Succinct introduces zkVM ‘SP1 Hypercube,’ claims real-time Ethereum proving

Paradigm-backed startup Succinct has unveiled SP1 Hypercube, a next-generation zkVM that it claims can generate zero-knowledge proofs for Ethereum blocks in under 12 seconds, crossing a milestone in the race for real-time proving.

Real-time proving is key to Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, boosting Layer 1 throughput, native rollup security, and interoperability without compromising verifiability or decentralization. During internal tests on 10,000 Ethereum mainnet blocks, the system proved 93% of blocks in real time using a cluster of 200 Nvidia RTX 4090 GPUs, with an average proving time of just 10.3 seconds, the team said in a statement shared with The Block.

“Real-time proving is a massive unlock for Ethereum — for three key reasons,” Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake commented on the broader significance of the tech. “First, it enables us to scale the Layer 1 using ZK validators and ZK execution clients. Second, it allows for more secure rollups that don’t rely on multisigs or governance — what we call native rollups. And third, it opens the door to shared sequencing and synchronous composability, paving the way for a more unified Ethereum — where network effects at the Layer 1 can scale across the entire ecosystem, including its Layer 2s.”

Proving latency on Ethereum blocks. Image: Succinct.

Competing with high-throughput chains

Competing with high-throughput chains like Solana often means raising hardware demands on Ethereum’s Layer 1, which can push out home validators, the team explained. Succinct says zero-knowledge proofs avoid this by offloading heavy computation to a smaller number of provers — systems that execute the full process and generate cryptographic proofs showing it was done correctly, without revealing the underlying data — allowing validators to verify the result quickly without redoing the work.

“Real-time proving is the space race of zero knowledge, a technical and symbolic breakthrough that once felt out of reach,” Succinct co-founder and CTO John Guibas said. “A year ago, this was seen as science fiction. Today, it’s open source and generates Ethereum proofs in under 12 seconds. It’s our four-minute mile for ZK.”

In a live demo, Succinct proved Ethereum block 22309250 — containing 143 transactions and consuming 32 million gas — in just 10.8 seconds, generating a 1MB proof in real time. While several teams, including RISC0, Snarkify, and Kakarot, have been actively working toward this goal, Succinct says it’s the first to reach “real-time” sub-12 second speeds.

“Achieving real-time proving required architectural changes at every level of the stack,” Succinct Head of Cryptography Ron Rothblum said. “SP1 Hypercube parallelizes over 600 million RISC-V cycles per block across a purpose-built GPU cluster, coordinated with custom infrastructure designed for latency and fault-tolerance.”

Succinct has open-sourced the SP1 Hypercube verifier and Ethereum prover code, with full deployment planned after an upcoming audit. The company estimates a real-time prover cluster could eventually be built for as little as $100,000 using optimized hardware, making it feasible for broader adoption across Ethereum infrastructure and new zk-based applications.

Earlier on Tuesday, Succinct announced it will launch PROVE as the native token of its prover network — a decentralized protocol on Ethereum for zero-knowledge proofs. In 2024, Succinct Labs, the project’s core developer, raised $55 million in a Series A funding round led by Paradigm.

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