ZKsync Launches Airbender, a High-Speed, General-Purpose ZK Prover

TL;DR

• Airbender delivers the fastest open-source RISC-V zk proofs,sub-second verification for ZKsync blocks, and full proofs in just 3 seconds on a single GPU, boasting a 4–6× speed gain.
• Proving Ethereum blocks now takes under 35 seconds (17 seconds in lean mode) on one H100, no 50–160 GPU farms required, slashing proof costs to ~$0.0001 and unlocking micropayments, HFT, and real-time dApps.
• Built for consumer hardware and powered by ZKsync OS’s modular zkVM, Airbender enables home-proving, light-client proofs, and broad adoption across new ZKsync chains, fueling low-latency blockchain use cases.

ZKsync is attracting attention with Airbender, its latest high-performance zero-knowledge prover developed on a RISC-V zkVM. Unveiled today, Airbender shatters existing benchmarks and paves the way for truly decentralized, real-time blockchain applications without the need for massive GPU farms.

Ready to prove Ethereum in seconds on a single GPU?

Introducing ZKsync Airbender:

The world’s fastest open-source RISC-V zkVM ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/8OZBmhUjRo

— ZKsync (∎, ∆) (@zksync) June 24, 2025

Unveiling the World’s Fastest Open-Source Prover

Airbender isn’t just another zkVM, it’s the fastest open-source RISC-V proving system to date. In head-to-head tests against leading competitors, Airbender clocked sub-second proofs for ZKsync blocks and delivered full proofs in just three seconds on a single commodity GPU.

On NVIDIA H100 hardware, it hit a blistering 21.8 million cycles per second at the base layer and 8.5 million end-to-end, representing a 4–6× speed boost over rival systems.

Benchmarking Lightning-Fast Performance

Beyond raw speed, Airbender achieves breakthrough efficiency when proving Ethereum blocks. Using one H100 GPU, average block proofs wrapped up in under 35 seconds, and lean configuration tests proved blocks in a jaw-dropping 17 seconds without recursive steps.

For context, existing setups need 50–160 GPUs to match those results. These performance gains translate directly into lower fees, proof costs drop to around $0.0001 per transfer, unlocking use cases like micropayments, high-frequency trading, and decentralized social apps.

Redefining Real-Time Proving at Home

Airbender’s design brings the dream of home-providing within reach. Developers can generate proofs on consumer-grade hardware, run light clients with the local proof generation, and build dApps that settle transactions in real-time. By combining ZKsync OS, a modular execution environment, with Airbender’s optimized DEEP STARK/FRI architecture, teams can customize proof pipelines for speed, compression, or decentralization.

Expanding the Airbender Ecosystem

All new ZKsync Chains, including Abstract, Sophon, GRVT, Lens, and Memento, will adopt Airbender, reaping immediate savings and speed boosts. Its open-source RISC-V foundation encourages innovators to expand beyond ZKsync: gaming platforms, identity solutions, and decentralized AI networks can incorporate Airbender proofs for reliable, low-latency operations.

While Airbender remains in beta, developers are already testing its flexible proving pipeline, five finely tuned stages from witness commitment to FRI proof generation. With continuous optimizations on the horizon, Airbender is poised to reshape how blockchains prove and settle in the age of zero knowledge.