When blockchains are still stuck in a 'high concurrency causes lag, cross-chain is insecure' deadlock, Succinct Labs, with the mission of 'proving the software of the world,' has opened a gap using zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology. It did not follow the old path of 'speculative concepts' but instead relied on SP1 zkVM (zero-knowledge virtual machine) to lower the development threshold, using a decentralized prover network to enhance efficiency, effectively transforming ZKP from a 'niche cryptographic technology' into infrastructure that can solve the core pain points of blockchain. Next, we will dissect how it reconstructs the trusted computing landscape of blockchain from five key dimensions: technology, prospects, community, capital, and ecology.
Technical breakthrough: SP1 zkVM makes ZKP development go from 'exclusive to PhDs in cryptography' to 'developers using it effortlessly'
The biggest pain point of ZKP has never been 'is the technology feasible,' but rather 'will developers know how to use it.' Succinct's SP1 zkVM directly turns this pain point into its core advantage:
• Halving the threshold: RISC-V + Rust dual compatibility: Developers no longer need to grapple with complex cryptographic papers; they can write programs in familiar Rust language to generate ZKP. More crucially, it supports RISC-V architecture — meaning that applications already developed based on RISC-V in ecosystems like Ethereum and OP Stack can be directly migrated for 'privacy + efficiency' transformation, shortening the development cycle by over 60%.
• Speed increase: FPGA hardware acceleration crushes CPU: After collaborating with ZAN (AntChain OpenLabs), SP1 uses FPGA chips for proof generation, achieving speeds 20 times faster than traditional CPUs. For example, generating ZKP for 100 transactions used to take 10 minutes; now it can be done in under 1 minute; it also comes with high-frequency precompiled blockchain functions like SHA256 and Keccak256, eliminating the need for additional adaptation code.
• Scenario supplementation: Recursive proof sustains the essential need for Rollups: SP1 supports 'recursive proof' — simply put, it stacks 1,000 small proofs into 1 large proof, and during validation, only this 1 large proof needs to be verified. This is crucial for Layer 2 Rollups: originally, Rollups had to send large amounts of proof data to the Ethereum mainnet; now the size can be compressed by 90%, directly reducing both cost and time.
Prospects depth: not only serving Ethereum, but aiming to build 'full-chain ZKP infrastructure'
Many people regard Succinct as 'Ethereum's ZKP tool,' but its ambitions extend far beyond that — the goal is to become a 'trusted computing connector' usable by all blockchains:
• Ethereum's 'performance engine': Some in the industry call it 'Ethereum's Manhattan Project,' and there's a reason for that. SP1 can provide fault proofs for Ethereum Layer 2 (for example, OP Succinct Lite in collaboration with 0xFacet) and can also use SP1-CC (ZK co-processor) to overcome EVM's functional limitations, allowing DeFi and NFT projects on Ethereum to achieve both high concurrency and privacy.
• Bitcoin's 'cross-chain bridge': The BitVM2 solution in collaboration with Fiamma is a major breakthrough. In the past, interoperability between Bitcoin and smart contract chains (such as Ethereum) relied on centralized exchanges or third-party custodians, which was risky; now, using SP1's ZKP, assets can be proven without exposing Bitcoin chain data, achieving 'minimal trust' BTC cross-chain, something that no one has been able to do before.
• 'Trusted passport' for over 130 chains: Relying on the LayerZero protocol, the $PROVE token can already natively cross chains between Ethereum and BNB Chain, and in the future, it will cover over 130 LayerZero connected chains. This is not merely 'token cross-chain,' but uses ZKP for underlying verification — for example, a smart contract call on Chain A can generate proof through SP1, allowing Chain B to trust the result directly without recalculating.
Community barrier: 217,000 followers do not engage in 'traffic frenzy,' leaving only 'real players'
Many blockchain projects now rely on 'airdropping tokens and recruiting users' to boost user numbers, but Succinct takes the opposite approach — its community logic is 'small but refined,' reserving core resources for those who can truly help the project grow:
• Screening mechanism: 20,000 test slots filter out 'welfare-seekers': As of August 2025, its X account has 217,000 followers with considerable popularity, but the Discord testnet only offered about 20,000 slots. Want to participate? You need to complete code testing, submit bug feedback, or even contribute open-source code — those filtered out are not 'here to collect money,' but 'understand technology and are willing to follow along long-term.'
