Union is pleased to announce its partnership with RISC Zero to collaborate on Union Core v2. This integration aims to optimize light client proof aggregation, combining the strengths of both technologies to create faster and more efficient cross-chain verification systems using RISC Zero’s zkVM and Bonsai proving service.
By leveraging RISC Zero’s zkVM and Bonsai, Union will enhance the efficiency of aggregating various proof types and further improve its prover system, Galois. This collaboration with RISC Zero will enable hyper-performant proof generation, resulting in faster bridging and cost-effective proof generation.
Union’s high-performance ZK circuits will benefit from RISC Zero’s capabilities, enabling:
Sub-20 second proof aggregation times
Reduced development time for proof-of-concepts (PoCs)
State-of-the-art performance with advanced accelerators built with Zirgen, memory argumentation, and GPU support
Enhanced security with Union’s comprehensive security protocols
Advancing ZK Technology
Zero-knowledge cryptography is at the heart of Union's mission to address the interoperability trilemma - achieving rapid transfer times without compromising decentralization and security. By employing zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), Union significantly reduces the computational power and gas fees needed for transfers and message passing. This allows connected chains to verify a single computation - the ZKP - before accepting cross-chain transfers, eliminating the need for hundreds of validator signature verifications.
RISC Zero is a leader in ZK technology, offering a zkVM that allows developers to seamlessly use existing Rust libraries to build ZK applications. The zkVM simplifies the creation of powerful, verifiable software applications.
Union will leverage the zkVM to enhance performance, scalability, and development efficiency, particularly as RISC Zero’s optimized hardware stack comes online. This stack will bring substantial performance improvements along with an enhanced developer experience for those building with Union ZKPs.
Building the ZK Future
Union and RISC Zero are working together to leverage zero-knowledge cryptography for a more scalable future for web3. This partnership between two top ZK teams will strengthen Union’s interoperability and the capabilities of RISC Zero’s zkVM, benefiting the broader ecosystem.
Union and RISC Zero teams will be publishing a joint research article on the performance of ZK circuits in the coming months.
For updates on this partnership and other integrations, follow @union_build, and join the Union Discord community.