Vitalik Declares Ethereum ZK Speed Race Won After ZKsync Benchmark

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin declared that the competition for zero-knowledge proving speed is effectively over, following a major milestone from ZKsync. Across 7,200 consecutive mainnet blocks, ZKsync's new Airbender Prime prover generated 99 percent of zero-knowledge proofs in under 10 seconds on a single commercial graphics card—well within Ethereum's 12-second block time. The accomplishment allows blockchain validators to verify succinct cryptographic proofs rather than re-executing every transaction in a block. Buterin noted that with real-time proving solved on consumer hardware, developers must now pivot toward formal verification and protocol security.

BeInCrypto · Oct 15, 2026 · Crypto & Web3