A groundbreaking technology called ZK compression has been introduced directly on the Solana Layer 1 (L1) protocol. This move will transform the Solana network in terms of scalability while slashing the cost of computations in the ecosystem.
Key Highlights of ZK Compression
Mert Mumtaz, the co-founder and CEO of Helius, a Solana infrastructure application, says the essence of the innovation is the compression of on-chain state which will result in a staggering 10,000 times improvement in scale.
the big news is here
today we’re introducing ZK compression to Solana, directly on the L1 — without requiring L2s
this changes everything you thought you knew about Solana and scaling L1s
TL;DR — we compress onchain state to get 10,000x scale improvements and get 1 step closer… pic.twitter.com/7FtyLA3Jdp
— mert | helius | hSOL (@0xMert_) June 21, 2024
Mumtaz asserts that this brings us closer to creating The Financial Computer — an unstoppable, global, atomic state machine that synchronizes at the speed of light. For developers, this means the ability to build and scale virtually any application directly on Solana without the need for Layer 2 solutions.
He gave a vivid example of how the ZK compression would slash costs. Prior to ZK, the cost of an airdrop to 1,000,000 users amounts to over $260,000 for the state alone. However, with ZK compression, the cost plummets to just $50 — a reduction that is about 5,200 times lower.
It implies that all aspects of the Solana network can benefit from this scaling enhancement.
Technical Insights and Cost Efficiency
Two notable costs for developers on the Solana network are compute and state. While computing has always been inexpensive on Solana, the state has remained very costly. The allocation of accounts, paying rent, and scaling with user growth have been significant obstacles for Solana developers.
Mumtaz maintains that with ZK compression, these issues are resolved by compressing the entire Solana state. This growth naturally requires hardware to function optimally and Mumtaz is confident that any challenge so related is surmountable.
He is optimistic that when ZK compression gets combined with other innovations like Firedancer, multiple concurrent leaders, asynchronous execution, and an ecosystem of thousands of exceptionally talented developers, Solana has a real opportunity to advance the crypto industry significantly.
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