Introducing ZKsync Airbender: the World’s Fastest Open-Source RISC-V zkVM

Introducing ZKsync Airbender: the World’s Fastest Open-Source RISC-V zkVM

ZKsync has launched Airbender, a cutting-edge, open-source RISC-V Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machine (zkVM) built for blazing-fast proving on commodity hardware. Airbender delivers sub-second ZKsync proofs and 35-second Ethereum block proofs using a single consumer-grade GPU—4–6x faster than alternatives. This performance opens the door to decentralized “home-proving” and drastically reduces transaction costs. With its modular architecture, Airbender supports proof generation for a wide variety of programs, positioning itself as a foundational technology for next-generation dApps in gaming, identity, privacy, and decentralized AI, all while keeping interoperability and cost-efficiency at the forefront.

Key Ideas

  1. Airbender achieves significant speed and cost-efficiency gains for zk-proofs, enabling decentralized proving on everyday hardware and driving down proof costs to $0.0001 per transfer.

  2. The zkVM’s open-source RISC-V architecture is designed to be versatile and scalable, powering applications across domains like gaming, DeAI, and cross-chain infrastructure with near real-time performance.

  3. Many market opportunities are waiting for applications that benefit from decentralized, low-latency ZK infrastructure (e.g., verifiable AI, secure gaming state proofs, or community-led chains).

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