-Chain Interoperability: As EVM compatibility improves, bridges may one day allow assets and computations to seamlessly traverse disparate chains.

Widespread adoption of zkEVMs could realize the vision of Ethereum serving as a universal decentralized backplane, with layer 2 networks unleashing its full potential through scalability and privacy. However, challenges remain in proliferating these benefits.

Current status and outlook

While zkEVMs have advanced by leaps and bounds conceptually, major hurdles persist between research and widespread usability at scale. Chief among these are high deployment costs that presently constrain zkEVM usage to niche scenarios and limit overall throughput.

Additionally, integrating complex zkEVM proofs fully into applications introduces UI/UX challenges and risks reducing developer productivity versus more straightforward solutions. However, projects like Manta are working intensively to abstract away this complexity.

Looking ahead, continued optimizations to zkSNARKS/STARKS construction, circuit design, and refining the EVM abstraction layer give hope that costs and usability gaps will steadily recede. Promising developments like zkPorter rollup aggregators may further boost throughputs.

隨著 zkEVM 采用的不斷增長，其他研究途徑（例如減少證明大小、提供高級密碼學云服務以及使用專用硬件）也值得探索。

網絡之間的互操作性也仍處于萌芽階段。

底線

盡管挑戰依然存在，但 zkEVM 的進展揭示了一個未來，即使是大規模的去中心化應用程序也可以通過智能合約保持私密性、低成本和完全信任——這些目標在幾年前似乎是不可想象的。

目前，早期的例子證明了這個概念的有效性。

明天等待著它們廣泛、用戶友好的現實。

如果您想了解有關區塊鏈技術支持的獨特計算用例的更多信息，請查看我們關于去中心化物理基礎設施網絡 (DePIN) 的文章。

熱點：智能合約 斯科特