Brevis Research Report: ZKVM and the Infinite Trustworthy Computing Layer of Data Co-processors

Brevis has built a preliminary moat on both ends of "performance reproducibility" and "business feasibility": Pico/Prism has firmly established itself in the first tier of the L1 RTP track, while zkCoprocessor opens up high-frequency, reusable commercialization scenarios.

Author: 0xjacobzhao

The paradigm of "off-chain computation + on-chain verification," known as Verifiable Computing, has become the universal computing model for blockchain systems. It allows blockchain applications to achieve almost unlimited computational freedom while maintaining decentralization and trust-minimized security. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) are the core pillar of this paradigm, with applications primarily focused on three foundational directions: Scalability, Privacy, and Interoperability & Data Integrity. Among these, scalability is the earliest scenario for ZK technology, achieving high TPS and low-cost trusted scaling by moving transaction execution off-chain and verifying results on-chain with short proofs.

The evolution of ZK trusted computing can be summarized as L2 zkRollup → zkVM → zkCoprocessor → L1 zkEVM. Early L2 zkRollup moved execution to layer two and submitted validity proofs on layer one, achieving high throughput and low-cost scaling with minimal changes. zkVM then expanded into a general verifiable computing layer, supporting cross-chain verification, AI inference, and cryptographic computation (representative projects: Risc Zero, Succinct, Brevis Pico). zkCoprocessor developed in parallel as a scenario-based verification module, providing plug-and-play computation and proof services for DeFi, RWA, risk control, etc. (representative projects: Brevis, Axiom).

In 2025, the concept of zkEVM extended to L1 Real-time Proving (RTP), constructing verifiable circuits at the EVM instruction level, allowing zero-knowledge proofs to be directly integrated into the execution and verification processes of the Ethereum mainnet, becoming a natively verifiable execution mechanism. This trajectory reflects a technological leap for blockchain from "scalable" to "verifiable," ushering in a new phase of trusted computing.

### I. Ethereum zkEVM Scaling Path: From L2 Rollup to L1 Real-time Proving

The scaling path of Ethereum's zkEVM has gone through two stages:

Stage One (2022–2024): L2 zkRollup moves execution to layer two and submits validity proofs on layer one; this significantly reduces costs and increases throughput but leads to liquidity and state fragmentation, with L1 still constrained by N-of-N re-execution.

Stage Two (2025–): L1 Real-time Proving (RTP) replaces re-execution with "1-of-N proof + lightweight verification across the network," enhancing throughput without sacrificing decentralization, and is still evolving.

L2 zkRollup Stage: Balancing Compatibility and Scalability Performance

In 2022, during a flourishing phase of Layer 2 ecosystems, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin proposed the ZK-EVM Four Types Classification (Type 1–4), systematically revealing the structural trade-offs between compatibility and performance. This framework established a clear coordinate system for subsequent zkRollup technology routes:

Type 1 Fully Equivalent: Consistent with Ethereum bytecode, lowest migration cost, slowest proof. Taiko.
Type 2 Fully Compatible: Minimal underlying optimization, strongest compatibility. Scroll, Linea.
Type 2.5 Nearly Compatible: Minor changes (gas/precompilation, etc.) for performance. Polygon zkEVM, Kakarot.
Type 3 Partially Compatible: Larger changes, can run most applications but difficult to fully reuse L1 infrastructure. zkSync Era.
Type 4 Language Level: Abandon bytecode compatibility, directly compile from high-level languages to circuits, optimal performance but requires ecosystem reconstruction (representative: Starknet / Cairo).

The current L2 zkRollup model has matured: by migrating execution to layer two and submitting validity proofs on layer one, it has become the mainstream solution for scaling and cost reduction with minimal changes to the Ethereum ecosystem and toolchain. Its proof targets are L2 blocks and state transitions, while settlement and security remain anchored in L1. This architecture significantly enhances throughput and efficiency while maintaining high compatibility for developers, but it also brings liquidity and state fragmentation, and L1 is still limited by the N-of-N re-execution bottleneck.

