Hey everyone! Here’s a quick introduction to Polkadot WonderZK:
WonderZK — Zero-Knowledge Proof Protocol for Polkadot
1. Summary
WonderZK proposes integrating Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK) as a fundamental part of how Polkadot operates.
The idea is to evolve the architecture so that block execution can be accompanied by cryptographic proofs demonstrating that the execution was correct.
The general model is:
Execute → Prove → Verify
Public parachains keep their own collators and continue producing their blocks. System Chains use Unified Prover Collators, nodes that combine both collator + prover functions.
Proving workloads can run in parallel, and the resulting proofs are verified by validators.
2. Objective
The objective of WonderZK is to introduce an integrated ZK proving architecture into Polkadot that can increase processing capacity through parallel proving.
Instead of requiring validators to repeat all the computational work needed to verify a transition, provers generate a cryptographic proof of that execution.
Validators verify those proofs while continuing to participate in consensus and finality.
3. Main Architecture
WonderZK organizes Polkadot’s flow around block production, proving, and verification:
POLKADOT FLOW ┌─────────────────┴─────────────────┐
│ │
Public Parachains System Chains
│ │
Own Collators Unified Prover Colators
│ Collator + Prover
│ │
└─────────────────┬─────────────────┘
│
ZK PROVING
│
Parallel Proving
│
Validators
│
Verification + Finality
Public parachains continue to have their own collators, which are responsible for producing their blocks.
System Chains use Unified Prover Collators, which combine the collator function with the ability to generate ZK proofs.
Blocks produced by public parachains can be sent to the proving process performed by the Unified Prover Collators. This does not replace their collators: Unified Prover Collators act as provers for those blocks.
The generated proofs are delivered directly to validators for verification.
4. Unified Prover Collators
Unified Prover Collators are a fundamental component of WonderZK.
A Unified Prover Collator is a node that performs two functions:
Collator + Prover
For System Chains, these nodes maintain the shared collation function while also having specialized hardware for generating ZK proofs, such as GPUs.
WonderZK directly evolves the concept introduced in the Unified Collator Pool for System Chains (64 Slots) proposal:
The original proposal introduces a shared pool of operators for the collation infrastructure of System Chains. WonderZK maintains that architecture and adds the proving function.
The initial design can start from the 64-operator pool described in the original proposal. This number represents the starting point of the architecture, not necessarily a permanent limit.
The result is shared infrastructure where the same operators can participate in System Chain collation and ZK proving.
5. Public Parachains
Public parachains keep their own collators.
The flow is:
Public Parachain
│
▼
Own Collators
│
▼
Block
│
▼
ZK Proving
│
▼
Unified Prover Collators
│
▼
Proof
The Unified Prover Collator does not replace the public parachain’s collator.
The parachain’s collator continues to produce the block.
The block can then be delivered to the proving process performed by the Unified Prover Collators.
This preserves the block-production architecture of public parachains while introducing shared specialized proving capacity.
6. Parallel Proving
Proving can be distributed across multiple Unified Prover Collators.
Different blocks or proving workloads can be processed simultaneously:
Blocks
│
┌──────────┼──────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
Prover Prover Prover
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
Proof Proof Proof
│ │ │
└──────────┼──────────┘
▼
Validators
This allows the available proving hardware across the Unified Prover Collator pool to be used in parallel.
The intention is to distribute the workload across multiple operators rather than making proving dependent on a single process or node.
7. Hardware Moves the Limits
ZK proving is computationally intensive and can benefit from specialized hardware.
Unified Prover Collators can use GPUs and other accelerators to generate proofs.
As proving hardware improves, available capacity can increase and the time required to generate proofs can decrease.
This means the limits of the architecture do not have to remain constant.
The combination of:
- Parallel proving
- Specialized hardware
allows proving capacity to evolve together with technology.
8. Validators
Validators remain a fundamental part of Polkadot.
Under WonderZK, validators receive and verify the proofs corresponding to state transitions.
Their responsibilities include:
- Verifying ZK proofs.
- Participating in consensus.
- Participating in finality.
- Maintaining protocol security.
The main difference is that the computational work required to demonstrate execution can be performed beforehand by provers.
Validators can then cryptographically verify the result through proof verification.
9. What a ZK Proof Demonstrates
A ZK proof can demonstrate that a state transition was executed correctly according to the rules defined by the protocol.
Conceptually:
Previous State
+
State Transition
│
▼
Prover
│
▼
ZK Proof
│
▼
Validators
│
▼
Verification
The prover performs the computational work required to generate the proof.
Validators can then cryptographically verify that the proof is valid.
WonderZK aims to leverage this separation to distribute computational work more efficiently.
- Research Required
WonderZK requires further research before a final implementation can be defined.
Proof System
Determine which ZK proof system is appropriate for proving Polkadot state transitions.
Runtime Proving
Design how the execution required to generate proofs can be represented and proven efficiently.
Proving Distribution
Design how proving workloads are distributed among Unified Prover Collators and how failures, delays, and reassignment are handled.
Hardware
Study the requirements for GPUs and other specialized accelerators.
Verification
Optimize proof verification by validators.
Scalability
ZK proof tree aggregation for scalability solution.
11. Conclusion
WonderZK proposes an evolution of Polkadot’s architecture in which ZK proving becomes an integrated capability of the protocol.
Public parachains keep their own collators and continue producing their blocks.
System Chains use Unified Prover Collators, evolving the existing Unified Collator Pool proposal into nodes that combine collation and proving.
Blocks can be proved in parallel, and validators can verify the resulting proofs while continuing to participate in consensus and finality.
The ultimate goal of WonderZK is for Polkadot to execute, prove, and verify its own activity at scale, integrating Zero-Knowledge Proofs as a fundamental capability of its architecture.