A month of system-level upgrades, design-level clarity, and a coordinated signal toward the next big release.
ZKM spent June laying technical groundwork across the full stack - proving architecture, VM instruction encoding, developer workflows, and protocol integrations. Beneath each update was a common thread: we’re preparing for a significant upgrade that transitions zkMIPS from a performant zkVM to a truly scalable execution layer for real-world applications.
We didn’t disclose everything. But the direction is clear:
We released a series of technical posts detailing the internal composition of the ZKM prover stack. The system is structured as follows:
Together, these enable modular verification chips that compose efficiently. Proofs are generated using transparent STARKs and then wrapped via recursive SNARKs (Groth16 and Plonky3) for cross-chain compatibility. This hybrid design balances fast proof construction with compact L1 verification.
We also explored offline memory checking, which abstracts memory operations into commitment layers, allowing parallel execution and reducing constraint system size - essential for throughput scaling.
→ STARK-SNARK hybrid
→ Memory + Logic STARKs
→ Offline memory checking
In parallel with the deep technical content, we published two vision-focused pieces:
These pieces reflect ZKM’s stance not only on how zkVMs should be built, but why.
ZKM published a technical comparison campaign explaining why MIPS remains the most efficient general-purpose ISA for zkVM use:
In constraint-based systems, fewer instructions mean fewer gates. MIPS continues to outperform because zk efficiency is about constraint minimization, not instruction simplicity.
ZKM’s collaboration with GOAT Network now extends to BitVM3, introducing a reusable circuit garbling approach. The work reduces proof-of-consistency overhead by compressing adaptor data (from terabytes to megabytes), while minimizing on-chain modular exponentiation.
This makes the fraud proof economically viable and deployable. Our zkVM functions as the proving backend for BitVM2 and BitVM3, enabling developers to write Rust or C, compile to MIPS32r2, and generate validity proofs with zero-knowledge guarantees.
Key architectural traits:
→ BitVM2 Thread
→ BitVM3 Garbled Circuit Post
At House of ZK’s hugely popular EthProofs Summit, ZKM participated across three sessions, covering proving architecture, virtual machine design, and long-term zkVM coordination.
Stephen offered a deep-dive keynote into zkMIPS, focusing on:
Participants included researchers and engineers from Ethereum Foundation, Linea, StarkWare, and zkSync, discussing topics like:
Ming joined panelists from zkCloud, Lita, and Miden to discuss the role of zkVMs in cross-chain infrastructure, focusing on:
These sessions collectively illustrated ZKM’s approach: not just building a zkVM, but engineering a vertically integrated, architecture-stable execution environment designed to support recursive proofs, runtime portability, and long-term interoperability across chains.
While others optimize around specific ecosystems or languages, ZKM is targeting the coordination layer itself - where proof formats, verifier constraints, and execution models need to align across fragmented systems. The goal is not just compatibility, but standardization through performance.
June was not about announcements - it was about alignment. Every update, from BitVM3 developments to proof system architecture, pointed toward one thing: huge things are coming for both ZKM and GOAT Network.
In July, we’ll begin rolling out the most important upgrade for builders to date. GPU acceleration, networked proving, full toolchain support, and Ethereum-native compatibility will no longer be roadmap items - they’ll be live. This upgrade marks the point where our zkVM transitions from performant to truly scalable and production-grade: deployable in latency-sensitive, verifiability-critical environments across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and beyond.
If you're building serious ZK infrastructure, now is the time to get involved:
A month of system-level upgrades, design-level clarity, and a coordinated signal toward the next big release.
ZKM spent June laying technical groundwork across the full stack - proving architecture, VM instruction encoding, developer workflows, and protocol integrations. Beneath each update was a common thread: we’re preparing for a significant upgrade that transitions zkMIPS from a performant zkVM to a truly scalable execution layer for real-world applications.
We didn’t disclose everything. But the direction is clear:
We released a series of technical posts detailing the internal composition of the ZKM prover stack. The system is structured as follows:
Together, these enable modular verification chips that compose efficiently. Proofs are generated using transparent STARKs and then wrapped via recursive SNARKs (Groth16 and Plonky3) for cross-chain compatibility. This hybrid design balances fast proof construction with compact L1 verification.
We also explored offline memory checking, which abstracts memory operations into commitment layers, allowing parallel execution and reducing constraint system size - essential for throughput scaling.
→ STARK-SNARK hybrid
→ Memory + Logic STARKs
→ Offline memory checking
In parallel with the deep technical content, we published two vision-focused pieces:
These pieces reflect ZKM’s stance not only on how zkVMs should be built, but why.
ZKM published a technical comparison campaign explaining why MIPS remains the most efficient general-purpose ISA for zkVM use:
In constraint-based systems, fewer instructions mean fewer gates. MIPS continues to outperform because zk efficiency is about constraint minimization, not instruction simplicity.
ZKM’s collaboration with GOAT Network now extends to BitVM3, introducing a reusable circuit garbling approach. The work reduces proof-of-consistency overhead by compressing adaptor data (from terabytes to megabytes), while minimizing on-chain modular exponentiation.
This makes the fraud proof economically viable and deployable. Our zkVM functions as the proving backend for BitVM2 and BitVM3, enabling developers to write Rust or C, compile to MIPS32r2, and generate validity proofs with zero-knowledge guarantees.
Key architectural traits:
→ BitVM2 Thread
→ BitVM3 Garbled Circuit Post
At House of ZK’s hugely popular EthProofs Summit, ZKM participated across three sessions, covering proving architecture, virtual machine design, and long-term zkVM coordination.
Stephen offered a deep-dive keynote into zkMIPS, focusing on:
Participants included researchers and engineers from Ethereum Foundation, Linea, StarkWare, and zkSync, discussing topics like:
Ming joined panelists from zkCloud, Lita, and Miden to discuss the role of zkVMs in cross-chain infrastructure, focusing on:
These sessions collectively illustrated ZKM’s approach: not just building a zkVM, but engineering a vertically integrated, architecture-stable execution environment designed to support recursive proofs, runtime portability, and long-term interoperability across chains.
While others optimize around specific ecosystems or languages, ZKM is targeting the coordination layer itself - where proof formats, verifier constraints, and execution models need to align across fragmented systems. The goal is not just compatibility, but standardization through performance.
June was not about announcements - it was about alignment. Every update, from BitVM3 developments to proof system architecture, pointed toward one thing: huge things are coming for both ZKM and GOAT Network.
In July, we’ll begin rolling out the most important upgrade for builders to date. GPU acceleration, networked proving, full toolchain support, and Ethereum-native compatibility will no longer be roadmap items - they’ll be live. This upgrade marks the point where our zkVM transitions from performant to truly scalable and production-grade: deployable in latency-sensitive, verifiability-critical environments across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and beyond.
If you're building serious ZK infrastructure, now is the time to get involved: