ZK Co-processing, the era of data-rich applications?

ZK Co-processing will revolutionize decentralized applications. Using this technology makes querying complex on-chain data much cheaper. But what exactly is it?

Ever wondered why dApps struggle to use on-chain data effectively? Well, it's because it costs a ton of money and isn't efficient.

Let me give you an example. Imagine a decentralized exchange wanting to build loyalty among its users. Sounds tough, right? Keeping users engaged is a challenge, especially after you’ve airdroped your tokens. In the real world, bakeries have a clever trick: loyalty cards. Buy 10, get 1 free.

But in our beloved world of blockchains, it's a whole different ball game. You've got to keep track of users' past on-chain activities like trading volume, number of trades, and more. This is what we call 'big data', similar to how big companies in web2 track your orders to suggest things you might like, and make you spend even more money.

Now, computing all this data takes a lot of computational power and, you guessed it, a lot of $$$.

Here comes the solution: ZK Co-processing.

Traditionally, a co-processor is a component designated to reduce the load on the main processor by handling specific tasks.

Imagine baking a cake with your mom. You're mixing all the ingredients in a big bowl, but there's this cool gadget, let's call it a super mixer, that speeds up the process. So, while you're mixing by hand, your mom uses the super mixer to assist you. A co-processor works similarly, aiding the main processor (you mixing) to get things done faster and better.

Now, back to our chains, a co-processor helps compute data. It's like a big computer off the blockchain that handles the data you need, whether it's on Ethereum or another chain. After fetching the results, it creates a zero-knowledge proof to ensure the data's authenticity. You want the real data and be able prove your it, right?

Then, this ZK proof is stored in a smart contract for everyone to verify. Using ZK proofs boosts efficiency without compromising security or inflating costs.

So instead of directly querying the blockchain and paying hefty fees, you ask an off-chain computer to fetch the data, create a proof, send back the data on-chain, and voila! Now you can use this data for your loyalty program, offering users a free swap after ten swaps. Pretty neat, huh?

Now that you master what this fancy concept of ZK Co-processing means, let’s have a look at who’s building that. But nairolf, you’ve forgotten [insert your favourite project]. I know bro, but I had to be selective!

Lagrange

Lagrange is building a modular ZK coprocessor that is designed to enhance scalability and manage big data by offloading intensive computational tasks off-chain. To do so, Lagrange uses its very own MapReduce. This allows for efficient processing of large volumes of data by breaking them down into smaller tasks, which are processed in parallel across multiple machines to make the process even faster and efficient. Remember that the data has to be proven before sent back to the chain? To do so, Lagrange use its Parallel Prover, allowing to prove data as it processed.

In practice, the user query is moved off-chain, divided in many small tasks, executed, zk-proven, and verified back in the contract. And voila, the data is now super accessible, and for cheap! Lagrange is designed to be chain-agnostic, meaning that it could theoretically be used on any chain. Sweet.

Brevis

Brevis is another ZK Co-processor that allow historical data integrity and data access across blockchains required by any applications. The process has three steps: first, requesting historical on-chain data; second, computing the results and creating a zk proof; and third, sending those results to the applications that need them. Think of it like doing a Google search: you look for "crypto made easy," Google finds the result, and you get to read this awesome newsletter. The difference is that Brevis assists dApps in finding any data they need, in a trustless and efficient manner.

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ZK Co-processing opens up a whole new world of possibilities and features. What was once impossible due to the sky-high fees for querying complex on-chain data is now within reach. The potential is limitless, and the ones who stand to gain the most? Us, the users. We could finally enjoy innovative and data-rich apps like never before. 🫶

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