ZK Proofs are very powerful but also very compute intensive, which prevents many chains/apps from utilizing them. @Boundless is solving this with a new market system: Proof of Verifiable Work. What is POVW and how can it increase the use of ZKPs for business? A thread

Before diving into POVW, you should definitely be familiar with the concept of ZK proofs and how they work. If you aren’t, check out this thread that breaks down exactly how they work and the types of ZKPs that exist onchain: https://x.com/_dcft_/status/1902139102352265385…

What is Boundless? It’s a protocol dedicated to bringing the scalability of ZK to every chain through seamless integration. How? Through the outsourcing of proof generation - the most compute intensive part of using ZKPs. This makes ZKPs a much more attractive option to tons of projects that want the scaling and security benefits of these proofs but not the compute cost of running them.

What is POVW? Proof of Verifiable Work refers to the open marketplace @Boundless created with this system. Requestors are able to submit a bid using a reverse Dutch auction mechanism (starts with a low amount that increases per bid), which provers then compete for. The winning prover generates a proof, returns the finished proof to requestor, and gets paid.

This open market creates a self-sustaining ecosystem where: provers compete to fulfill requests for the lowest price > requestors get best price per proof > provers incentivized to improve performance to get more orders > lower proving costs create more use cases for ZKPs.

Let’s break the full process down further: 1. Requestor writes a proof in Rust 2. Proof is submitted to Boundless Market alongside its requirements (min/max price, bidding duration, description, etc.) 3. Prover submits a bid and the request is locked once accepted 4. Prover puts up stake to guarantee proof delivery within the expected timeframe (they get slashed if they don’t) 5. Prover generates the proof and sends it to requestor 6. Prover gets paid + their stake back, and requestor can use the generated proof in their system

Once the proof is generated, the requestor receives a Journal and a Seal. The Journal is a variable that contains the actual output of the proof, while the Seal takes the form of a ZKP (either a zk-STARK or SNARK) which acts as verification that the output is accurate. The requestor is then able to use this data directly within their app/chain. So how would this be used within real business use cases?

In DeFi, one way this has been applied is trustlessly verifying pricing data. @hashflow is a DEX that lets users trade across chains instantly without having to bridge/swap their crypto, which lets them operate with the speed and ease of a CEX. They are able to do so using a Request-For-Quote (RFQ) model where market makers (MMs) compute real-time quotes of each trade offchain. While computing quotes offchain is more efficient than onchain, it creates a security concern where you have to trust that each MM is giving you the best quote based on current market conditions.

@Boundless solves this offchain computation issue by letting a MM submit the pricing computation to the Boundless Market. There, a prover generates a proof that immutably proves that the quote reflects real-time market data and the MM did not act maliciously. This creates full transparency and auditability that proves each trade across chains received the best rate possible, even though the quote was computed offchain.

@Boundless also creates the opportunity for new blockchain tooling to be developed. A great example of this is @vlayer ⛛ which offers: Time Travel: uses ZKPs to access past transactions onchain and verify them without re-executing them, creating a tool for historical data aggregation and verification Teleport: uses ZKPs to interact with multiple chains within the same smart contract, which can be used as a proving system for something like managing liquidity across chains Web Proofs: use ZKPs to pull and verify data from the Internet, creating the ability to directly bring content from the web onchain

One more use case of a @Boundless powered system: security. @Drosera is a protocol that has created trustless infrastructure for detecting onchain exploits as they happen and minimizing their damage. They are able to do this through Traps - smart contracts that actively analyze a chain for suspicious activity. These Traps are able to trigger a predefined action (e.g. pausing the protocol) as soon as a threat is detected.

Each Trap that's triggered is submitted to the Boundless Market, where a prover generates a proof that verifies the threat without revealing any sensitive protocol data. This ZKP powered system creates near-instant responses to exploits or bugs, which can help greatly decrease the amount of financial loss or other damage.

None of these use cases would be possible at scale without a protocol like @Boundless because it's still difficult to reach the required level of dedicated computing power to execute these proofs. By outsourcing this process to a specialized ecosystem, projects are able to reap the benefits of ZKPs without dealing with the burden of computing them, allowing them to scale their operations and increase efficiency. Any onchain app can now build out their ZKP powered ideas without worrying about needing the resources required to generate ZKPs at scale.

If you enjoyed this thread and want to learn more about these types of systems or have questions about any of the ideas discussed, check out http://dcft.site for a free course that will take you through all of the fundamentals of blockchain!