After reading this from Goat Network concerning Ziren zkVM that is powered by ZKM. So in my own understanding. The Ziren zkVM, developed by ZKM, has marked an important discovery in zero knowledge proof technology, achieving an impressive 30x acceleration through GPU processing. This advancement has supported the GOAT Network to deveelop a visionary Bitcoin Layer 2 solution that operates without bridges, ensuring smooth and secured transactions. By utilizing Ziren latest design and optimizations, the GOAT Network has successfully achieved important speed upgrade in key areas such as proof generation, aggregation, and conversion. Consequently, this synergy has enabled the creation of blockchain solutions that are not only secure and scalable but also trusttless, thereby expanding the potential for Bitcoin native applications. Finally, the partnership between Ziren and the GOAT Network has transformed zero knowledge teechnology from creative models to practical, production ready deployments, unlocking fresh avenues for creativityin the blockchain sphere
From zkVM to Bitcoin L2: How Ziren's 30x GPU Acceleration Powers GOAT Network's Bridge-Free Revolution
Despite rapid advancements in zero-knowledge proof (ZK) research, most zkVM projects remain limited to prototypes or small-scale experiments, unable to meet the needs of real-world deployment. On July 7, 2025, ZKM officially released Ziren, the fastest known general-purpose zkVM running on CPU. Ziren is designed not only to improve performance but to fundamentally overcome the practical usability challenges faced by ZK applications.
Built upon zkMIPS, Ziren is no longer just an academic prototype. It represents a comprehensive architectural overhaul, from instruction execution and constraint system redesign to toolchain integration and ecosystem compatibility. This transformation brings zero-knowledge proving systems out of the lab and into production environments.
🔸Why is Ziren the fastest CPU zkVM today?
Ziren achieves industry-leading CPU performance through several key innovations:
• A modular chip-based design that decomposes constraints into composable logic units, covering CPU operations, control flow, memory management, and more.
• Optimized trace data structures that reduce column usage and increase execution efficiency.
• Elimination of redundant constraints and fusion of instructions to simplify circuits and reduce proving time.
These improvements significantly cut down proof generation time and lower resource consumption. Importantly, this solid foundation enables the transition to GPU acceleration—as Ziren can now leverage End-to-end GPU acceleration and deliver up to 30× speedups in core proof, 15× in aggregation, and 30× in BN254 wrap proofs.
🔸How does GOAT Network push Ziren even further?
GOAT Network adopted Ziren early as its core zkRollup execution and proving engine. Building on this, the team implemented full GPU parallelism, achieving remarkable speedups:
• 30 times faster core proof generation,
• 15 times faster aggregation proofs,
• 30 times faster bn254 conversion performance.
This leap in throughput allows zero-knowledge proofs to meet the demands of high-frequency, low-latency blockchain applications, enabling real-world use cases such as real-time verification, state synchronization, and cross-chain messaging within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
🔸Why did GOAT Network choose Ziren?
Building a Bitcoin-native zkRollup demands more than programmability. It requires trustless security and deterministic system-level performance.
GOAT selected Ziren because it satisfies three critical requirements:
• The MIPS instruction set is simpler and more efficient than RISC-V, producing shorter execution traces and reducing proving overhead.
• Ziren is purpose-built for deployment, offering a complete experience from development and testing to on-chain integration.
Together, these features enable GOAT to construct a Bitcoin-native zkRollup that operates without bridges or trusted intermediaries, preserving Bitcoin’s security while introducing Ethereum-like flexibility.
🔸Developer experience: From usable to practical
Ziren’s comprehensive toolchain is central to its usability and deployment.
It supports compilation from Rust and C/C to MIPS, includes LLVM patches that optimize the build process, provides compatibility fixes for instruction-level quirks such as teq, and Golang support is coming soon.
Additionally, Ziren supports Type 1 zkEVM for Ethereum and GOAT Network, enabling seamless integration with existing EVM contract logic.
🔸Conclusion
Ziren is the first truly deployable and developer-friendly zkVM. With GOAT Network’s GPU acceleration, the entire zero-knowledge stack reaches a new level of performance and stability.
Zero-knowledge technology should not be about merely proving “it works.” It must become the foundation of a secure, open, and scalable blockchain future. Ziren and GOAT Network are leading the way.