What is Succinct (PROVE)

I. Project Introduction

1. What Is Succinct?

Succinct ($PROVE) is a decentralized prover network that connects ZK proof requesters (such as rollups, cross-chain bridges, and AI applications) with a global network of provers that supply computational power.

2. How Does Succinct Work?

Core components and features are as follows:

1) Succinct Prover Network: It is a protocol built on Ethereum designed to create a decentralized marketplace for generating zero-knowledge proofs. It allows any application (from blockchains and ZK rollups to gaming) to obtain proofs from a distributed set of provers. The network architecture is designed as a vApp that can process settlements on Ethereum. It comprises off-chain components responsible for auctions and proof assignment, and on-chain smart contracts that settle state roots and correctly execute proofs. 1) Off-chain auction service: The auction service is the main off-chain entity that matches users' requests with provers. Requesters submit proof requests along with payments, while provers submit bids to the auction service. The requesters receive the proofs, and the provers receive payments. Since users directly interact with the auction service via RPC calls, they are dealing with a high-performance, real-time system. 2) On-chain settlement contract: The settlement contract processes the settlement of the state roots and zero-knowledge proofs periodically submitted by the auctioneer. These proofs record network state updates by auctioneers, reflecting the submission, cancellation, and fulfillment of requests. The settlement contract also enables users to withdraw funds directly from Ethereum.

2) SP1 (ZK Proof Generator): SP1 is a performant, 100% open-source zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) that allows developers to build real ZKP applications with industry-leading performance using the simple Rust programming language. It allows early partners to integrate ZK proofs in their protocols with minimal development time while obtaining fast and low-cost proofs. On May 20, 2025, Succinct announced SP1 Hypercube in its official blog, which delivers real-time proofs for Ethereum. SP1 Hypercube achieves optimal latency and cost efficiency, outperforming SP1 Turbo by 5x and generating proofs for over 93% of Ethereum blocks within 12 seconds.

3. Who Founded Succinct?

1) Uma Roy: Co-Founder & CEO, former founding engineer at Gantry (ML model monitoring platform), Google Brain AI Resident, software engineer intern at Elementl, quantitative research intern at Citadel LLC, and computational biology research intern at D. E. Shaw Research. He holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Master's degree in Computer Science from MIT.

2) John Guibas: Co-Founder, former research assistant at Stanford University School of Engineering, and research intern at NVIDIA. He graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.

3) Eli Yang: Head of Operations, formerly worked in Business Operations at Paradigm, M&A at Thrasio, and interned at Xwing. He graduated from MIT.

4) Kshitij Kulkarnil: Head of Protocol Research, former researcher at Gauntlet, proprietary trading intern at D. E. Shaw Group, and trading intern at Citadel LLC. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Funding:

-On March 22, 2024, Succinct announced it had raised $55 million in funding ($12 million in a seed round + $43 million in Series A), led by Paradigm. Other investors included Robot Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Geometry, ZK Validator, as well as angel investors such as Sreeram Kannan from Eigenlayer, Sandeep Nailwal and Daniel Lubarov from Polygon, and Elad Gil.

4. Succinct Tokenomics

Total supply of PROVE: 1 billion tokens. Token allocation is as follows:

Public Allocation and Future Incentives: 25%.

Succinct Foundation: 10%.

Ecosystem & R&D: 25%.

Investors: 10.5%; tokens are subject to a one-year lockup, after which 1/4 is unlocked, with the remaining tokens released semiannually over the next 36 months, for a total vesting period of 4 years.

Contributors (members of the Succinct Labs team and future core contributors): 29.5%; tokens are subject to a one-year lockup, after which 1/4 is unlocked, with the remaining tokens released semiannually over the next 36 months, for a total vesting period of 4 years.

5. Token Utility

Within the Succinct ecosystem, $PROVE plays three core roles:

1) Payment: $PROVE serves as the medium of exchange in the network, facilitating transactions between developers and provers. Developers pay for proof generation services in $PROVE, while provers earn $PROVE as rewards for delivering valid and timely proofs.

2) Collateralization Security: $PROVE can be staked to provide economic security in the protocol. Provers must stake $PROVE as collateral to guarantee timely proof submission. Failure to submit proofs on time results in token slashing, thereby ensuring aligned incentives and maintaining network reliability. Similar to delegated proof-of-stake (dPoS), token holders who are not provers can delegate their staked tokens to provers to contribute additional economic security for reliable proof delivery.

3) Governance: $PROVE grants governance rights to stakers, enabling them to actively participate in decentralized decision-making.​

II. Token Information

III. Related Links