ZKM

Jun 2, 2025

May was the biggest month in ZKM’s history to date. We launched zkMIPS 1.0 - the first production-ready MIPS-based zkVM - while deepening integrations across Ethereum and Bitcoin, advancing our work through live deployments, industry benchmarks, and research publications.

zkMIPS 1.0 Is Live

ZKM released zkMIPS 1.0, a complete re-architecture of our zkVM with production-grade performance. This version introduces support for MIPS32r2, Plonky3 integration over the Koala prime field, multiset hashing for memory consistency, and a modular chip-based circuit architecture. These upgrades deliver up to 20x speedup over v0.3.0 across standard CPU benchmarks. zkMIPS 1.0 is now actively proving Ethereum mainnet blocks as part of the Ethereum Foundation’s @Eth_Proofs program and powers @GOATRollup, the first Bitcoin Layer 2 using BitVM2. This dual deployment validates our design goal: a zkVM capable of servicing both Ethereum and Bitcoin at the infrastructure layer.

Full launch article: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-production-ready-performance-optimized-and-open-for-developers

Benchmarking the Fastest zkVM on CPU

We published detailed benchmarking results comparing zkMIPS 1.0 to zkMIPS 0.3.0, Succinct’s SP1, and Risc Zero’s R0VM. Across workloads such as SHA-2, Fibonacci, and Big-Memory, zkMIPS 1.0 consistently outperformed previous versions and most other zkVMs in its category. This confirmed not only raw performance gains but also the advantage of our system-level architectural improvements.

Benchmark article: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-benchmarking-the-fastest-zkvm-on-cpu

Community and Industry Response

ZKM’s May work sparked strong engagement from leaders across the ecosystem, particularly regarding our article comparing MIPS vs RISC-V: https://www.zkm.io/blog/why-zkm-chose-mips32r2-over-risc-v-for-zkmips.

@EliBenSasson, co-founder of @StarkWareLtd, weighed in on our MIPS decision, noting he had once considered building STARKs for MIPS himself. This led to further dialogue between ZKM, StarkWare, and other ecosystem figures such as @ClementWalter of @Kakarotzkevm. ZKM’s leadership - CEO @KevinLiub and CTO @sd_eigen - publicly responded, emphasizing our rationale grounded in hardware and trace optimization.

ZKM was also featured across key publications and Twitter ecosystems including U.Today, @AlignedLayer’s ZK-Newsflash, and various others. The broader ZK community has responded with high interest across Twitter, Discord, and GitHub.

Developer Activation

Following the launch of zkMIPS 1.0, we launched the final phase of our Early Contributor Program with the ZKM Developer Track - a call for developers to build with zkMIPS, contribute to the toolchain, and expand onboarding resources. This track is the gateway to building verifiable applications using zkMIPS and participating in the next wave of scalable, cross-chain infrastructure.

Program details: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkm-developer-track-a-call-to-builders

Thought Leadership

ZKM CEO Kevin Liu published a five-part BTCFi series, outlining a foundational thesis for Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure:

BTCFi hasn’t begun - the opportunity is ahead.
GOAT Network’s vertical integration enables security.
BTCFi must serve real user demand.
Native yield comes from L2 gas.
Bitcoin L2s are economic amplifiers.

Full recap: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1923339874985238848

We also published a breakdown of zkMIPS’s integration with BitVM2 in GOAT Network. The thread outlines our novel proving architecture (Root, Aggregation, SNARK), cryptoeconomic design (dual-layer slashing), and latency breakthrough (sub-1-day finality). This positions zkMIPS as the first zkVM deployed in a trust-minimized Bitcoin L2.

Thread: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1922580611249684885

Finally, we contributed to defining the Bitcoin-native L2 standard. Alongside GOAT Network, we outlined core and optional principles for trustless Bitcoin L2s - from permissionless exits to proof-based bridges. This is a call to reclaim the integrity of the term “Layer 2”.

Proposal: https://x.com/kevinliub/status/1924948457443172731

GOAT Network Milestones

GOAT Network released the BitVM2 whitepaper, showcasing how zkMIPS enables faster finality and enforces security through recursive proofs and decentralized sequencers. Shortly after, they launched the first permissionless BitVM2 testnet, powered by zkMIPS 1.0. This marks a new era for BTCFi - delivering real Bitcoin-native security, finality, and yield.