L1 zkEVM: Real-time Proving Reshapes Ethereum's Lightweight Verification Logic

In July 2025, the Ethereum Foundation published an article titled "Shipping an L1 zkEVM #1: Realtime Proving," officially proposing the L1 zkEVM route. L1 zkEVM upgrades Ethereum from N-of-N re-execution to 1-of-N proof + rapid verification across the network: a few provers generate short proofs for the entire EVM state transition, and all validators only perform constant-time verification. This solution achieves L1-level real-time proving (Realtime Proving) without sacrificing decentralization, enhancing the mainnet's gas limit and throughput while significantly lowering the hardware requirements for nodes. The implementation plan is to replace traditional execution clients with zk clients, running in parallel initially, and gradually becoming the new norm at the protocol layer as performance, security, and incentive mechanisms mature.

Old N of N Paradigm: All validators repeatedly execute the entire transaction block for verification, secure but limited throughput and high peak fees.

New 1 of N Paradigm: A few provers execute the entire block and produce short proofs; the entire network only performs constant-time verification. Verification costs are far lower than re-execution, allowing for a secure increase in L1 gas limits and reduced hardware requirements.

Three Main Lines of the L1 zkEVM Roadmap

Real-time Proving: Complete the entire block proof within a 12-second slot time, compressing latency through parallelization and hardware acceleration;
Client and Protocol Integration: Standardize proof verification interfaces, initially optional, then default;
Incentives and Security: Establish a prover market and fee model, strengthening resistance to censorship and network activity.

Ethereum's L1 Real-time Proving (RTP) uses zkVM to re-execute the entire transaction off-chain and generate cryptographic proofs, allowing validators to verify a small proof within 10 seconds without recalculating, thus achieving "verification instead of execution," significantly enhancing Ethereum's scalability and trustless verification efficiency. According to the official zkEVM Tracker page of the Ethereum Foundation, the main teams participating in the L1 zkEVM real-time proving route currently include SP1 Turbo (Succinct Labs), Pico (Brevis), Risc Zero, ZisK, Airbender (zkSync), OpenVM (Axiom), and Jolt (a16z).

### II. Beyond Ethereum: General zkVM and zkCoprocessor

Outside the Ethereum ecosystem, Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology has also extended into the broader field of general verifiable computing, forming two core technology systems centered around zkVM and zkCoprocessor.

zkVM: General Verifiable Computing Layer

A verifiable execution engine for arbitrary programs, common instruction set architectures include RISC-V, MIPS, and WASM. Developers can compile business logic to zkVM, where provers execute off-chain and generate zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) that can be verified on-chain, applicable for block proofs on Ethereum L1, as well as cross-chain verification, AI inference, cryptographic computation, and complex algorithms. Its advantages lie in its generality and wide adaptability, but it has complex circuits and high proof costs, requiring reliance on multiple GPUs and strong engineering optimization. Representative projects include Risc Zero, Succinct SP1, Brevis Pico / Prism.

zkCoprocessor: Scenario-based Verifiable Module

Provides "plug-and-play" computation and proof services for specific business scenarios. The platform pre-configures data access and circuit logic (such as reading historical on-chain data, TVL, yield settlement, identity verification, etc.), allowing application parties to obtain computation results and proof for on-chain consumption through SDK/API calls. This model is quick to get started, performs well, and is cost-effective, but has limited generality. Typical projects include Brevis zkCoprocessor, Axiom, etc.

Overall, both zkVM and zkCoprocessor follow the trusted computing paradigm of "off-chain computation + on-chain verification," using zero-knowledge proofs to verify off-chain results on-chain. Their economic logic is based on the premise that the cost of direct execution on-chain is far higher than the combined cost of off-chain proof generation and on-chain verification.

In terms of generality and engineering complexity, the key differences between the two are:

zkVM is a general computing infrastructure suitable for complex, cross-domain, or AI scenarios, offering the highest flexibility;
zkCoprocessor is a modular verification service providing low-cost, directly callable verification interfaces for high-frequency reusable scenarios (DeFi, RWA, risk control, etc.).

