zkIBC explained: bringing IBC to Ethereum with zkSNARK light clients
Thread670 words
Explains how IBC works and why connecting Ethereum is hard, then how Electron Labs' zkIBC runs a Tendermint light client on Ethereum and verifies zk proofs of ed25519 signatures instead of the signatures themselves.
Key claims
IBC moved almost USD 1bn across Cosmos chains in 30 days
Ethereum TVL was USD 23.4bn at the time
Verifying hundreds of ed25519 signatures on L1 is unfeasibly expensive, so zk proofs are verified instead
0/ IBC has facilitated the transfer of almost $1bn across @cosmos chains like @cosmoshub, @osmosis or @axelarcore in the past 30 days
what if I told you there was a way to bring #IBC to the #Ethereum ecosystem (TVL of $23.4bn) using #zk proofs? 🤯
a 🧵 on #zkIBC (0/17)
1/ Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) is a game-changing protocol designed to enable #interoperability among heterogenous #blockchains
2/ participating chains agree to
✅ Trust that each other’s consensus / security models hold
✅ Follow a common communication standard (IBC)
✅ Assume that messages/light client proofs will eventually be delivered to the other chain by someone (relayers)
3/ IBC is designed and implemented as a core component of the #Cosmos network, where #Tendermint-based chains connect to each other via #IBC channels. Theoretically, any blockchains can connect to & communicate with each other via IBC. However so far it had a strong @cosmos focus
4/ basically, #IBC acts as a bridge, facilitating secure & efficient communication between sovereign blockchains. It allows them to transfer tokens, exchange data & even perform cross-chain smart contract calls, connecting isolated chains into a thriving, interconnected ecosystem
5/ #IBC consists of three main components:
🧩 IBC Protocol: Specifies the rules for communication between blockchains
🧩 IBC Relayer: Responsible for monitoring events on chains, constructing & submitting #IBC packets to the respective chains, and ensuring data delivery
6/
🧩 IBC Light Nodes: Track the consensus state of other blockchains and have the proof spec necessary to verify the proof against the client’s consensus state. They use block headers to confirm the latest consensus state rather than executing and storing the block data & state
7/ #IBC creates channels & connections between two chains, allowing them to communicate securely and establishing a path between two chains. Channels ensure the secure flow of data and tokens across these connections
8/ #IBC relies on each chain's consensus to ensure security & finality of x-chain transaction. The protocol uses light nodes to verify that the data or tokens being transferred are valid & final on the source chain before allowing them to be transferred to the destination chain
9/ by enabling seamless communication & interoperability between Tendermint-based blockchains, #IBC sits at the core of the @cosmos ecosystem
but while theoretically any chain with deterministic finality can connect to IBC, integrating #Ethereum is not easy (for a few reasons)
10/ luckily, #zkIBC by @labs_electron comes to the rescue
11/ what is #zkIBC? 🤔
zkIBC is a trust-minimized, interoperable messaging protocol based on #zkSNARK proof verification of light client state on #Ethereum
12/ why does it matter? 🤔
#IBC interoperability is the holy-grail of inter-Blockchain communication. Using zkSNARKs, #zkIBC will enable IBC on Ethereum in an efficient manner and enable cross-chain interoperability for the by far biggest #DeFi ecosystem out there
13/ ok but how does it work? 🤔
#zkIBC uses #zkSNARKs for light client-based state verification, which makes it extremely fast to prove a batch of transactions on #Ethereum, which enables it to keep up with the block production time of faster #Tendermint chains
14/ ok that might have been a bit too fast. Let's unpack that.
So basically, #zkIBC enables IBC on #Ethereum by running a Tendermint light client on $ETH L1 as a Solidity smart contract
15/ instead of performing all the expensive computation necessary to verify 100s of ed25519 signatures on-chain, which would be unfeasibly expensive on $ETH L1, ...
16/ ... zkIBC simply useS zero knowledge proofs attesting to the validity of the signatures & verifies these proofs on-chain rather than the ed25519 signatures themselves, thereby enabling IBC x-chain transfers and contract calls from & to Ethereum
truly mind-blowing 🤯
17/ if you want to dive deeper into @labs_electron's vision, check out the blog post below in the $ETH research forum 👇
ethresear.ch/t/bringing-ibc-to-ethereum-using-zk-snarks/13634
some cosmos chads that might be interested in this thread 🫶
@Flowslikeosmo
@WinterSoldierxz
@0xSalazar
@rebel_defi
@CosmosHOSS
@TheDeFinvestor
@Cephii1
@RobinWhitney_
@cosmosibc
@Curious__J
@Cryptocito
@speicherx
@JakeHartnell
@dimiandre
@JayJaboneta
@zmanian
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@sunnya97
@CryptoDanvans
@L1am_Crypto
@IBC_GANG
@Thyborg_
@johnniecosmos
@themagnet420
@EncryptionDog
@CryptoLikeMo
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