Helsinki, Finland - In this interview, Teemu Päivinen, Founder and CEO of ZkCloud, explores the critical role of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) in transforming blockchain technology. Key highlights include ZkCloud's development of a universal proving infrastructure that significantly reduces proving costs, making ZKPs economically feasible for various applications. ZKPs improve privacy and efficiency within blockchain networks, enabling traditional Web2 companies to transition to verifiable computation without relying on trust. Päivinen also emphasizes the shift toward decentralized cloud computing, which promotes resilience and equitable access. Korea IT Times interviewed Päivinen to provide widely the increasing significance of ZK technology and its potential to democratize access to blockchain globally. The interview aims to educate and inspire readers about the transformative power of ZK proofs, encouraging greater adoption across various industries.
How does your work with ZkCloud align with the broader evolution of blockchain technology?
We believe in a zero-knowledge future where proving is fast, cheap, and truly decentralized. ZkCloud has been designed with this vision in mind. It is the first universal proving infrastructure for ZK that supports any proof system. By decreasing proving costs by up to 95% compared to other proving options, we are implementing ZKPs in any blockchain or application that is economically viable.
ZK will define the next decade in blockchain computing by unlocking large-scale, low-cost computing on-chain. Proof systems will become more efficient, purpose-built hardware will deliver better performance, and the overall technology stack will mature. ZkCloud provides the platform by which these improvements are delivered to developers at scale, thus continuously lowering the cost structure and unlocking new use cases for ZK and the blockchain industry as a whole.
Why are ZK proofs (ZKPs) considered a cornerstone for blockchain’s future growth?
ZKPs enable a prover to confirm to a verifier that a computation was performed correctly without disclosing sensitive input data. This enhances the privacy on blockchain networks, where transactions are typically visible to the public. Projects like Zcash and Aztec Network already use ZKPs to enable private transactions, making blockchain suitable for privacy-sensitive use cases.
ZKPs also reduce the amount of data nodes need to process by allowing multiple transactions to be bundled into a single proof. This significantly decreases the computational load on the network, enhancing throughput and reducing transaction costs. The cost-effectiveness of ZKPs is vital for encouraging wider adoption of blockchain technologies across various sectors.
What opportunities does ZK technology open for traditional Web2 companies?
ZK represents a paradigm shift in computing verification. Instead of choosing between trust and re-execution, ZK offers a third way that combines the efficiency of trusted computation with the verifiability of re-execution. As a result, it could become a fundamental layer of computing infrastructure rather than just a blockchain-specific technology. Thus, ZK's potential extends far beyond its application in the blockchain space.
As the technology matures and the cost of verifiability decreases, it opens transformative opportunities for traditional Web2 companies by enabling verifiable computation without relying on trust or re-execution. This can enhance data integrity, privacy, and security across industries like supply chain, finance, healthcare, AI, and many more.
What role do you see decentralization playing in the future of cloud computing and global infrastructure?
Decentralization in cloud computing and infrastructure represents a significant shift from the current centralized model dominated by a few major providers. Decentralized compute networks and zero-knowledge (ZK) technology seek to address the centralized issues of resilience, privacy, and cost by distributing infrastructure across a network of independent compute nodes.
Decentralized protocols are inherently more resilient to outages and attacks and can offer stronger liveness guarantees by eliminating single points of failure. By leveraging blockchain technology and tokenomics, decentralized networks can incentivize independent entities to contribute computing resources, allowing these networks to scale horizontally in ways traditional cloud providers cannot. This significantly lowers the cost for users, allowing smaller players equal access to the technology.
What has been your proudest achievement with ZkCloud thus far?
My proudest achievement has been the launch of Firestarter, the first production-ready universal proving network for ZK. Firestarter provides ludicrously cheap computing to the entire ZK ecosystem, delivering ~95% cost savings compared to traditional cloud options. It supports thousands of prover nodes for large-scale, parallelized workloads, making it a game-changer in the ZK space by enabling developers to scale their applications economically and efficiently. With Firestarter, we have been able to open ZK-proving up to the wider community and remove the barrier of cost, leveling the playing field and democratizing access for all.
What lessons from your early days in crypto have shaped your approach to building ZkCloud?
I’ve worked with many projects throughout my career and there are many learnings from each of them. Overall, I’d say talking to customers and building what they need is the most important. This applies to any entrepreneurial endeavor as much as it applies to crypto. A healthy feedback loop with customers or users is how the ZkCloud project got started and it’s what we will continue to focus on going forward.
In 10 years, how do you hope people will describe the impact of your work on blockchain and decentralized computing?
I hope the launch of ZkCloud will be remembered as the moment when computing truly started to move from centralized providers to decentralized networks. On a personal level, I can’t ask for more than to be remembered as one of the people who helped make it happen.