In terms of commercial pathways, the differences between zkVM and zkCoprocessor are:

zkVM adopts a Proving-as-a-Service model, charging per proof (ZKP), primarily targeting infrastructure clients like L2 Rollup. Its characteristics include large contract sizes, long cycles, and stable gross margins.

In contrast, zkCoprocessor focuses on Proof API-as-a-Service, charging per task through API calls or SDK integration, which is closer to a SaaS model, targeting application layer protocols like DeFi, with quick integration and strong scalability.

Overall, zkVM serves as the underlying engine for verifiable computing, while zkCoprocessor acts as an application layer verification module: the former builds a technological moat, and the latter drives commercialization, together forming a universal trusted computing network.

### III. Brevis's Product Landscape and Technical Path

Starting from Ethereum's L1 Real-time Proving (RTP), ZK technology is gradually moving towards an era of verifiable computing centered around the general zkVM and zkCoprocessor architecture. Brevis Network is a fusion of zkVM and zkCoprocessor, building a general verifiable computing infrastructure centered on zero-knowledge computation, combining high performance and programmability—The Infinite Compute Layer for Everything.

3.1 Pico zkVM: Modular Proof Architecture for General Verifiable Computing

In 2024, Vitalik proposed the "General Execution Layer + Coprocessor Acceleration Layer" (glue & coprocessor) architecture in "Glue and Coprocessor Architectures." Complex computations can be split into general business logic and structured intensive computations—the former pursues flexibility (like EVM, Python, RISC-V), while the latter focuses on efficiency (like GPU, ASIC, hash modules). This architecture is becoming a common trend in blockchain, AI, and cryptographic computing: EVM speeds up through precompilation, AI leverages GPU parallelism, and ZK proofs combine general VMs with dedicated circuits. The key for the future is to optimize security and developer experience in the "glue layer," while the "coprocessor layer" focuses on efficient execution, achieving a balance between performance, security, and openness.

Pico zkVM, developed by Brevis, is a representative implementation of this concept. By combining "general zkVM + coprocessor acceleration" architecture, it integrates flexible programmability with high-performance computation from dedicated circuits. Its modular design supports multiple proof backends (KoalaBear, BabyBear, Mersenne31) and allows for the free combination of execution, recursion, compression, and other components to form ProverChain.

Pico's modular system not only allows for the free reorganization of core components but also introduces new proof backends and application-level coprocessors (such as on-chain data, zkML, cross-chain verification), achieving continuously evolving scalability. Developers can directly use the Rust toolchain to write business logic, automatically generating cryptographic proofs without needing a background in zero-knowledge, significantly lowering the development threshold.

Compared to the relatively monolithic RISC-V zkVM architecture of Succinct SP1 and the general RISC-V execution model of Risc Zero R0VM, Pico achieves decoupling and expansion of execution, recursion, and compression phases through the Modular zkVM + Coprocessor System, supporting multi-backend switching and coprocessor integration, forming differentiated advantages in performance and scalability.

3.2 Pico Prism: Performance Breakthrough of Multi-GPU Clusters

Pico Prism represents an important breakthrough for Brevis in multi-server GPU architecture and has set new records under the Ethereum Foundation's "Real-Time Proving (RTP)" framework. It achieved an average proof time of 6.9 seconds and a 96.8% RTP coverage rate on a 64×5090 GPU cluster, ranking first among similar zkVMs. This system has optimized architecture, engineering, hardware, and system levels, marking the transition of zkVM from research prototypes to production-grade infrastructure.

Architecture Design: Traditional zkVMs (like SP1, R0VM) primarily rely on single-machine GPU optimization. Pico Prism is the first to achieve parallel proofing across multiple servers and GPUs (Cluster-Level zkProving), expanding zk proofing into a distributed computing system through multithreading and sharding scheduling, significantly enhancing parallelism and scalability.

Engineering Implementation: It constructs a multi-stage asynchronous pipeline (Execution / Recursion / Compression) and cross-layer data reuse mechanisms (proof chunk caching and embedding reuse), supporting multi-backend switching (KoalaBear, BabyBear, M31), significantly improving throughput efficiency.

