Light Protocol and Helius Labs introduce 'ZK Compression' to further scale Solana apps
Quick Take Light Protocol and Helius Labs have introduced “ZK Compression” to further scale applications on the Solana network. ZK Compression utilizes state compression to store data in Solana’s cheaper ledger space instead of the more expensive account space.
Solana SOL -6.56% -based developers Light Protocol and Helius Labs have launched a new way for applications on Solana to scale using a technology dubbed "ZK Compression," the two firms announced.
ZK Compression works through a process known as state compression, allowing developers to store certain types of data using Solana's cheaper ledger space rather than its more expensive account space. A "hash" or fingerprint of off-chain data is stored on-chain for verification using "sparse state trees," according to ZK Compression's documentation .
Light Protocol claims that ZK Compression will allow developers to store 100 compressed token accounts for around 4 hundred-thousandths of one sol, rather than a typical cost of around .2 sol, a 5000x reduction in price. A compressed PDA account can be up to 160x cheaper, according to the documentation. The protocol employs small zero-knowledge proofs (validity proofs) to ensure the integrity of the compressed state. "Take an airdrop to 1,000,000 users / this today would cost over $260,000 for state alone / now, it's $50 — 5,200x cheaper," wrote Helius Labs founder Mert Mumtaz on X.
Some members in the Ethereum community were critical of the new primitive, including ZKsync founder Alex Gluchowski, who wrote on X: “The whole monolithic Solana thesis is gone at once. Impressive. Meanwhile, ZKsync has been quietly building asynchronously composable ZK future for Ethereum. Big reveal this week.”
Ethereum investor Ryan Berckmans critiqued the announcement for not characterizing the new approach as a Layer 2 network, calling it "unethical BS" in an X post. "Their new product is actually an L2. L2s are a winning model," Berckman wrote .
In response, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko replied , "Sure. It’s an L2 that doesn’t need a security council multisig, users don’t need to switch chain ids, doesn’t need a governance token, doesn’t need an external sequencer, solana validators still get all the transaction fees. It’s like an L2 without all the things that people complain about L2s."
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Narrow Escape! Meta (META.US) Reaches Settlement with Several US States Over Social Media Addiction Lawsuit, May Pay Up to $18 Billion
Meta has reached a settlement agreement with multiple U.S. states, agreeing to pay up to approximately $18 billion and committing to impose comprehensive new restrictions on teenagers' use of the company's social media platforms, in order to end a class-action lawsuit concerning the harms of social media on teenagers.
The foldable iPhone from Apple (AAPL.US) will debut at the September 9 launch event! IDC predicts first-year shipments will exceed ten million units, marking the beginning of the Ternus era.
Apple (AAPL.US) will hold its most important annual product launch event on September 9, officially unveiling its first foldable iPhone.
OpenAI developed a chip that surpasses Blackwell in just nine months—does Nvidia still have a moat?
The inference chip Jalapeño, jointly launched by OpenAI and Broadcom, has revealed its first real-world test data: its computing power per watt is 1.5 to 1.9 times that of comparable Nvidia systems, and its response speed is 1.7 to 3.6 times faster. According to Goldman Sachs, this is not the "Nvidia killer," but rather a signal that AI hardware is moving from monopoly to diversification—the moat around the training side remains, but the profits of the inference side are quietly being eroded.
Crypto prices
More
