Before joining the zero-knowledge proof industry, I always viewed GPU computing power as a 'tool for work': either for mining or rendering. It wasn't until I encountered the PoVW model that I realized computing power could also serve more meaningful work—generating verifiable proofs for major blockchains while earning returns higher than traditional mining. Over the past month, I have been validating a reality through the entire process from deploying clients, monitoring returns, to strategy compounding: the proof economy is becoming a new type of 'computing power as a service'.


Weekly Observation: Returns Far Exceed Passive Staking

In the first two weeks of the mainnet, I stayed online 24 hours a day, checking the income details at the end of each epoch (approximately 48 hours). My GPU output accounted for about 0.8% of the whole network, and the corresponding PoVW reward was an annualized 6.1%, which is double the static income from simply staking ZKC. More importantly, regarding market fees: when network demand surges and proof orders are 'snatched,' reverse Dutch auctions will quickly raise prices. In the first week after going online, besides the regular distribution of $ZKC , I also received an additional task fee of 0.14 ETH, part of which was used to pay for electricity, and the rest was directly used to buy $ZKC .

Re-staking to form compound interest cycles.


Insights from the dual upper limit mechanism

In the early stages, I made a mistake: blindly adding GPUs, thinking that the higher the computing power, the higher the income. I found that the rewards were 'stuck'—because my staking amount did not keep up. The mechanism of @Boundless is very clever: the reward cap takes the smaller one between 'effective proof share' and 'staking amount ÷ 15'. This means you can't just throw hardware at it, nor can you rely solely on large stakes; you must balance both. Later, I adjusted my strategy, converting half of the market fees into $ZKC for replenishing stakes, and keeping the other half as cash flow, which allowed the income curve to rise smoothly.


Ecosystem demand: From DeFi to cross-chain bridges, the number of orders is increasing.

In the operations backend, I can see the source of each proof request. The most noticeable change over the past few weeks has been the diversification of orders. When we first launched, the main requests were for a few new Rollups testing batch proofs; now, there are validation needs from cross-chain bridges, DeFi aggregators, and even blockchain game projects. #Boundless #Boundless hosted offline meetups, attracting many developers who want to move complex calculations off-chain. It is foreseeable that as more collaborations land during TOKEN2049, the workload for us early provers will continue to increase, and market fees will become more flexible.


The new narrative of 'computing power entrepreneurship'

You can understand Boundless as a 'mining pool' in the ZK era, but I think it resembles a computing power startup platform more. @Boundless encapsulates the complex proof scheduling, task allocation, and economic incentives; all we need to do is stably provide computing power and deliver tasks on time. More crucially, this work is not meaningless hashing, but a genuine public service that enhances the scalability and security of the entire blockchain industry. From this perspective, participating in PoVW can not only yield considerable returns but also contribute to the construction of industry infrastructure.


Based on my experience this past month, I believe if you have idle GPUs and a certain level of operational capability, now is a great time to join the #Boundless proof network. Early participants can not only enjoy high returns but also secure a long-term share in the future ZK computing network. Most importantly, the ceiling of this track is far higher than traditional mining— as more L1 and Rollups outsource verification to general ZK protocols, 'provers' are likely to become the star role in the next generation of Web3 infrastructure.