Hardware Strategy: With a configuration of 64×RTX 5090 GPUs (approximately $128K), Pico Prism achieves an average proof time of 6.0–6.9 seconds and a 96.8% RTP coverage rate, improving the performance/cost ratio by about 3.4 times, outperforming SP1 Hypercube (160×4090 GPUs, 10.3 seconds).

System Evolution: As the first zkVM to meet the Ethereum Foundation's RTP criteria (>96% sub-10s, $100K cost), Pico Prism signifies the transition of zk proof systems from research prototypes to mainnet-level production infrastructure, providing more economical zero-knowledge computing solutions for Rollup, DeFi, AI, and cross-chain verification scenarios.

3.3 ZK Data Coprocessor: Blockchain Data Intelligent Zero-Knowledge Coprocessor Layer

The native design of smart contracts "lacks memory"—unable to access historical data, recognize long-term behaviors, or perform cross-chain analysis. Brevis provides a high-performance zero-knowledge coprocessor (ZK Coprocessor) that offers smart contracts access to cross-chain historical data and trusted computing capabilities, verifying and computing all historical states, transactions, and events on the blockchain, applicable to data-driven DeFi, proactive liquidity management, user incentives, and cross-chain identity recognition scenarios.

Brevis's workflow includes three steps:

Data Access: Smart contracts read historical data trustlessly via API;
Computation Execution: Developers define business logic using the SDK, with Brevis performing off-chain computation and generating ZK proofs;
Result Verification: The proof results are sent back on-chain, verified by the contract, and subsequent logic is invoked.

Brevis supports both Pure-ZK and CoChain (OP) models: the former achieves complete trust minimization but at a higher cost; the latter allows for verifiable computation at a lower cost through PoS verification and ZK challenge mechanisms. Validators stake on Ethereum, and if the results are successfully challenged by ZK proofs, they will be penalized, thus achieving a balance between security and efficiency. By integrating ZK + PoS + SDK architecture, Brevis strikes a balance between security and efficiency, building a scalable trusted data computation layer. Currently, Brevis has served protocols like PancakeSwap, Euler, Usual, and Linea, with all zkCoprocessor collaborations based on the Pure-ZK model, providing trusted data support for DeFi, reward distribution, and on-chain identity systems, enabling smart contracts to truly possess "memory and intelligence."

3.4 Incentra: ZK-Based "Verifiable Incentive Distribution Layer"

Incentra is a trusted incentive distribution platform driven by Brevis zkCoprocessor, providing DeFi protocols with secure, transparent, and verifiable reward calculation and distribution mechanisms. It directly verifies incentive results on-chain through zero-knowledge proofs, achieving trustless, low-cost, and cross-chain incentive execution. The system completes reward calculation and verification within ZK circuits, ensuring that any user can independently verify the results; it also supports cross-chain operations and access control, enabling compliant and secure automated incentive distribution.

Incentra primarily supports three types of incentive models:

Token Holding: Calculates long-term holding rewards based on ERC-20 time-weighted balances (TWA);
Concentrated Liquidity: Distributes liquidity rewards based on AMM DEX fee ratios, compatible with ALM protocols like Gamma and Beefy;
Lend & Borrow: Calculates lending rewards based on average balances and debts.

This system has been applied to projects like PancakeSwap, Euler, Usual, and Linea, achieving a full-chain trusted closed loop from incentive calculation to distribution, providing ZK-level verifiable incentive infrastructure for DeFi protocols.

3.5 Overview of Brevis Product Technology Stack

### IV. Brevis zkVM Technical Indicators and Performance Breakthroughs

The L1 zkEVM real-time proving standard (RTP) proposed by the Ethereum Foundation (EF) has become the industry consensus and entry threshold for zkVM to enter the Ethereum mainnet verification route. Its core evaluation indicators include:

Latency Requirement: P99 ≤ 10 seconds (matching Ethereum's 12-second block cycle);
Hardware Constraints: CAPEX ≤ $100K, power consumption ≤ 10kW (suitable for home/small server rooms);

Security Level: ≥128-bit (transitional period ≥100-bit);

Proof Size: ≤300 KiB;

System Requirements: Must not rely on trusted setup, core code must be fully open source.

