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zkGM and welcome to the latest edition of the ZKM Newsletter, where we bring you all the key updates, highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights from our activities from the past month.

2024 Year in Review‍

At the beginning of January, we released a detailed report covering the key activities of the ZKM team from the past year, including details of zkMIPS optimizations, toolchain extensions for developers, protocol architecture refinements, and ongoing ecosystem collaborations. The review outlines past achievements and future initiatives.
Blog post: https://zkm.io/blog/zkm-2024-year-in-review

EthProofs Initiative

ZKM is proud to be one of the first partners in Ethereum Foundation’s EthProofs initiative - a platform designed to benchmark zkVM proving capabilities on Ethereum’s mainnet EVM blocks. The initiative targets achieving sub-12-second proving times, which is an essential performance metric for scalable, real-time applications.

Announcement: https://x.com/eth_proofs/status/1883907113220739102

Conferences and Events

ZK Hub is Back (ETHDenver Edition)‍

ETHDenver partnered with House of ZK to present a dedicated venue for ZK-focused sessions. ZKM will attend and present at ZK Hub, and attendees may visit our booth to engage with our team and explore potential zkVM applications.Event details:

• Date: Feb 28 – Mar 1

• Time: 10:00–17:00

• Location: ETHDenver BUIDL Hub

More information: http://zk-hub.io

The Bitcoin Economy Conference‍

ZKM made a positive impact at the recently concluded Bitcoin Economy Conference:

• Panel Participation:
  Our Chief Scientist, Ming Guo, contributed to the panel “The role of zkVMs in Bitcoin scaling”, engaging with speakers from SuccinctLabs, RiscZero, and Lita.
  The panel recording (timestamp 04:21:30) features a productive discussion on overcoming Bitcoin’s inherent constraints using off-chain proof systems such as zkMIPS.
  Watch here: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1886151415044973018
  
  
• Interview Session:
  ZKM Education Lead conducted an insightful interview with StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson on the significance of Bitcoin scaling and StarkWare’s focus on bringing about programmable Bitcoin applications.
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• Moderated Debate:
  Alice also moderated an intense debate between Ethereum Researcher Justin Drake and John Light of Strata, discussing whether advanced Bitcoin scaling could render Ethereum and other blockchains obsolete.Timestamps are available here: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1886357089833947294
  

Research Publications

• FRI Preliminaries Article
  ZKM Research published “FRI Preliminaries,” a technical article that explained the foundational concepts behind Fast Reed-Solomon Interactive Oracle Proofs of Proximity. The article covered polynomial representations, Reed-Solomon codes, finite fields, and the role of Merkle-based commitments in enhancing zero-knowledge proof efficiency and security.
  Read the article: http://zkm.io/blog/fri-preliminaries
  
  
• New FRI Protocol Research
  Our follow-up research piece analyzed the commit, folding, and query phases of the FRI protocol. The article detailed performance trade-offs and practical use cases for polynomial commitments, emphasizing post-quantum security and scalability.
  Read the analysis: https://zkm.io/blog/the-fri-principle-and-its-application-analysis
  
  
• Poseidon Hash Function Analysis
  A technical examination of the Poseidon hash function focused on Plonky2 optimizations, parameter selection, and internal operations. The analysis detailed how these improvements enhance cryptographic hashing performance in proof systems.
  Read the analysis: https://zkm.io/blog/poseidon-hash-execution-flow-and-code-analysis
  
  
• Four Pillars’ zkVM Introduction
  An article by Four Pillars introduced zkVMs and acknowledged ZKM’s contributions, while discussing both deployment challenges and the potential of this technology.
  View the post: https://x.com/FourPillarsFP/status/1879453993455485124

Educational Content and Workshops

House of ZK Podcast‍

The latest House of ZK podcast episodes featured a discussion between Alice, Pavel, and various ZK luminaries including Misha Komarov, Mina CEO Brandon Kase, Snarkify CEO Dr. Jiannan Ouyang, Porter Adams from zkSync, and AltLayer COO Amrit Kumar.

The podcast recordings can be found at: https://www.hozk.io/radio 

zkMIPS Educational Content‍

Alice is also finalizing updated educational material on zkMIPS, which will address enhancements in proof generation, circuit optimizations, and developer tooling. These videos will be released in February, but meanwhile Alice’s existing overview remains a valuable resource detailing architectural components, proof steps, and usage scenarios.
Watch the overview: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9KEU0CPpqKc‍

ZK Hub, Bangkok - Technical Workshops

• zkMIPS Project Template Workshop:
  House of ZK released a technical workshop led by ZKM Developer Lead Stephan Duan, which provided a clear introduction to the zkMIPS project template - a robust framework for building zkVM applications.
  View the workshop: https://cli.re/8DMemD
  
  
• Scaling Bitcoin with GOAT:
  They also released a session presented by Pavel and Dylan Kawalec on “Scaling Bitcoin: Exploring ZKM on a Layer 2 with GOAT”, which offered practical insights into advanced scalability techniques.
  Watch the session: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ahI8aI_0PWA

Ecosystem Collaborations

GOAT Network’s BitVM2 Playground:‍

ZKM's key partner, GOAT Network, released a developer tool for exploring BitVM2, demonstrating secure Bitcoin scaling workflows based on a zkMIPS-driven native security model.
Explore the tool: http://BitVM2.GOAT.network‍

Other Highlights:

• Invisible Garden Thailand Recap:
  A video recap from the Chiang Mai event showcased ZKM alongside industry leaders such as Ethereum, Polygon, and Chainlink, reflecting the strong collaborative spirit in the space.
  View the recap: https://x.com/invisiblgarden/status/1879823121244684757
  
  
• Metis Foundation Shoutout:
  ZKM was recognized as a leading portfolio company, with our 2024 Year in Review and technical breakthroughs garnering positive attention.
  Details: https://x.com/MetisFdn/status/1879876515204300899
  
  
• ZK Infrastructure Map V3:
  ZKM was featured on House of ZK’s updated Infrastructure Map, which highlights 60 projects demonstrating innovative approaches in the zero-knowledge space.
  View the map: https://x.com/ProjectZKM/status/1882783519333564544

Overall, our recent initiatives have delivered positive results across research, education, and industry collaboration. We continue to advance the technical development of zkMIPS and create strong partnerships that help to drive our progress.Thank you for reading and follow us on X to keep up with the latest news: https://x.com/ProjectZKM