My RTX4090, which had been gathering dust for half a year, suddenly started generating stable cash flow last month—not through mining, but by generating zero-knowledge proofs for the Boundless network, netting $1427. As a veteran who has deployed DeFi protocols and built mining farms, I can personally attest that this PoVW mechanism is reconstructing the computing economy of blockchain.
1. Technical Dissection: Why zkVM is called 'the energy-saving engine of blockchain'
When traditional blockchains repetitively execute transactions like a 'tape recorder', Boundless transforms my GPU into a 'mathematical notary':
Off-chain computation + on-chain verification
Complex AI reasoning executed off-chain (completed by my GPU)
Only submit 256-byte proofs to the mainnet (saving 99% in gas fees)
Ethereum/Polygon and other 10 chains can be verified synchronously
Verifiable work proof
Provers stake ZKC to participate in computing tasks (I staked 5000 ZKC)
Successfully generate proofs to earn fees + rewards
Cheaters will have their staked funds confiscated (37 occurrences so far)
RISC-V zkVM black technology
Supports traditional programming languages such as Rust/C++
Daily proof processing volume exceeds 920,000
My development team migrated the prediction market contract in 3 days
(Data source: Boundless mainnet dashboard, Dune Analytics on-chain records)
Two, economic model: Gold mining paths for three types of participants
During the 180 days of serving as both a prover and a developer, I figured out the revenue distribution mechanism:
Hardware owner
GPU provers earn an average of $18-45 per day (depending on computing power level)
Professional VPU equipment yields increased by 5-11 times
My hybrid node's monthly earnings reach 3.2 times that of traditional mining
Developer
Pay ZKC for outsourced computing tasks (cost reduced by 67%)
Shared network effects (connected to 89 DApps)
A certain DeFi protocol saved $230,000 by borrowing a validation options model
Token holder
Staking ZKC shares 30% of network revenue
Governance voting determines the direction of technical upgrades
My staking annualized yield remains stable at 19%
Three, risk warning: Three hidden reefs amidst the carnival
Technical barrier: zkVM development requires cryptographic knowledge (the team provides 30 hours of training)
Intense competition: Rivals like StarkNet have a first-mover advantage (Boundless's differentiation is in cross-chain)
Token volatility risk: A circulation of 20% ZKC could trigger severe fluctuations (market makers have injected $40 million in liquidity)
Four, industry disruption: from 'chain piling' to the paradigm revolution of 'proof networks'
When I discovered that a certain hedge fund used Boundless to validate trillion-level derivative models, I suddenly realized:
Upgrade blockchain from 'ledger' to 'verifiable cloud service'
Build the first mathematically-backed computing trust layer (traditional cloud computing cannot achieve this)
Provide key infrastructure for the integration of AI and DeFi (3 AI companies have deployed nodes)
This makes it understandable why Coinbase Ventures has listed it as a key focus in the 'next hundred billion dollar track'.
Five, practical guide
When participating in staking through the Binance WEB3 wallet, enter the code 'ZKC25' to waive the first month service fee. My open-source (prover yield optimizer) can automatically schedule computing tasks; search 'Boundless-Booster' on GitHub to obtain it (already adopted by 126 nodes).
Ultimate challenge
Some say zero-knowledge proofs are a pseudoneed, yet my nodes continue to harvest institutional orders. Are you ready to connect idle computing power to Boundless, or will you continue to wait and see? Share your choice in the comments; high-quality opinions with over 100 likes within 3 days will receive my private version of the (cross-chain proof development manual).
Data source: Boundless Q3 ecological report, Electric Capital developer survey, CoinGecko yield comparison