In October 2025, Brevis released the report "Pico Prism — 99.6% Real-Time Proving for 45M Gas Ethereum Blocks on Consumer Hardware", announcing that its Pico Prism became the first zkVM to fully pass the Ethereum Foundation (EF) Real-Time Block Proving (RTP) standard.

With a configuration of 64×RTX 5090 GPUs (approximately $128K), Pico Prism achieved an average latency of 6.9 seconds, 96.8% within 10 seconds, and 99.6% within 12 seconds for 45M gas blocks, significantly outperforming Succinct SP1 Hypercube (36M gas, average time 10.3s, 40.9% within 10s). With a 71% reduction in latency and halved hardware costs, the overall performance/cost efficiency improved by approximately 3.4×. This achievement has been publicly recognized by the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik Buterin, and Justin Drake.

### V. Brevis Ecosystem Expansion and Application Implementation

Brevis's ZK Data Coprocessor (zkCoprocessor) is responsible for handling complex computations that dApps cannot efficiently complete (such as historical behavior, cross-chain data, and aggregate analysis) and generating verifiable zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). On-chain, only this small proof needs to be verified to safely call the results, significantly reducing gas, latency, and trust costs. Compared to traditional oracles, Brevis provides not just "results," but also "mathematical guarantees of result correctness." Its main application scenarios can be categorized as follows:

Intelligent DeFi: Based on historical behavior and market conditions, achieving intelligent incentives and differentiated experiences (PancakeSwap, Uniswap, MetaMask, etc.)
RWA & Stable Token Growth: Automating the distribution of stablecoin and RWA yields through ZK verification (OpenEden, Usual Money, MetaMask USD)
DEX with Dark Pools: A privacy trading model using off-chain matching and on-chain verification, set to launch soon
Cross-chain Interoperability: Supporting cross-chain re-staking and Rollup–L1 interoperability, building a shared security layer (Kernel, Celer, 0G)
Blockchain Bootstrap: Using ZK incentive mechanisms to assist new blockchain ecosystems in cold start and growth (Linea, TAC)
100× Faster L1s: Promoting performance improvements for public chains like Ethereum through real-time proving (Ethereum, BNB Chain)
Verifiable AI: Integrating privacy protection and verifiable reasoning to provide trusted computing power for AgentFi and the data economy (Kaito, Trusta)

According to data from Brevis Explorer, as of October 2025, the Brevis network has generated over 125 million ZK proofs, covering nearly 95,000 addresses and 96,000 application requests, widely serving scenarios such as reward distribution, transaction verification, and staking proof. On the ecosystem level, the platform has distributed incentives totaling approximately $223 million, supporting a TVL of over $2.8 billion, with related transaction volumes exceeding $1 billion.

Currently, Brevis's ecosystem business mainly focuses on two directions: DeFi incentive distribution and liquidity optimization. The core computational consumption is contributed by four projects: Usual Money, PancakeSwap, Linea Ignition, and Incentra, collectively accounting for over 85%. Among them:

Usual Money (46.6M proofs): Demonstrates its long-term stability in large-scale incentive distribution;
PancakeSwap (20.6M): Reflects Brevis's high performance in real-time fee and discount calculations;
Linea Ignition (20.4M): Validates its high concurrency processing capability in L2 ecosystem activities;
Incentra (15.2%): Marks Brevis's evolution from SDK tools to a standardized incentive platform.

In the DeFi incentive field, Brevis supports multiple protocols through the Incentra platform to achieve transparent and continuous reward distribution:

Usual Money's annual incentive scale exceeds $300 million, providing continuous returns for stablecoin users and LPs;
OpenEden and Bedrock achieve U.S. Treasury and Restaking yield distribution based on the CPI model;
Protocols like Euler, Aave, and BeraBorrow use ZK verification for lending position and reward calculations.

In terms of liquidity optimization, PancakeSwap, QuickSwap, THENA, and Beefy utilize Brevis's dynamic fee and ALM incentive plugins to achieve trading discounts and cross-chain yield aggregation; Jojo Exchange and Uniswap Foundation leverage ZK verification mechanisms to build a more secure trading incentive system.

