Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology had long been in a 'passive response' state — only developed targeted adaptation solutions after clear industry demands emerged, causing implementation to lag behind trends; small and medium-sized enterprises, due to high technical barriers and large trial and error costs, are often hesitant to try even when there is demand. Succinct Labs, with SP1 zkVM as the core, breaks out of the limitation of 'waiting for demands' by adopting proactive strategies of 'trend prediction, ecosystem bridging, and lowering barriers' to create new scenarios, new users, and new value for ZKP, transforming trusted infrastructure from a 'passive tool' into a 'proactive empowering catalyst'.
I. Actively predicting trends: laying out future implementation scenarios in advance.
The blockchain industry demands rapid iteration; waiting for demands to become clear before development often misses the best window. SP1 zkVM, through 'technical prediction + scenario research', lays out potential fields 1-2 years in advance, allowing ZKP implementation to keep pace with or even lead trends.
To address the trust issues of 'AI + Blockchain', SP1 launched the 'AI Inference Lightweight Proof Module' six months ahead of the industry — considering the complexity of AI large model parameters and inference processes, the module compresses the proof data volume of a hundred billion parameter model by 85% through 'parameter simplification + inference step splitting', reducing the generation time from 2 hours to 3 minutes. An AI quantitative trading platform utilized this module to achieve 'strategy inference trustworthiness on-chain' first, allowing users to verify model logic before investing funds. The platform's user base grew by 70% in three months, becoming a pioneering case in the AI + Web3 sector.
In response to the trend of 'Bitcoin DeFi 2.0', SP1 optimized the BitVM2 cross-chain protocol in advance, adding the 'BTC Small Amount High Frequency Cross-chain Proof' function — addressing the issues of 'high cost of small transactions and slow verification' in Bitcoin DeFi, reducing proof costs from $0.6 to $0.07, and verification time from 10 minutes to 1 minute. A Bitcoin ecosystem DApp launched the 'BTC Micro-Staking' service based on this, allowing users to stake 0.05 BTC to borrow USDT, exceeding 30,000 transactions in the first month, filling the gap in Bitcoin's small amount DeFi.
In response to the upgrade needs of 'Layer 2 Stage 3', SP1 researched the 'Off-chain Proof Preprocessing System' — migrating some verification logic to off-chain nodes, only putting core conclusions on-chain, which reduced Layer 2 verification Gas fees by another 45%, while supporting the generation of 12,000 batch proofs per second. After testing, a leading Layer 2 project plans to use it as the core proof solution for Stage 3, expecting a 2.5-fold increase in TPS after going live, seizing the track for efficient Layer 2 verification.
II. Actively bridging ecosystems: breaking through the trusted gap between 'technology, industry, and finance'.
The implementation of ZKP is challenging, often due to the 'isolation of technology, industry, and finance' — technical parties do not understand industrial data logic, while industrial parties cannot find financial monetization channels. SP1 zkVM actively builds 'cross-domain bridges' to enable trusted data to circulate and realize value across different ecosystems.
In the field of 'Manufacturing + Green Finance', SP1 built a 'Trusted Carbon Footprint Channel' — connecting factory IoT devices to automatically collect operational data (such as energy consumption and production duration), generating 'carbon reduction proof', and cross-linking to the carbon trading platform (Climate Trade) and Ethereum green DeFi platform through LayerZero. A motor manufacturing factory used this channel to generate compliant carbon proof without manual conversion of energy consumption data, selling carbon quotas in the market (annual revenue increase of 2 million yuan) and pledging proofs to obtain green loans (interest rate reduced by 18%), achieving 'one data, double benefits'.
In the field of 'Cross-border Trade + Multi-chain Financing', SP1 developed a 'Trusted Document Circulation Middleware' — enterprises upload PDF bills of lading and invoices, and the middleware automatically extracts core information to generate ZKP, with proofs synchronized to the customs chain (customs clearance), Ethereum (financing), and bank chain (foreign exchange). A cross-border clothing enterprise reduced document verification time from 5 days to 2 hours and no longer needs to repeatedly submit proofs to different platforms, cutting financing approval time from 10 days to 1 day, saving over 1.5 million yuan in cross-border costs annually.
These 'bridges' are not merely simple connections but deeply integrate the logic of each link — for example, carbon proof not only complies with ISO 14064 standards but also includes a bank-recognized 'pledge qualification label', allowing industrial data to connect directly to financial scenarios without secondary processing, thoroughly bridging the gap from 'trusted data → value realization'.
III. Actively lowering barriers: enabling small and medium entities to use ZKP at 'zero cost'.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are a key group for ZKP implementation, but have long been excluded due to 'high technical barriers and large trial and error costs'. SP1 zkVM actively lowers the usage barriers for small and medium-sized entities through 'tool simplification + resource subsidies':
Launched an 'Industry Customized One-click Deployment Package' — for fields such as manufacturing, agriculture, and cross-border trade, packaging the required proof modules, cross-chain interfaces, and computing power configurations, allowing small and medium enterprises to go online with just basic parameters (e.g., equipment model, data frequency) without needing to understand cryptography. A small photovoltaic power station (installed capacity of 5MW) completed the trusted on-chain verification of electricity generation within one day using the 'Green Energy Deployment Package', without the need to form a technical team, and at a cost only 1/10 of traditional solutions.
Opened a 'Free Testing Computing Power Pool' — small and medium-sized enterprises can apply for 1,000 free proof quotas, testing scenarios including equipment verification, data rights confirmation, etc., reducing trial and error costs to zero. A small agricultural machinery manufacturing factory formally connected to SP1 after verifying the feasibility of 'equipment operation proof connecting to insurance' through the testing pool, avoiding blind investment.
Provided 'Technical Accompaniment Services' — forming a professional team of 200 people to offer 24/7 technical support to small and medium enterprises, guiding them from demand sorting to solution implementation. A small cross-border e-commerce company (annual transaction volume of 5 million USD) solved the technical challenge of 'cross-chain verification of logistics documents' within 2 weeks with the help of the accompaniment team, saving 1 month compared to independent exploration.
These proactive measures have increased the proportion of SP1's small and medium-sized enterprise users from 15% in the early stages to 45%. A small manufacturing enterprise leader commented: 'In the past, we thought ZKP was a technology for large enterprises, but now we can use it for just a few thousand yuan, and also leverage proof to obtain low-interest loans.'
Summary
Succinct Labs' core breakthrough lies not in leading technical parameters but in SP1 zkVM's 'proactivity' — actively predicting trends to ensure ZKP does not lag behind industry demands; actively bridging ecosystems to allow trusted data to realize value; actively lowering barriers so more entities can afford to use it. This logic of 'actively creating value' has fundamentally changed the passive situation of ZKP infrastructure, which was 'waiting for demands, users, and scenarios', allowing trusted technology to truly integrate into the capillaries of the real economy. With increased participation from small and medium-sized enterprises and continuous implementation of new scenarios, SP1 is expected to become the 'core engine' for the large-scale application of ZKP, promoting trusted blockchain infrastructure from 'niche exploration' to 'mass popularity'.
