Ethereum Completes Another Key Technical Advancement, Can It Achieve a Leap Forward by 2026?
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has announced a major technical breakthrough in zkEVM development, achieving a dramatic reduction in block proof generation time—from 16 minutes to just 16 seconds—with a 45-fold decrease in cost. Certain zkVMs can now prove 99% of mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds on target hardware.
However, EF emphasizes that raw speed is meaningless without proven security. Several mathematical conjectures underlying popular STARK-based zkEVMs have recently been disproven, reducing their security guarantees. The core focus has now shifted from throughput to provable safety, with L1 zkEVMs required to meet a 128-bit security standard to prevent risks like token forgery or state corruption.
EF released a three-phase roadmap aiming for full compliance by December 2026:
1. By end-February 2026, all zkEVM teams must integrate with EF’s soundcalc security tool.
2. By end-May, achieve intermediate goals like 100-bit provable security.
3. By end-December, reach 128-bit provable security with formal verification of recursive proof systems.
Key technologies like WHIR and JaggedPCS are being deployed to improve efficiency. Challenges remain, including on-chain implementation, dynamic security parameter adjustments, and uneven progress among teams.
Once achieved, secure zkEVMs could allow Ethereum to increase gas limits safely, enhance L1 capacity, and blur the lines between L1 and L2 execution. The race for reliability is now the central theme for Ethereum in 2026.
marsbit12/22 09:17