At the cross-chain and infrastructure level, Brevis has expanded from Ethereum to BNB Chain, Linea, Kernel DAO, TAC, and 0G, providing trusted computing and cross-chain verification capabilities for multi-chain ecosystems. Meanwhile, projects like Trusta AI, Kaito AI, and MetaMask are using the ZK Data Coprocessor to build privacy-protecting points, influence scoring, and reward systems, promoting the intelligent development of Web3 data. At the system level, Brevis relies on the EigenLayer AVS network to provide re-staking security guarantees and combines NEBRA aggregation proof (UPA) technology to compress multiple ZK proofs into a single submission, significantly reducing on-chain verification costs and latency.

Overall, Brevis has covered the entire cycle of application scenarios from long-term incentives, activity rewards, transaction verification to platform services. Its high-frequency verification tasks and reusable circuit templates provide real performance pressure and optimization feedback for Pico/Prism, which is expected to feed back into the L1 zkVM real-time proving system at both engineering and ecosystem levels, forming a bidirectional flywheel of technology and application.

### VI. Team Background and Project Financing

Mo Dong | Co-founder, Brevis Network

Dr. Mo Dong is the co-founder of Brevis Network, holding a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research has been published in top international academic conferences, adopted by tech companies like Google, and has received thousands of academic citations. He is an expert in algorithmic game theory and protocol mechanism design, focusing on promoting the integration of zero-knowledge computation (ZK) and decentralized incentive mechanisms, dedicated to building a trusted Verifiable Compute Economy. As a venture partner at IOSG Ventures, he has also been involved in early investments in Web3 infrastructure.

The Brevis team was founded by Ph.D. graduates in cryptography and computer science from UIUC, MIT, and UC Berkeley, with core members having years of research experience in zero-knowledge proof systems (ZKP) and distributed systems, publishing multiple peer-reviewed papers. Brevis has received technical recognition from the Ethereum Foundation, with its core modules regarded as key on-chain scalability infrastructure.

Brevis completed a $7.5 million seed round of financing in November 2024, co-led by Polychain Capital and Binance Labs, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Nomad Capital, HashKey, Bankless Ventures, and strategic angel investors from Kyber, Babylon, Uniswap, Arbitrum, and AltLayer.

### VII. ZKVM and ZK Coprocessor Market Competitor Analysis

Currently, the Ethereum Foundation-supported ETHProofs.org has become the core tracking platform for L1 zkEVM Real-Time Proving (RTP) routes, publicly showcasing the performance, security, and mainnet adaptation progress of various zkVMs.

Overall, the competition in the RTP track is focusing on four core dimensions:

Maturity: SP1 has the most mature production deployment; Pico leads in performance and is close to mainnet standards; RISC Zero is stable but has not publicly disclosed RTP data.
Performance: Pico's proof size is approximately 990 kB, about 33% smaller than SP1 (1.48 MB), with lower costs;
Security and Auditing: Both RISC Zero and SP1 have passed independent security audits; Pico is currently undergoing the auditing process;
Development Ecosystem: Mainstream zkVMs adopt the RISC-V instruction set, with SP1 forming a broad integrated ecosystem based on the Succinct Rollup SDK; Pico supports Rust for automatic proof generation, with rapid improvement in SDK completeness.

From the latest data, the RTP track has formed a "two-strong pattern."

The first tier includes Brevis Pico (including Prism) and Succinct SP1 Hypercube, both targeting the EF-set P99 ≤ 10s standard. The former achieves performance and cost breakthroughs through a distributed multi-GPU architecture; the latter maintains engineering maturity and ecosystem robustness with a monolithic system. Pico represents performance and architectural innovation, while SP1 represents practicality and ecosystem leadership.

The second tier includes RISC Zero, ZisK, and ZKM, which continue to explore ecosystem compatibility and lightweight solutions but have not yet publicly disclosed complete RTP metrics (latency, power consumption, CAPEX, security bits, proof size, reproducibility). Scroll (Ceno) and Matter Labs (Airbender) are attempting to extend Rollup technology to L1 verification layers, reflecting an evolutionary trend from L2 scaling to L1 verifiable computing.

