ZisK’s new four-GPU benchmark declare has lowered the headline {hardware} rely in Ethereum’s real-time proving race. In February, CryptoSlate examined a roughly 12-GPU setup as a potential centralization threat. The brand new determine might carry proof era nearer to impartial operators, offered the workload and working circumstances are comparable.
ZisK is an open-source zero-knowledge digital machine challenge, and on Aug. 18 it mentioned its v1.1.0-alpha prover recorded a 9.62-second p99 on 4 RTX 5090 GPUs. A follow-up mentioned 99.7% of examined Ethereum blocks completed in lower than 10 seconds.
Jordi Baylina amplified the consequence as a milestone combining four-GPU proving with claimed 128-bit safety and post-quantum resistance.
Ethereum’s working customary requires at the very least 99% of mainnet blocks to be proved inside 10 seconds. If ZisK’s p99 was calculated over an equal mainnet-block workload and timing boundary, 9.62 seconds would sit 0.38 seconds beneath that threshold.
ZisK has but to publish the block vary, pattern measurement, p99 calculation, timing boundary, proof measurement, or measured whole-system energy for the four-GPU run. That announcement is, as of now, a benchmark declare.
The six-part check
The Ethereum Basis paired its latency goal with 5 different circumstances supposed to protect decentralization: on-premises gear costing not more than $100,000, energy use no larger than 10 kilowatts, totally open-source code, at the very least 128-bit safety and proofs no bigger than 300 KiB with out trusted setups.
CryptoSlate has additionally tracked the Basis’s emphasis on the 128-bit safety threshold.
ZisK’s repository is licensed underneath MIT or Apache 2.0, and the challenge claims 128-bit safety for the brand new consequence. The latency situation stays provisional as a result of the announcement lacks the workload and measurement particulars wanted for an equal check.
The {hardware} arithmetic seems to be promising whereas leaving family practicality unresolved. Nvidia specifies 575 watts of complete graphics energy for a reference RTX 5090. 4 playing cards carry a mixed GPU-only score of two.3 kW, beneath the ten kW ceiling earlier than CPUs, reminiscence, storage, conversion losses and cooling enter the calculation.
Nvidia launched the RTX 5090 at $1,999, placing 4 playing cards at $7,996 at launch MSRP. That determine leaves substantial room beneath $100,000 for the remainder of a multi-GPU machine.
CriterionEthereum targetZisK v1.1.0-alpha public evidenceOpenVM 2.0 public evidenceLatencyp99 at or beneath 10 seconds for mainnet blocksClaimed 9.62-second p99 on 4 5090 GPUs; workload particulars undisclosed9.8-second p99 on eight 5090 GPUsCapital value$100,000 or much less on premises$7,996 for 4 playing cards at launch MSRP; full system undisclosedNot reported within the cited releasePower10 kW or much less on premises2.3 kW GPU-only score; measured system draw undisclosedNot reported within the cited releaseCodeFully open sourcePublic MIT/Apache repositoryNot assessed on this comparisonSecurityAt least 128 bitsProject claims 128-bit provable security100-bit provable securityProof300 KiB or much less, no trusted setupsUndisclosed for the four-GPU resultUnder 300 kB; setup situation unspoken within the cited launch
A rig can match beneath a nominal finances and nonetheless pressure a smaller operator’s energy supply, cooling, or host-hardware capability. Quick proof era additionally has to fulfill Ethereum’s proof-size and setup guidelines.
OpenVM exhibits why benchmark boundaries matter
OpenVM’s July manufacturing launch reported a 9.8-second p99 on eight 5090 GPUs throughout 7,200 Ethereum mainnet blocks starting at block 24,000,000. The run used 100-bit provable safety and produced proofs underneath 300 kB.
ZisK’s four-GPU quantity might characterize a real effectivity achieve, whereas the lacking equal inputs stop a dependable rating. The safety ranges differ, ZisK has not connected a proof measurement to its consequence, and its examined block inhabitants and timing boundary stay unpublished.
The Ethproofs API defines proving time as together with witness era whereas excluding information fetching and proof-submission latency. A p99 calculated round a distinct interval can look comparable whereas measuring a distinct operational burden.
Ethproofs at present lists ZisK variations by way of v0.18.0 and exposes a 16-GPU RTX 5090 ZisK configuration. It has but to indicate an impartial four-GPU v1.1.0-alpha p99 consequence, leaving the announcement and not using a public reproducibility baseline.
ZisK’s launch historical past identifies v1.1.0-alpha, whereas its repository describes the present line as a basis for a manufacturing launch present process safety and correctness audits.
An OpenZeppelin evaluate revealed in November 2025 examined a restricted set of ZisK binary and essential constraints at a historic commit. It reported 13 findings, together with one vital and two high-severity points, with none marked resolved in that report.
CryptoSlate’s February evaluation framed a roughly 12-GPU, seven-second setup as a brand new centralization threat. ZisK now locations a claimed four-GPU run beside that earlier concern, although the configurations haven’t been proven to be equal.
A disclosed mainnet block set, full timing definition, sub-300-KiB proofs and not using a trusted setup, measured wall energy, and an independently runnable launch would flip the consequence into proof for a home-proving breakthrough.
For now, the declare has weakened the easy data-center-scale objection whereas leaving the operational case open.
