This post is part of our application to the Decentralised Nodes program.
Hey there,
We are ZKV, a longstanding Polkadot validator. Our mission is to empower teams building the next generation of distributed systems that will transform the internet, with a focus on ZK tech.
This post is for us to present ourselves to the community, to give an overview of our work and to explain why we have been part of the Polkadot ecosystem from the start. We were an early supporter of the Polkadot Ecosystem. Starting in 2019, ZKV was a validator on Kusama, later on Polkadot and we have been running the infra for parachains like Moonbeam since they launched. During this time, we also participated in governance, produced content and educational events for the ecosystem.
Who are we?
ZKV was created in 2019, just as the first major proof-of-stake networks were launching. At the time, validating in distributed systems was a new business, and most validators were infrastructure-centric, competing on reliability and fees. ZKV carved out a unique role in the validator space: to be a mission-driven company that would stand for something bigger.
Our mission is to empower the next generation of projects using ZK to create a fairer internet. Zero Knowledge Proof technology has already proven its transformative potential in cryptocurrencies and web3, underpinning technologies that can bring mainstream adoption. It will be the bedrock of a new generation of projects, extending its impact beyond cryptocurrencies and blockchains into the larger connected web.
Being mission-driven means our commitment extends past running infrastructure. We constantly dialogue with our delegators and the architects of tomorrow’s technologies. Our governance actions, the events we organise, and the grants we give aim to bridge these two groups and highlight the ZK community’s values. We strive to contribute, give back, and empower.
Why are we here?
ZKV joined the Polkadot community in 2019, the year Kusama launched, by running a node in the canary network. Shortly after, we started running validators on Polkadot. Since then, we have focused on contributing to the community in the following ways:
- Members of the Kusama Governance Council.
- Supported the Moonbeam parachain and its Kusama parachain Moonriver
- Hosted an event series showcasing Polkadot’s potential to build privacy solutions called “Privacy on Polkadot.”
- Ran an event series showcasing XCM remote shielded transactions involving Manta and Moonbeam
Polkadot and its community have the chance to champion ZK tech and other adjacent technologies to foster privacy and a fairer internet.
What’s our setup?
We previously hosted our nodes via a third party (Coinbase Cloud). But we took these over to run them inhouse and now run our Kusama and Polkadot nodes ourselves, and these are the specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X RAM: 192GB Storage: 2x 1TB RAID 1 Connectivity: 1 Gbps OS: Ubuntu
We have been running the Moonbeam collator in-house since it launched. Here’s the setup we use:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X RAM: 128GB Storage: 2x 2TB RAID 1 Connectivity: 1 Gbps OS: Ubuntu
Looking forward
We plan to continue our community work for Polkadot, championing the ecosystem among ZK builders to come and develop privacy solutions. We are looking forward to continuing to produce educational content through online events, X Spaces, or even collaborating in ecosystem-led events like sub0 or the Polkadot Blockchain Academy.