Steel 1.0: RISC Zero's ZK prover for offchain EVM execution
Quote475 words
Explains Steel 1.0, a smart contract execution prover that moves Solidity execution offchain via the R0 zkVM, bypassing gas limits and keeping onchain security through ZK proofs. A user processed 400,000 SLOADs in one call.
Key claims
400,000 SLOADs in one call, saving 1.2B gas (about 30 blocks)
Developers write no circuits
🟡 2025 will be the year of Zero Knowledge.
Yet, few understand the true power of ZK.
Highly performant ZK provers are the ultimate solution to the scaling issues of any decentralized app. Regardless of the chain it resides on.
Break block limits with Steel 1.0 by @RiscZero. ↓
Steel 1.0 is a production-ready smart contract execution prover designed to bring boundless runtime to all EVM apps.
That means developers on Ethereum (or any other supported EVM chain) can leverage existing Solidity contracts and move execution offchain to bypass gas restrictions.
Leveraging @RiscZero's general purpose zkVM R0 (more details below), Steel allows developers to execute view calls, read and compute over Ethereum’s state in a scalable, secure, and cost-efficient manner.
It enables EVM apps to run completely offchain, while preserving onchain security guarantees through succinct ZK proofs that are verified to ensure the correctness of the off-chain execution.
For builders this means:
➤ Solidity in the zkVM: Execute smart contracts within the zkVM, enabling much more complex on-chain logic.
➤ Access to historical state: View and compute on Ethereum’s state, both on real-time and historical data.
➤ No block/transaction limits: Bypass gas restrictions to execute compute-intensive applications.
➤ Verifiable off-chain computation: Reduce gas fees by outsourcing heavy computation while maintaining security with on-chain ZK proof verification.
➤ Private computation: Enable privacy for computations over Ethereum’s state.
Builders are already leveraging the power of Steel 1.0, which results in massive efficiency gains and cost savings.
Let's have a look at the example of ██████ (more info soon):
➤ Processed 400,000 SLOADs* in a single contract call
➤ Saved 1.2 billion gas (equivalent to 30 blocks of execution)
➤ All proven with just one execution proof
* ) SLOAD stands for "Storage Load." It refers to the operation that retrieves data from the Ethereum state (specifically, the storage of a smart contract).
The best of it all?
Devs don't have to write a single circuit!
This will enable all sorts of novel use cases, ranging from gaming and on-chain gambling (see @gajesh's recent post on casino rebates) to AI/ML (verifiable inference), and allows existing apps to scale without sacrificing the decentralization inherent to the blockchains they're built on.
Steel will be integrated into @boundlesshq, Risc Zero's verifiable compute layer that unleashes unlimited, ZK-powered execution on any chain.
For more info, follow the 🧵↓
1/ @boundlesshq removes on-chain limits through verifiable compute.
Steel is part of the Boundless stack (a piece of the Boundless pie).
x.com/zerokn0wledge_/status/1835774030416425449
2/ @RiscZero's general purpose zkVM R0 is based on the RISC-V instruction set and can cryptographically prove the execution of arbitrary code, allowing devs to build ZK apps in Rust or C++.
It is also the most performant zkVM in the market.
x.com/zerokn0wledge_/status/1808782962852241439
3/ Stay tuned for a performance analysis based on third-party benchmarks dropping later today.
@RiscZero is the alpha anon.
QUOTING @RiscZero
Introducing Steel 1.0: A production-ready smart contract prover bringing boundless runtime to EVM apps. Steel moves smart contract execution offchain, bypassing gas limits while preserving onchain security. Enhance your existing Solidity contracts ↓
Introducing Steel 1.0: A production-ready smart contract prover bringing boundless runtime to EVM apps. Steel moves smart contract execution offchain, bypassing gas limits while preserving onchain security. Enhance your existing Solidity contracts ↓
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What came next · since 08 Oct 2024
Since then
Zero has written 4 more pieces on RISC Zero since this one.