In a significant leap for blockchain technology, Matter Labs unveiled its cutting-edge cryptographic prover, ‘Airbender’, at the Permissionless conference this Tuesday. Designed for its layer-2 network ZKsync, this prover’s standout feature is its ability to verify Ethereum blocks in a mere 35 seconds using just a single GPU. The announcement has captured the attention of the crypto community, with implications that could ripple across various sectors reliant on blockchain efficiency.
A New Era of Speed and Efficiency
Airbender’s rapid verification speed isn’t just about breaking records; it’s set to redefine the cost structure of blockchain transactions. Alex Gluchowski, co-founder of Matter Labs, emphasized that this technological advancement brings transaction fees “into the fraction of a cent territory.” This is a game-changer for industries like micropayments, high-frequency trading, and decentralized social networks, where every millisecond—and cent—counts. “Faster proofs unlock faster finality, cheaper apps, and crucially, proofs that can be generated anywhere, not just in massive GPU farms,” Gluchowski explained to CoinDesk. This development aligns with recent discussions on Ethereum’s scalability, such as the proposal to halve slot times to 6 seconds, which could further enhance network efficiency.
The secret sauce behind Airbender lies in its innovative design as an open-sourced zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM). Built on the RISC-V framework, it aligns with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s vision of replacing the existing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to enhance blockchain efficiency. “We started building ZKsync Airbender over a year ago because we saw where Ethereum needed to go,” noted Gluchowski, hinting at the strategic foresight that guided their development path.
Bridging Chains and Reducing Costs
The introduction of Airbender marks a pivotal moment for Ethereum’s scalability challenges. By significantly cutting down the time required to generate zero-knowledge proofs, the prover not only accelerates transaction finality but also reduces the computational resources necessary for verification. This means that more developers and users can access Ethereum’s capabilities without the prohibitive costs typically associated with extensive GPU usage.
Gluchowski highlighted that “home-proving, real-time cross-chain UX, and ZK apps that can verify on the fly” are now within reach, thanks to Airbender. This development could lay the groundwork for an interconnected web of verifiable chains, where data flows seamlessly across different platforms. This comes at a time when significant investments, such as a whale stacking $39M in Ethereum, underscore the growing confidence in Ethereum’s future potential.
The Road Ahead
While Airbender is still in the nascent stages of its rollout, Matter Labs has opened the doors for developers to test the prover through an app. If the ZKsync governance process gives the green light, Airbender will be integrated into a protocol upgrade slated for later this summer. “This is the foundation for an Internet of verifiable, interconnected chains,” Gluchowski remarked, underscoring the broader vision at play.
As we move forward, several questions loom large: How quickly will the crypto community adopt this new prover? Will the anticipated cost reductions and efficiency gains spur a wave of innovation in blockchain applications? And perhaps most intriguingly, can Airbender set a new standard that compels other layer-2 solutions to evolve?
Gluchowski and his team at Matter Labs are betting that the answer to these questions will be a resounding yes. As Airbender takes its place on the blockchain stage, its impact could well redefine the parameters of what’s possible in the world of cryptographic technology.
Source
This article is based on: ZKsync’s Airbender zkVM Proves Ethereum Blocks in 35 Seconds
Further Reading
Deepen your understanding with these related articles:
- Staked Ether hits record high driven by corporate crypto treasury adoption: Finance Redefined
- Crypto Lenders Hold Nearly $60B of Assets as New Wave of DeFi Adoption Sweeps In: Report
- Intents fix crypto's UX crisis and pave the way for agentic DeFi
Steve Gregory is a lawyer in the United States who specializes in licensing for cryptocurrency companies and products. Steve began his career as an attorney in 2015 but made the switch to working in cryptocurrency full time shortly after joining the original team at Gemini Trust Company, an early cryptocurrency exchange based in New York City. Steve then joined CEX.io and was able to launch their regulated US-based cryptocurrency. Steve then went on to become the CEO at currency.com when he ran for four years and was able to lead currency.com to being fully acquired in 2025.