In 2025, the zkVM track has formed a technical landscape characterized by unified RISC-V, modular evolution, recursive standardization, and hardware-accelerated parallelism. The general verifiable compute layer (Verifiable Compute Layer) of zkVM can be divided into three categories:

Performance-oriented: Brevis Pico, SP1, Jolt, and ZisK focus on low latency and real-time proving, enhancing computational throughput through recursive STARK and GPU acceleration.
Modular and Scalable: OpenVM, Pico, and SP1 emphasize modular plug-and-play, supporting coprocessor integration.
Ecosystem and General Development: RISC Zero, SP1, and ZisK focus on SDK and language compatibility, promoting universality.

Comparison of zkVM competing projects (as of October 2025)

Currently, the zk-Coprocessor track has formed a pattern represented by Brevis, Axiom, Herodotus, and Lagrange. Among them, Brevis leads with its "ZK Data Coprocessor + General zkVM" integrated architecture, combining historical data reading, programmable computation, and L1 RTP capabilities; Axiom focuses on verifiable queries and circuit callbacks; Herodotus specializes in historical state access; Lagrange optimizes cross-chain computing performance with a ZK+Optimistic hybrid architecture. Overall, zk-Coprocessor is becoming a trusted computing interface connecting applications in DeFi, RWA, AI, identity, and more through a "verifiable service layer."

### VIII. Summary: Business Logic, Engineering Implementation, and Potential Risks

Business Logic: Performance-Driven and Dual-Flywheel

Brevis builds a multi-chain trusted computing layer with "General zkVM (Pico/Prism)" and "Data Coprocessor (zkCoprocessor)"; the former addresses any computable verifiable problem, while the latter realizes the business landing of historical and cross-chain data.

Its growth logic forms a positive cycle of "performance-ecosystem-cost": The RTP performance of Pico Prism attracts top protocols for integration, leading to an increase in proof scale and a decrease in per-instance costs, creating a continuously reinforced dual-flywheel. The competitive advantages mainly lie in three points:

Reproducible Performance — Already included in the Ethereum Foundation's ETHProofs RTP system;
Architectural Barriers — Modular design and multi-GPU parallelism achieve high scalability;
Commercial Validation — Scaled landing in incentive distribution, dynamic rates, and cross-chain verification.

Engineering Implementation: From "Heavy Execution" to "Verification Instead of Execution"

Brevis achieves an average of 6.9 seconds and P99 of 10 seconds in 45M gas blocks through the parallel framework of Pico zkVM and Prism (64×5090 GPU, $130K CAPEX), leading in both performance and cost. The zkCoprocessor module supports historical data reading, circuit generation, and back-link verification, and can flexibly switch between Pure-ZK and Hybrid modes, with overall performance basically aligned with Ethereum's RTP hard standards.

Potential Risks and Points of Concern

Technical and Compliance Barriers: Brevis still needs to publicly disclose and obtain third-party verification for hard metrics such as power consumption, security bits, proof size, and reliance on trusted setups. Long-tail performance optimization remains key, and EIP adjustments may change performance bottlenecks.
Competition and Substitution Risks: Succinct (SP1/Hypercube) still leads in toolchain and ecosystem integration, and the competitiveness of teams like Risc Zero, Axiom, OpenVM, Scroll, and zkSync should not be underestimated.
Revenue Concentration and Business Structure: Currently, proof volume is highly concentrated (the top four applications account for about 80%), necessitating expansion through multiple industries, public chains, and use cases to reduce dependency. GPU costs may impact unit gross margins.

Overall, Brevis has built an initial moat on both "reproducible performance" and "business landing": Pico/Prism has firmly established itself in the first tier of the L1 RTP track, while the zkCoprocessor opens up high-frequency, reusable commercialization scenarios. In the future, it is recommended to achieve the Ethereum Foundation's full set of hard RTP metrics as a phased goal, continuously strengthening the standardization of coprocessor products and ecosystem expansion, while promoting third-party reproducibility, security audits, and cost transparency. By achieving structural balance between infrastructure and SaaS revenue, a sustainable business growth loop can be formed.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。