Case Study: How Fermah Proves Blocks for ZKsync

Fermah is working with leading crypto projects as customers of our universal proof market. Our partnership with ZKsync is a perfect example of this. This partnership illustrates how Fermah not only decentralizes proving for one of the largest producers of ZK proofs today, but also helps take its economics and scalability to the next level.

Check out this post to dive into the technical details of how we are proving blocks for ZKsync.

But First, What is Fermah? 

Fermah is a universal proof market. 

Specifically, Fermah is a two-sided marketplace for proof generation. The supply side consists of machines such as CPUs and GPUs. It is bootstrapped with EigenLayer Operators. On the demand side, Fermah can generate proofs for any instance in which ZK is used.

The Fermah Matchmaker aligns supply and demand, routing workloads efficiently while ensuring competitive pricing. It can handle any workflow, regardless of complexity. The network’s lean mechanism design and intelligent orchestration keep machines well-utilized, so proving remains cheap and fast.

Together, these pieces make Fermah a universal layer for proof generation — any proof system, any chain, any VM, any scale.

ZKsync and Fermah: A Powerful Integration

By proving blocks for ZKsync, we are demonstrating how we can prove some of the most complex ZK workflows that are in production today. This integration demonstrates that the Fermah network can support real-world use cases, end-to-end and at scale.

By integrating with Fermah, ZKsync’s Elastic Network achieves strong proof generation infrastructure that:

• Increases Resilience: Shifting away from reliance on a single proving entity enhances decentralization and censorship resistance.
• Lowers Costs: Efficient resource allocation and competitive pricing within Fermah's universal proof market drive down proof generation costs.
• Enhances Scalability: A dynamic market matching proof demand with supply at optimal prices allows ZKsync to scale efficiently without bottlenecks.

This integration demonstrates that proof markets are both economically viable and technically robust.

Let's peek under the hood to see how this works.

Peeking Under the Hood

Before ZKsync integrated Fermah to prove block, its proving workflow looked like this:

You can check out the detailed proving flow from Matter Labs.

Since integrating Fermah, you can see ZKsync's reframed proving flow:

If you look at Diagram 1, then you'll see it has actors passing messages along. These need to exist, be hosted, have APIs, and have defined behaviors. With Fermah, the actor is abstracted into a function call. 

The improvements here come from a conceptual transformation in how Fermah thinks about proof generation as opposed to ZKsync's prior model.

Before, preexisting actors spoke to each other in complex ways, reacting to received data and then sending it to other actors. The focus was primarily on actors and their interactions.

Now, actors are only spawned on demand, leading to a pure flow. The new focus is on data and computation.

Our workflow system, which we will elaborate on in time, paired with our on-demand compute capabilities, allow ZKsync to simplify their existing computational processes. By integrating Fermah, ZKsync's proving becomes cheaper, faster, simpler, and more scalable.

Come Build the Future With Us

You don't need to worry about the complexities of proving. Fermah allows you to just focus on building innovative products.

Ready to get started?

Fill out this form, and our team will reach out to set you up. We’ll also create a dedicated Telegram chat to ensure you have direct access to our support team whenever you need it.

For more technical details, explore our documentation.

Together, let’s bring moon math to the masses!

‍