ZKM has officially released a new generation of GPU-accelerated zkVM under the name Ziren: to build a production-grade ZK infrastructure for mainstream developers

ZKM officially released a new generation version of its zkVM, Ziren (formerly zkMIPS), which opens a new chapter in the deployability and scalability of zero-knowledge proof (ZK) systems in real-world application scenarios through GPU acceleration, distributed proof architecture, and deeply optimized constraint system. Ziren aims to enable system engineers, application developers, and protocol designers to build high-performance ZK applications in mainstream languages, truly bringing ZK from the lab to mainstream development practices.

From zkMIPS to Ziren: Leaps in performance and an upgraded development experience

Ziren is a full upgrade of zkMIPS v1.1.0 and first introduced:

• 30× GPU acceleration to dramatically reduce proof latency;

• Distributed network proof architecture, supporting parallel computing and scalable deployment;

• The instruction constraint system is upgraded, the instruction modularization is optimized, the column usage is optimized, and the redundancy is eliminated;

• The toolchain and development experience have been upgraded, and support for C/C++ has been added on the basis of supporting Rust, and Golang will be launched soon;

• Key security fixes and precompilation enhancements to achieve native compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem.

"Ziren is the first truly scalable and developer-friendly general-purpose zkVM built on the right foundation." Ming Guo, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at ZKM, "It's proven to be a leader in performance on CPUs, and now we're taking it to the next level with GPU acceleration. If you're looking for an optimal ZK proof stack, Ziren is the answer. ”

In addition to the comprehensive technical upgrade, the name Ziren itself also has a meaning. As a continuation of zkMIPS, "Ziren" is inspired by a variant of the myth "Siren" and represents a shift from illusion to reality – the promise that technology is no longer just an attraction, but a real usability. Ziren aims to be a truly efficient, trusted, and deployable zk infrastructure in the hands of mainstream developers.

GPU Acceleration and Distributed Proof Parallelism: The Leap from Performance to Utility

Ziren's core attestation process has been fully GPU-ized, resulting in significant performance improvements:

• 30x faster core proofs

• 15x faster aggregate proofs

• 30x faster BN254 conversion proofs

Combined with a networked proof architecture, Ziren can distribute proof tasks across multiple nodes for parallel execution, which not only significantly improves throughput, but also enhances the decentralized usability of the system. This architecture is ideal for modular blockchains, rollups, and interchain verification systems.

Constraint system optimization

Ziren systematically refactored the constraint system:

• Split instruction-level constraints into modular "chips" (covering CPU, hop/branch, memory, etc.)

• Reduce the number of columns by optimizing the data structure

• Remove redundant or unused constraint logic

• Streamline ALU, MADDU/MSUBU, and branch processing processes to improve execution efficiency

These optimizations significantly reduce proof complexity, improve generation speed, and improve system stability. From the perspective of zkVM, MIPS generates shorter execution traces than RISCV and has better instruction efficiency, which is conducive to improving proof efficiency. With the release of Ziren, the advantages of choosing MIPS have gradually become apparent.

A better development experience with a smoother build-to-deploy experience

Ziren has launched a new version of the toolchain (20250522), which brings a number of developer experience improvements:

• Integrate LLVM patches to optimize the compilation process

• Support C/C++ static library and teq instruction fixes

• Rust toolchain is more robust and removes non-standard hacks

• Golang support is coming soon

In addition, Ziren supports Ethereum-native signature verification, and the precompiled module now supports full ECDSA elliptic curve signatures, which makes on-chain integration smoother and expands the application scenarios it can support.

Stability and Security Fixes

Ziren has fully ruggedized the verifier and circuit execution process, including:

• Fixed a critical FRI random number vulnerability in Plonky3

• Fixed a vk_root validation vulnerability in the Rust validator

• Optimize the consistency between the instruction execution logic and the constraint system

• Improved behavior management of shard processing logic and program counters

Ziren vs zkMIPS 1.0 comparison chart

All of these updates work together to improve the security and consistency of Ziren, making it more suitable for ZK attestation requirements in production-grade environments.

Move towards real-time proof: ethproofs.org Witness the results of optimization

At the ethproofs.org, Ziren demonstrated real-time performance results, and real-time proof is just around the corner:

By replacing the virtual machine from Revm to Reth and extracting the account state in parallel, the block state preparation time was reduced from 5 minutes to less than 30 seconds with debug_traceBlock. This greatly reduces the latency of the proof-of-proof process at each stage, making Ziren's performance closer to the real-time level, laying a solid foundation for the implementation of high-frequency ZK applications.

Launched on GOAT Network: the core engine for building Bitcoin's native zkRollup

Ziren is now live on Bitcoin's native zkRollup project, GOAT Network, enabling Ethereum-style programmability without the need for bridges or trusting parties, while preserving Bitcoin mainnet security. GOAT Network is one of the important practices on the BitVM2 and BitVM3 routes.

"When we decided to scale Bitcoin, we needed a system that could be trusted from top to bottom — not just a stack of surface performance, but circuit-level stability and efficiency." Kevin Liu, co-founder and CEO of ZKM and a core contributor to GOAT Network, said, "Ziren is a product of this need, an infrastructure layer in which we have confidence in every proof."

Build your ZK app, starting with Ziren

Ziren condenses ZKM's years of in-depth polishing of underlying system engineering and zero-knowledge research, not only for meetings, but also for zkVM with better structure, better experience and wider application. Whether you're building an Ethereum DApp, Bitcoin L2, or a cross-chain verification system, Ziren provides you with a trusted computing foundation.

Written in Rust, compiled to MIPS, and Ziren will do the rest. Build with confidence. Deploy without compromise.