The first thing I did after flying back from Seoul last week was to reconnect the two graphics cards in the rack and connect them to the #Boundless mainnet test version, running the prover for a whole week. To conclude: it feels more like 'turning ZK into a measurable foundational computing power service', not just a gimmick. The revenue comes from two channels: one is PoVW (Proof of Verifiable Work) settled per epoch, and the other is the reverse Dutch auction fees from the market side. The network is still in its early stages, and the real 'space' available for mining is larger than I expected.
The threshold for deployment and parameter tuning is not high. After launching the client, I first staked a small amount of $ZKC to enable proof permissions, and then queued up the GPU jobs. In the first round, I hit the economic 'hard constraint': the allocation cap of PoVW depends on the smaller value between 'your relative share of the proven epochs' and 'your active stake/15'. To put it bluntly, if your computing power is insufficient, you won't get a share; if your stake is insufficient, you won't reach the cap. So I increased both my stake and computing power, and the curve finally aligned.
The revenue structure shows real and tangible data. Officials disclosed that one week after the network went live, in addition to PoVW, the provers accumulated about 7.2 ETH in fees from the market demand side; and in the first two weeks of the mainnet, the maximum revenue for a single two-day epoch could even reach 6.66% (early typical high returns require upper limits). For my own week, the first half was clearly 'collateral constrained,' and after switching to 'collateral and computing power balancing' in the second half, the proportion of PoVW increased, and auction fees felt more like a bonus. Here's a reminder: the inflation cap in the first year is 7%, which does not mean 'unlimited money printing'; the real variable is still your relative share in the network.#Boundless
The SRE details on the operation side are also written quite 'engineering.' First lock the task for a transaction, then submit proof; if it fails, roll back to avoid the gray area of 'eating orders first and then supplementing proof.' I've tightened the client's retry and backoff a bit, and the GPU utilization remains stable at a high level; during peak periods, reverse Dutch-style price increases will prioritize matching tasks that are 'more willing to pay for low latency.' The feeling of binding these three things together - 'bidding price, computing power, and finality' - is very similar to the balance of 'optimal difficulty/optimal latency' in early mining pools.
On the narrative level, there are three signals this week that are the most 'down-to-earth.' First, the Kaito collaborative event during Seoul has ended, and the team has already moved to Singapore to prepare for Token2049; second, in the latest episode of Edge Podcast, they clarified their product roadmap of 'bringing ZK to every chain': a general protocol, not stack-specific, aiming for internet-level scale; third, that '18-year-old running backup machines in the dormitory, early mainnet laying down over 300,000 $ZKC
The story of 'full staking upon release' has been repeatedly shared in the prover channel - this at least shows that early participants can indeed create positions through 'computing power + collateral + reinvestment'.@Boundless
If you also want to 'mine,' I've experienced these several pieces of advice. First, don't just increase computing power or only increase collateral; the economic limit is the 'short board' of both; second, prioritize using market fees to cover electricity and operation and maintenance costs, and zkc
The epoch rewards compound; third, pay attention to the reward curves and task density of two epochs, better to slightly 'over-allocate computing power' than to passively fail to meet the upper limit; fourth, if an update fails, it's better to roll back than to force a collision, treating 'failure means rollback' as a reputational asset.
The last two sentences about risk. The early days of the network mean high returns, but also that the parameters are still converging; the price volatility of $ZKC and the supply rhythm, along with your local electricity/hardware costs, will affect the real ROI. My basic approach is to treat this as a long-term operation: gradually increase computing power, steadily match collateral, and aim for compound returns, rather than betting on a 'single epoch's critical hit.' If what you want is a 'verifiable, measurable, and reviewable' ZK business, my usage this week makes me more willing to treat it as a long-term allocation, rather than just a short-term experiment.#Boundless
