In a recent episode of the WuBlockchain Podcast, Michael, the founder of Brevis, engaged with Colin to explore the progress of the Brevis project, the significance of zero-knowledge (ZK) technology in blockchain, and its promising future. Michael provided insights into the current blockchain infrastructure landscape, emphasizing the necessity of verifiable computation and how Brevis utilizes zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to improve decentralized finance (DeFi) and smart contract functionalities, ultimately enhancing their efficiency and user experience. The discussion also addressed the obstacles to the widespread adoption of ZK technology and how it could pave the way for innovative developments in sectors like intelligent DeFi, incentive distribution systems, and decentralized perpetual exchanges. Michael illustrated practical applications of Brevis’s technology and shared his vision for the next phase of growth in ZK technology.
Introduction to Brevis and Its Founder: Advancing Blockchain Computation with ZK Technology
Colin introduced the episode by welcoming Michael, the founder of Brevis, to discuss the project’s evolution. Brevis is recognized as a significant player in the ZK technology sector, having garnered considerable support from the Ethereum Foundation. Michael began by introducing himself and outlining Brevis’s mission. He shared his academic background in computer science, emphasizing his focus on distributed systems and networking. With a PhD and seven years of experience in blockchain infrastructure research and startups under his belt, Michael previously founded Celer Network, known for its widely used cross-chain interoperability protocol, Celer cBridge. He has been active in the blockchain space since 2015, primarily within the Ethereum ecosystem, where Celer initially received funding from the Ethereum Foundation. Driven by the vision of facilitating real-world blockchain adoption, Michael highlighted the need for blockchain technology to evolve beyond centralized authority reliance, leveraging code and computation for trust.
Michael posed a crucial question regarding the apparent limitations of blockchain’s computational capacity despite its advancements in supporting global trust and next-generation financial systems. He pointed out that, while rollups and new Layer 1 solutions have emerged over the years, the computation bottleneck still persists. For many, this reality might be unexpected; however, centralized exchanges have been able to implement fee discounts based on trading volume, a feature decentralized exchanges have lagged in providing. The challenge lies in smart contracts’ struggle to compute a user’s trading volume over time, with on-chain computations potentially incurring exorbitant gas fees. Thus, despite being labeled as the “world computer,” blockchains continue to exhibit limitations in speed, cost, and computational capacity.
Brevis aims to address this issue by shifting complex computations from the blockchain to off-chain environments. This transition raises questions about the trustworthiness of off-chain computations, which is where verifiable computation plays a vital role. Verifiable computation not only generates results but also produces a ZK proof that mathematically confirms the correctness of the outcome. Instead of redoing the computation, the blockchain simply verifies the proof. The advantage of ZK proofs is their minimal and consistent verification cost, regardless of computation complexity, forming the foundation of Brevis’s capabilities.
Brevis is not merely a theoretical concept; it is actively utilized in production. The project collaborates with notable partners, including PancakeSwap, Uniswap, Euler, OpenEden, Linea, and BNB Chain, to introduce features that were previously unfeasible with conventional smart contracts. By offloading computations and using ZK proofs, Brevis has created entirely new use cases. In summary, Brevis’s mission is to advance blockchain technology, enabling it to manage more sophisticated real-world computations while ensuring security and efficiency for its users.
Brevis Partnerships with PancakeSwap, Uniswap, and More: Real-World Applications of ZK Technology
Colin then inquired about Brevis’s recent partnerships, particularly with PancakeSwap and Linea, to implement volume-based trading fee discounts and token reward distributions. Michael explained that one of Brevis’s key strengths lies in achieving real-world adoption, differentiating it from many theoretical ZK projects. The integrations can be categorized into major themes, with Smart DeFi being a primary focus. Smart DeFi involves creating personalized DeFi experiences that cater to individual user needs, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Prior to Brevis, DeFi protocols were relatively rudimentary, treating all users uniformly, which compromised user experience.
In Web2, personalized user experiences are commonplace, adapting to various user segments to maximize value and retention. However, Web3 smart contracts lack the computational capacity to analyze user histories for personalized interactions. Brevis introduces this intelligence layer. For instance, on PancakeSwap, users can generate a ZK proof demonstrating their high trading volume over the previous month, which they submit to Pancake’s plugin system. Upon verification by the contract, users receive VIP status, which grants them reduced fees, significantly enhancing user engagement and liquidity provision.
Michael also detailed similar applications within lending protocols, where traditional static supply-demand models can adjust based on real-time usage data through ZK proofs. This adaptability boosts efficiency across lending platforms and can be applied to use cases like Uniswap. Another significant application is incentive distribution for ecosystems striving to attract users, such as new blockchains or stablecoins. Traditional reward systems, reliant on centralized backends, pose security, regulatory, and transparency challenges. Brevis eliminates these issues by allowing users to create ZK proofs based on on-chain actions, which are submitted to smart contracts for reward claims. This trustless, transparent process ensures fairness, as the verification of proofs is publicly accessible on-chain.
Moreover, Brevis’s innovations extend to new application categories, such as perpetual decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Privacy remains a substantial challenge in this domain, as traders’ positions and leverage levels are often exposed, leading to risks of targeted attacks. Brevis is collaborating with leading protocols to integrate privacy into perpetual trading, enabling order matching and trading logic validation while safeguarding user data. The project also sees potential in AI and social data applications, allowing influencers to share insights while proving their credibility through ZK proofs without compromising their private information.