Try the testnet: https://bitvm2.testnet3.goat.network/bridge/inWhitepaper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ewves_XtJnOmDiNgzSciyBIgrUXiouVE/view

Talks and Events

We participated in key technical spaces this month:

ZK Spaces #06: CTO Stephen Duan presented zkMIPS 1.0, its upgrade path, and its application to Ethereum and Bitcoin. https://x.com/i/spaces/1LyxBWjMeEYKN/peek
ZK Spaces #07: Co-founder @DacEconomy (Ming Guo) introduced the concept of Entangled Rollup - a “bridgeless bridge” secured by proof rather than trust. https://x.com/i/spaces/1zqKVjRzNjdKB/peek
EthProofs Call #2: Stephen presented zkMIPS 1.0’s performance metrics and real-time proof architecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5AvMBUV4WY
ISA Panel: Ming debated instruction set design with leaders from Risc Zero and Lita, explaining ZKM’s decision to choose MIPS32r2 over RISC-V. https://x.com/malda_xyz/status/1923031097392115799

In parallel, House of ZK hosted a ZKM special covering zkMIPS 1.0’s architecture and role in powering GOAT Network. https://hozk.io/journal/zkm-report - https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1927031440568451093

On the Road

ZKM made appearances at the Bitcoin Economy Conference, where Ming and Stephen explained the foundational design of both ZKM and GOAT. We’ll also be sponsoring and speaking at House of ZK's upcoming Ethproofs Summit in Berlin, and hosting ZK Morning Coffee during EthCC alongside @Starknet, @Hyli_org, and @thzkcloud - a casual gathering for serious builders.

That wraps up May - a true milestone month for ZKM. We launched zkMIPS 1.0, expanded into real-world deployments, defined ecosystem standards, and began energizing the developer community. June will build on this momentum.

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ZKM ECP Contributor Board — November Wrap-up

November began with an exciting development at ZKM — we launched Cohort 2 of our Early Contributor Program (ECP): Community Evolution

Entangled Rollups: Multi-chain Interoperability Without Bridges

We recently introduced a new trust-minimized multi-chain Interoperability infrastructure called Entangled Rollup.‍In this work, we implement an interoperability protocol by judiciously entangling the underlying primitives under standard security assumptions of zkRollups, leveraging our state-of-the-art recursive zkVM (zkMIPS). ‍The Entangled Rollup protocol is trustless, and a step forward to addressing liquidity fragmentation, in addition to simplifying the user and developer experience as major adoption barriers of the multi-chain world. ‍

zkMIPS 1.0 Is Live

Full launch article: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-production-ready-performance-optimized-and-open-for-developers

Benchmarking the Fastest zkVM on CPU

Benchmark article: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-benchmarking-the-fastest-zkvm-on-cpu

Community and Industry Response

Developer Activation

Program details: https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkm-developer-track-a-call-to-builders

Thought Leadership

ZKM CEO Kevin Liu published a five-part BTCFi series, outlining a foundational thesis for Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure:

BTCFi hasn’t begun - the opportunity is ahead.
GOAT Network’s vertical integration enables security.
BTCFi must serve real user demand.
Native yield comes from L2 gas.
Bitcoin L2s are economic amplifiers.

Full recap: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1923339874985238848

Thread: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1922580611249684885

Proposal: https://x.com/kevinliub/status/1924948457443172731

GOAT Network Milestones

Try the testnet: https://bitvm2.testnet3.goat.network/bridge/inWhitepaper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ewves_XtJnOmDiNgzSciyBIgrUXiouVE/view

Talks and Events

We participated in key technical spaces this month:

ZK Spaces #06: CTO Stephen Duan presented zkMIPS 1.0, its upgrade path, and its application to Ethereum and Bitcoin. https://x.com/i/spaces/1LyxBWjMeEYKN/peek
ZK Spaces #07: Co-founder @DacEconomy (Ming Guo) introduced the concept of Entangled Rollup - a “bridgeless bridge” secured by proof rather than trust. https://x.com/i/spaces/1zqKVjRzNjdKB/peek
EthProofs Call #2: Stephen presented zkMIPS 1.0’s performance metrics and real-time proof architecture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5AvMBUV4WY
ISA Panel: Ming debated instruction set design with leaders from Risc Zero and Lita, explaining ZKM’s decision to choose MIPS32r2 over RISC-V. https://x.com/malda_xyz/status/1923031097392115799