{"id":90038,"date":"2025-10-20T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=90038"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:50:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T07:50:23","slug":"vitalik-buterin-introduces-gkr-protocol-to-accelerate-zk-computations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/vitalik-buterin-introduces-gkr-protocol-to-accelerate-zk-computations\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin Introduces GKR Protocol to Accelerate ZK Computations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed the use of the <span data-descr=\"Generalized Knowledge of Representation \u2014 generalized proof of knowledge\" class=\"old_tooltip\">GKR<\/span> protocol to enhance the efficiency of traditional <a href=\"https:\/\/hub.forklog.com\/zk-starks-vs-zk-snarks-razlichiya-v-tehnologiyah\/\">zk-SNARK and zk-STARK<\/a> systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"hu\" dir=\"ltr\">A GKR tutorial:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Oo7jraC4sy\">https:\/\/t.co\/Oo7jraC4sy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VitalikButerin\/status\/1980063617002426751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>According to him, recent years in cryptography <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-zero-knowledge-proof\">zero-knowledge proofs<\/a> have seen a trend towards creating specialized solutions for specific types of tasks. Some are optimized for arithmetic circuits, while others are for mandatory transitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The GKR protocol, proposed in 2010, combines the advantages of both approaches. It is designed to handle large volumes of data and allows for the verification of millions of computations per second without the need to check intermediate steps.<\/p>\n<p>Buterin explained that the technology is suitable for operations consisting of many identical data arranged in layers. Examples include mass hashing through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poseidon-hash.info\/\">Poseidon2<\/a> or the operation of neural networks where one algorithm is applied to different data sets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In traditional systems like STARK, proofs must be generated for each stage of calculations \u2014 for instance, creating <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-merkle-tree\">Merkle trees<\/a> for all data. This requires hashing 4-16 bytes for every byte of original information. GKR eliminates such operations \u2014 the protocol uses cryptographic commitments only for input and output computations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In practice, the technology has proven to be 15 times more efficient than zk-STARK-based solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cHowever, these calculations remain theoretical. [\u2026] Practical efficiency depends on the balance between two conflicting factors: increased memory requirements and the advantages of parallel computing architecture,\u201d Buterin clarified.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At the core of GKR is a mathematical method of sumcheck verification for sequential simplification of verification. Initially, the system proves the correctness of the final result, then through a series of transformations, it proceeds to verify previous stages of computations, and so on to the original data. Each step reduces the complexity of the task.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-0e36f3d378b6219f-7338968502222576.webp\" alt=\"image\" class=\"wp-image-267809\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Operation of sumcheck. Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/vitalik.eth.limo\/general\/2025\/10\/19\/gkr.html\">vitalik.eth.limo<\/a>.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Buterin&#8217;s view, zero-knowledge proofs <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/vitalik-buterin-explains-the-role-of-zk-rollups-in-ethereum-scalability\">occupy<\/a> a central role in enhancing Ethereum&#8217;s scalability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Previously, he <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/buterin-introduces-zkid-concept-as-foundation-for-new-financial-models\">introduced<\/a> the concept of <span data-descr=\"Zero-Knowledge Identity \u2014 zero-knowledge technology for identification\" class=\"old_tooltip\">ZKID<\/span>, calling it the foundation for new financial models. The technology uses zk-SNARKs for information verification without third-party involvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed the use of the GKR protocol to enhance the efficiency of traditional zk-SNARK and zk-STARK systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"The technology has proven to be 15 times more efficient than zk-STARK-based solutions.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[46,200,878,1317],"class_list":["post-90038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethereum","tag-vitalik-buterin","tag-zk-snarks","tag-zkp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"200","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"The technology has proven to be 15 times more efficient than zk-STARK-based solutions.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90040,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90038\/revisions\/90040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}