Matter Labs recently released Airbender, a new state of the art cryptographic prover. Time to test out the newly open-sourced zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM), zkSync devs! In terms of programming frameworks, the ZKsync team says Airbender is the fastest of its kind. This unique framework is built on the open RISC-V architecture. The startup introduced Airbender during the Permissionless conference.
With one single consumer GPU, Airbender produces Ethereum block proofs in 35 seconds. This speed exceeds the benchmarks of its competitors and is a major technological breakthrough in the blockchain industry. Airbender serves as a prover, generating zero-knowledge proofs. These proofs are subsequently published onto the Ethereum main chain blockchain.
Being a core primitive as well for layer-2s such as ZKsync, the use- Airbender only serves to improve efficiency substantially. Its lightning quick speeds make it possible to save millions in transaction fee savings. Airbender powers home-proving, real-time cross-chain UXs, and ZK apps that can validate on-the-fly.
"We started building ZKsync Airbender over a year ago because we saw where Ethereum needed to go, and what ZK apps would eventually demand," - Gluchowski
The zkVM’s RISC-V framework is a direct implementation of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s recent recommendations. He’s promoting a complete change from EVM to RISC-V. If passed, Airbender will go into effect with a protocol upgrade this summer.
"ZKsync Airbender proves Ethereum blocks in 35 seconds using a single GPU. That’s the start of something ground-breaking: home-proving, real-time cross-chain UX, and ZK apps that can verify on the fly. This is the foundation for an Internet of verifiable, interconnected chains," - Gluchowski
Airbender is a crucial milestone on the path to improving the blockchain’s efficiency.
"We’re entering fraction of a cent territory which is critical for key use cases, including micropayments, high-frequency trading, and decentralized social," - Alex Gluchowski
