As the number of zkVMs continues to grow, the choice facing developers is no longer whether to use one - but rather which to use. With an ever-growing number of zkVMs offering different tradeoffs, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell which zkVM actually delivers what matters.
At ZKM, we’ve taken a different approach: rather than targeting as many integrations as possible, our focus is on a few truly high-quality applications that can scale across architectures, chains, and domains.
This piece is all about why ZKM may also be the right foundation for what you’re building.
Unlike RISC-V or custom bytecodes, MIPS is a mature, stable instruction set architecture that is easy to compile to and reason about. It’s been used in production hardware and software systems for decades.
The choice of the MIPS instruction set isn’t aesthetic. It reflects a deliberate tradeoff: MIPS enables clean constraint systems, highly parallelizable logic, and predictable performance on real workloads. It also aligns well with upcoming acceleration targets such as GPU-based proving.
With its recent pipeline upgrades, our 1.0 version is optimized for fast, scalable proof generation, outperforming many general-purpose zkVMs across standard workloads:
For a benchmarking vs other leading zkVMs across CPU, see https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-benchmarking-the-fastest-zkvm-on-cpu
Our next major release will include GPU acceleration for proof generation, enabling the capability to power high-throughput applications.
This update addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks for developers today: proof generation costs. GPU proving slashes runtime and compute overhead, enabling support of latency-sensitive use cases like real-time settlement, high-frequency trading, and composable applications.
Our zkVM provides a general-purpose computation layer that can integrate with any chain, proof system, or co-processor.
It has also been designed to minimize friction for developers:
There’s no need to learn a new domain-specific language or deal with complex bytecode structures - everything is deterministic, debuggable, and inspectable.
While other zkVMs seek rapid integrations for visibility, ZKM prioritizes depth. We focus on a small number of high-impact deployments where we can integrate tightly and support fully.
GOAT Network exemplifies this. It’s not another generic Bitcoin L2 - it introduces a decentralized sequencer model with sustainable, native BTC yield. Our zkVM isn’t just plugged in; it’s co-engineered.
This approach enables:
Fewer integrations. Higher fidelity. Real usage, not surface-level support.
As developers shift from asking “Can I integrate this?” to “Is this built to last?”, we think the answer will increasingly favor focused, production-grade zkVM deployments like ours.
We’re not claiming our zkVM is better in every way. Each has its own strengths. But as proof markets mature and systems begin choosing zkVMs dynamically based on workload, cost, and latency, we believe ZKM will prove to be one of the most cost-efficient, high-throughput options available.
Very few other zkVMs can offer:
The goal isn't to win in every category - but to be the best choice for the high-quality applications that demand real performance, deeper integration, and closer support.
If you’re just experimenting with proofs, any zkVM will do. But if you’re building production-grade, cross-domain, performance-sensitive ZK applications - ZKM is ready to go.
Get started with ZKM: ZKM Docs
Build with ZKM: ZKM Github
As the number of zkVMs continues to grow, the choice facing developers is no longer whether to use one - but rather which to use. With an ever-growing number of zkVMs offering different tradeoffs, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell which zkVM actually delivers what matters.
At ZKM, we’ve taken a different approach: rather than targeting as many integrations as possible, our focus is on a few truly high-quality applications that can scale across architectures, chains, and domains.
This piece is all about why ZKM may also be the right foundation for what you’re building.
Unlike RISC-V or custom bytecodes, MIPS is a mature, stable instruction set architecture that is easy to compile to and reason about. It’s been used in production hardware and software systems for decades.
The choice of the MIPS instruction set isn’t aesthetic. It reflects a deliberate tradeoff: MIPS enables clean constraint systems, highly parallelizable logic, and predictable performance on real workloads. It also aligns well with upcoming acceleration targets such as GPU-based proving.
With its recent pipeline upgrades, our 1.0 version is optimized for fast, scalable proof generation, outperforming many general-purpose zkVMs across standard workloads:
For a benchmarking vs other leading zkVMs across CPU, see https://www.zkm.io/blog/zkmips-1-0-benchmarking-the-fastest-zkvm-on-cpu
Our next major release will include GPU acceleration for proof generation, enabling the capability to power high-throughput applications.
This update addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks for developers today: proof generation costs. GPU proving slashes runtime and compute overhead, enabling support of latency-sensitive use cases like real-time settlement, high-frequency trading, and composable applications.
Our zkVM provides a general-purpose computation layer that can integrate with any chain, proof system, or co-processor.
It has also been designed to minimize friction for developers:
There’s no need to learn a new domain-specific language or deal with complex bytecode structures - everything is deterministic, debuggable, and inspectable.
While other zkVMs seek rapid integrations for visibility, ZKM prioritizes depth. We focus on a small number of high-impact deployments where we can integrate tightly and support fully.
GOAT Network exemplifies this. It’s not another generic Bitcoin L2 - it introduces a decentralized sequencer model with sustainable, native BTC yield. Our zkVM isn’t just plugged in; it’s co-engineered.
This approach enables:
Fewer integrations. Higher fidelity. Real usage, not surface-level support.
As developers shift from asking “Can I integrate this?” to “Is this built to last?”, we think the answer will increasingly favor focused, production-grade zkVM deployments like ours.
We’re not claiming our zkVM is better in every way. Each has its own strengths. But as proof markets mature and systems begin choosing zkVMs dynamically based on workload, cost, and latency, we believe ZKM will prove to be one of the most cost-efficient, high-throughput options available.
Very few other zkVMs can offer:
The goal isn't to win in every category - but to be the best choice for the high-quality applications that demand real performance, deeper integration, and closer support.
If you’re just experimenting with proofs, any zkVM will do. But if you’re building production-grade, cross-domain, performance-sensitive ZK applications - ZKM is ready to go.
Get started with ZKM: ZKM Docs
Build with ZKM: ZKM Github
