In the past, people thought ZK was impressive but distant, with high barriers and slow implementation. However, after understanding Succinct, one may find that the transformation of ZK could be faster and more thorough than expected.
Succinct is providing a general layer for ZK, just as Ethereum made smart contracts ubiquitous. Its Prover Network connects global GPUs with tokens, allowing any chain or application to utilize secure and efficient ZK computing power—now ZK can be used not only in L2 and privacy protocols but also in any chain, model, or Web2 scenario.
Developers are also welcoming the ZK revolution: previously, working with ZK required understanding circuits and mathematics, which could lead to pitfalls; now, Succinct's SP1 zkVM is like Solidity to EVM, allowing ordinary developers to write logic in mainstream languages like Rust, and generate ZK proofs post-compilation, significantly increasing developer friendliness, which is a prerequisite for the large-scale explosion of ZK applications.
In terms of performance, Succinct's SP1 Hypercube is also impressive. Previously, ZK had a reputation for being secure but slow; now with Hypercube, proof generation efficiency is extremely high, with TPS soaring to over 10,000, and even a Raspberry Pi can verify—ZK no longer sacrifices performance for privacy but can balance security, speed, and decentralization.
Moreover, ZK is no longer far from ordinary people, as Web2 is already using it. For example, Google Wallet's 'age verification' can confirm that you are over 18 without exposing your birthday, with the technology provider being Succinct. ZK is no longer exclusive to the blockchain and is being utilized by Web2 companies.
PROVE is also extraordinary. Rollup rewards are often limited to transaction fees on the main chain, while PROVE is a universal 'proof fuel' across all chains—Ethereum, Solana bridges, Bitcoin cross-chain verification, and even AI model verification, as long as ZK is used, it may rely on it. Verification fees will also be deposited into the staking pool; it is not just a token for a specific L2 but could be the underlying pricing unit for the entire ZK economy.
Now, capital also sees its potential; Paradigm led the seed and Series A rounds, and big names like Polygon co-founders and early investors in Twitter are also supporting it, with total financing exceeding 55 million, clearly regarded as an 'industry infrastructure-level' entity.
Succinct shows us that it is a general-purpose computation verification platform and one of the foundations of the future 'trusted computing' society. It can serve the blockchain and provide capabilities to Web2, AI, cross-chain, security, and other fields.
Ethereum solves 'ledger trust,' while the Succinct version of ZK solves 'computation trust.' It might become the 'Gas' of the next computing internet era, so everyone, pay attention.