• Incentive logic: Airdrops do not reward 'passive earners,' but only 'active contributors': The first airdrop accounts for 5% of the total token supply, but is only given to three types of people: users who seriously identify problems in the testnet, open-source developers who submit code for SP1, and deeply cooperative ecosystem partners. No 'forwarding lottery,' no 'registration rewards,' directly tying incentives to 'project contributions.'
• Ecosystem core: KOL + developer dual support: The community includes not only industry influencers like Laura Shin (top crypto reporter) and Fred Ehrsam (Coinbase co-founder), but also a large number of Rust developers maintaining SP1 code on GitHub — KOLs help expand its influence, developers help improve its technology, creating a community barrier that 'no one can easily replicate.'
Capital logic: Behind the $55 million financing is top-tier institutions betting on 'ZKP infrastructure'
Looking at Succinct's financing, it's more important to see 'who the investors are' rather than the amount — the fact that Paradigm led the investment and that the founder of Eigenlayer co-invested essentially shows that the industry recognizes its 'infrastructure value':
• Investors: All are 'technical types,' without 'short-term speculators': The $55 million financing (seed round + Series A) was led by Paradigm (one of the core funds in the Ethereum ecosystem, only investing in projects with long-term technical barriers), with participants including Robot Ventures (which exclusively invests in Web3 infrastructure), ZK Validator (top fund in the ZKP vertical), and founders of Eigenlayer and Polygon — these investors are not here to 'make quick money,' but to bet on 'ZKP becoming the next generation of blockchain infrastructure.'
• Token economy: Avoids 'team cash-outs,' ensuring sufficient funds for the ecosystem: The total supply of $PROVE is 1 billion, and the allocation is very practical: 25% for ecosystem development (to ensure continuous technology iteration), 25% for public incentives (to attract new users without excessive distribution), 29.5% for core contributors (with a lock-up period to ensure no one drops out midway), and 10.5% for investors (reasonable returns without encroaching on the ecosystem) — there are no issues of 'too high a team proportion' or 'short-term unlock and dump' risks.
Ecosystem collaboration: every partnership fills a gap in 'ZKP infrastructure'
Succinct's collaborations are not 'just for numbers,' but are precisely aimed at addressing its shortcomings — performance, scenarios, cross-chain; each partnership is about piecing together 'single-point technologies' into a 'closed-loop ecosystem':
• Performance enhancement: FPGA acceleration makes proof generation 20 times faster: In collaboration with ZAN (AntChain OpenLabs), FPGA hardware acceleration has been introduced to solve the old problem of ZKP 'slow proof generation and high costs' — previously, generating proofs using CPU was too costly for ordinary projects, but now with FPGA, costs have decreased, making ZKP affordable for small and medium developers.
• Enhancing security: Formal verification blocks 'code vulnerabilities': In collaboration with Nethermind (the Ethereum core client developer), formal verification is conducted for SP1 — simply put, it uses mathematical logic to prove that SP1's code has no vulnerabilities, eliminating the risk of 'proof errors leading to asset loss,' which is the most critical security endorsement for ZKP projects.
• Scenario enhancement: From Layer 2 to Bitcoin, not limited to smart contract chains: In collaboration with 0xFacet, it provides ZK fault proofs for Stage 2 Rollups (making Layer 2 safer); in collaboration with Fiamma, it creates a minimal trust bridge for Bitcoin (enabling ZKP to serve non-smart contract chains); in collaboration with LayerZero, it allows $PROVE to cross chains (enabling the ZKP ecosystem to connect with more chains) — Succinct is now no longer a project that 'only serves Ethereum,' but rather a ZKP infrastructure that can cover mainstream blockchains.
Summary: What Succinct aims to do is become the 'trusted computing connector' for blockchain.
The value of Succinct Labs has never been 'just another ZKP project,' but rather transforming ZKP from a 'technical concept' into 'implementable infrastructure' — it uses SP1 zkVM to solve the problem of 'developers not knowing how to use it,' employs a prover network to address 'low efficiency,' and leverages ecosystem collaboration to counter 'limited scenarios.'
Although it still faces competition in the ZKP track (such as Scroll and StarkWare) and needs to solve the technical challenges of multi-chain adaptation, from the four points of 'lowering technical barriers + high-quality community + long-term capital investment + ecosystem to fill the gaps,' it is very likely to become a key player in promoting the large-scale implementation of ZKP technology. In the future, when blockchains are no longer trapped in the contradiction of 'scalability' and 'security,' and cross-chain interoperability no longer relies on third-party trust, there will likely be the shadow of Succinct behind it — after all, what it aims to do is 'prove the software of the world,' not just 'make a ZKP tool.'