Michael highlighted the recent launch of Yapper ID, a ZK-based identity layer for leaderboard rankings, as a step toward mainstream verifiable computing. Brevis has seen substantial engagement, with nearly 200,000 unique wallet addresses utilizing its technology, achieved solely through partner integrations rather than marketing efforts, resulting in the generation of over 140 million ZK proofs and the distribution of over $3 million in rewards. These figures reflect Brevis’s technological maturity and its growing influence in shaping the future of Web3 computation.
Brevis Proving Ground and Real-Time zkVM Innovations
Colin transitioned the conversation to the Brevis Proving Ground event, launched on the 13th, and the introduction of real-time L1 proof technology on the 15th. Michael explained that the Proving Ground serves as a proof testbed aimed at enhancing user understanding of Brevis’s innovations. Many blockchain projects tend to keep users at the surface level, engaging them without providing a deeper comprehension of the underlying technology. Proving Ground seeks to change that through hands-on, community-driven experiences, encouraging users to interact with real applications integrating Brevis technology, including PancakeSwap, Uniswap, and others. This initiative allows users to directly experience the advantages of Brevis.
On the technical side, Michael unveiled Pico Prism, the latest zkVM developed by Brevis. He clarified that Brevis consists of two main components, one being the zkVM, a general-purpose computation engine capable of generating ZK proofs for any submitted program. While the zkVM is high-performing, it does contend with limitations, which led to the introduction of a modular architecture, enabling the addition of ZK coprocessors. These plug-in accelerators significantly enhance efficiency and reduce costs for frequent use cases, positioning Brevis as the only zkVM project with substantial user adoption.
Michael elaborated on Ethereum’s scalability issues, where the consensus model requires every validator node to redundantly execute all transactions and smart contracts, ensuring security but hindering scalability. The industry is transitioning toward a model where single-node execution occurs, followed by network-wide proof verification, allowing one node to handle heavy computations while others simply verify the ZK proof. This approach drastically reduces computational costs without compromising decentralization. Pico Prism is designed to facilitate this shift, aiming to scale Ethereum significantly while maintaining its decentralized principles. Its architecture is highly parallelizable, enabling linear scaling with sufficient processing power.
Pico Prism has already exhibited impressive benchmarks, being 70% faster than the nearest competing zkVM and operating at half the cost, making it the first zkVM globally to meet the Ethereum Foundation’s real-time proving criteria. This advancement not only enhances Ethereum’s scalability but also lays the foundation for a more efficient and cost-effective blockchain ecosystem overall.
The Evolution and Future of ZK: From Rollups to General-Purpose Applications
As the conversation neared its conclusion, Colin asked Michael about his interactions with the Ethereum Foundation and his insights into Ethereum’s current trajectory amidst criticism and the emergence of Digital Asset Treasury (DAT). Michael responded by discussing the evolution of the ZK landscape, which initially saw the rise of ZK Rollups—layer 2 networks leveraging ZK technology. Brevis opted not to pursue a ZK-based L2 due to the belief that it wouldn’t provide a significant advantage over Optimistic Rollups. This perspective aligns with observed trends, as ZK Rollups have not attracted user adoption to the extent anticipated compared to their Optimistic counterparts.
Despite this, Michael acknowledged ZK technology’s immense potential, highlighting its revolutionary approach to computing by allowing proof generation for correct computations rather than requiring redundant verification. This decoupling of execution and verification marks a pivotal advancement. Currently, a new wave of ZK applications is emerging, driven by next-gen zkVMs that support diverse use cases, making ZK technology essential rather than optional.
Michael drew parallels with historical tech cycles, noting that initial waves often focus on narrow applications before broadening into more generalized and impactful use cases. The first wave of blockchain was primarily centered around payments, while the second wave expanded into decentralized consensus platforms and broader applications, as evidenced by Ethereum’s introduction of smart contracts. Similarly, the first wave of ZK applications focused on specific solutions, whereas ZK 2.0 aims to develop a generalized infrastructure capable of supporting a wide array of applications, from perpetuals to DeFi and more.
Michael expressed optimism regarding the current trends in the ZK space, as many prominent DeFi protocols are beginning to adopt ZK technology. Regarding Ethereum and the Foundation, he affirmed their crucial role in the ecosystem’s evolution, highlighting their commitment to innovation and adaptation. Notably, the “lean Ethereum” initiative represents a significant shift towards a more streamlined architecture for the virtual machine, showcasing the Foundation’s willingness to embrace change.
Furthermore, Michael noted an increasing interest within the Ethereum Foundation in enterprise use cases, as evidenced by the DAT project and growing payment-focused initiatives. The integration of Ethereum into government-level infrastructure in some regions signals a thrilling pace of adoption. Reflecting on the rapid developments during the DeFi Summer from 2021 to 2022, Michael emphasized the need for a connection between DeFi and real-world applications, a transition that has encountered various challenges, yet he sees signs of progress as barriers begin to fall.
Colin concluded the discussion by commending Michael for offering a comprehensive overview of the evolution of ZK technology and its implications for Ethereum’s future. The shift towards practical applications rather than solely theoretical constructs is a promising sign for the community. Michael expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share insights and wished continued success for Brevis in the blockchain space.
