Statement: This article is not promotional, purely a research on the potential and development expectations of this project.

1️⃣ Project Positioning

The positioning is a zero-knowledge proof protocol, with the core being its verifiable computation capability, meaning that public chain nodes can verify the correctness of computations without re-executing the proofs.

I scanned through their documentation and felt it resembles the underlying chain abstraction somewhat. Everyone can generate and verify ZK Proofs through Boundless without having to build the related infrastructure themselves and can use it across chains.

Relatively speaking, Boundless's technology is quite hardcore, and I won't elaborate further. For those interested, you can check out this tweet from 3y哥.

https://x.com/y_cryptoanalyst/status/1923743973274943720

However, the product mainly addresses the efficiency and security of the ZK Proof process but does not solve the source issue, relying on the security of the blockchain it is on, which theoretically still poses security risks.

It can be simply understood as 'a large shopping mall that is fully equipped for security, but the security switch was not turned on, allowing theft from the source.'

2️⃣ Project Background

Boundless is a sub-protocol under RISC Zero, which is the first completely free and open-source general-purpose ZK computing platform. Established in 2022, it has made many technological innovations in the ZK field and is a project with genuine technical strength.

Boundless itself has no financing; RISC Zero has gone through three rounds of financing (the last round was in mid-2023), with the core investors being the leading Geometry (which has ceased operations), Bain Capital Crypto, and Blockchain Capital.

3️⃣ Team Background

➣ Jeremy Bruestle @BruestleJeremy, co-founder and CEO of RISC Zero. Comes from a technical background and has served as CTO for multiple traditional companies, previously the chief engineer at Intel.

➣ Frank Laub @FrankLaub_R0, co-founder and CTO of RISC Zero. Comes from a technical background and has served as an engineer and consultant for multiple traditional companies. There is a significant overlap in work experience with the CEO, suggesting they collaborated during their work.

➣ Réka Medvecz, head of RISC Zero community and core contributor to Boundless. Originally a veterinarian, later transitioned to entrepreneurship and community building, eventually becoming a co-founder and CMO of Guild and an advisor. Currently, in addition to RSIC, she also works as an advisor at a consulting firm.

➣ Phil Kelly @Phil_Kelly_NYC, VP of RISC Zero ecosystem and core contributor to Boundless. Previously served as Director of Business Development at ConsenSys and BD head at O(1)Labs.

➣ Brett Carter @Xi_195, VP of Product at RISC Zero and core contributor to Boundless. Has years of experience as a product manager, previously worked at O(1)Labs from product manager to board member in 2023.

4️⃣ Financing Background

A total of three rounds of financing, all completed within the previous round cycle.

First round of financing 2 million USD, second round 75 million valuation financing 12 million USD representing 16% equity, third round 300 million valuation financing 40 million USD representing 13.3%. Both Geometry and Bain Capital Crypto invested in two rounds.

This can be said to be the project with the highest financing ratio I have seen so far, with a cumulative financing ratio exceeding 30% (the more you give, the harder it is to control the market). However, the valuation of such projects is generally not an important reference factor, and the overall evaluation will be specified in detail.

5️⃣ Participation Methods

Currently, there is only one way to operate relevant nodes, and the performance requirements for nodes are quite high, making it difficult for most computers to run.

However, it cooperates with Alibaba Cloud, allowing users to participate in node operation at a lower cost through Alibaba Cloud servers.

6️⃣ Overall Evaluation

The landed value of this project is far greater than its speculative value, and it is a solid ZK infrastructure protocol.

The ZK track is more of a B2B track, with weak perceptions among retail investors. The biggest problem with the ZK track is that it does not generate profits. Although the demand for ZK in this sector is necessary, there are few sources of profit, with most being sustained through B2B collaborations.

From the investment background, most investors are primarily value investors, with a small portion focusing on the ZK field. Therefore, these investors are likely to support infrastructure with the intention of long-term support and do not view the project through the lens of investment return ratios.

Additionally, there are too few ways to participate in such projects, and the combination with tokens is not tight. Therefore, I personally believe the cost-performance ratio of participation is relatively low.