Interpret Boundless

Boundless has established a marketplace that facilitates secure zk computing, thereby enabling efficient collaboration between developers and Provers.

With the growth of zk technology, it is becoming modular. Various layers are beginning to emerge: some handle computation, others focus on optimization, and markets like Boundless allow anyone with hardware to participate.

To illustrate this concept, we will consider Boundless as a global courier company.

Boundless can best be understood as a global delivery market, only it deals with any type of zk computation rather than transporting packages.

The client is the developer or application that needs to complete the work.

The courier is the Prover equipped with hardware to complete the heavy work.

The Central Hub is a smart contract system that ensures each package (computation) is delivered on time, couriers are fairly compensated, and cheaters are punished.

1. Market

Imagine a bustling market square:

1. The customer (user/requester) walks in with a job: “I need to deliver this package, this is the destination, this is my budget, and I will lock some funds in advance.”
2. They publish these requests on the market bulletin board (market contract).
3. Couriers (Prover) gather around the bulletin board. A job is announced through a Dutch reverse auction: the price will not decrease like on eBay, but will increase over time.
4. Early participants can acquire it at a low price, but if they wait too long, the price will become more attractive, thus attracting competition.
5. When the courier accepts, they also leave a deposit at the counter (pledging ZKC). This proves that they are serious. If they give up, they will lose that deposit.
6. Once locked, the courier will take the package (zk program + input) back to their truck (hardware).
7. They operate a delivery route (zkVM computation or a truth-telling mathematical calculator) and return a sealed envelope (proof) indicating that the package has been delivered accurately as requested, without tampering.

Back to Hub:

• Verifiers (RISC Zero, Instant Double Check Machine) double-check seals within seconds.
• If valid, the courier will be compensated, their deposit will be refunded, and the customer will receive a verified delivery.

2. What should we do if the courier fails?

Now, imagine a courier who took a package but never delivered it. The hub cannot disappoint the customers. Here is what happens:

• The courier lost their deposit (slashing): part of it goes into the hub's treasury, and part is reserved as a reward for anyone who rescues the job.
• The job will be reposted on the bulletin board, but this time there will be no exclusive reservations, and any courier can compete to deliver.

This retry mode creates a sense of urgency. Other couriers not only see the original payment but also the partial deposit of the failed courier. Suddenly, this job becomes exceptionally valuable, and someone swiftly picks it up and delivers it.

This ensures that the market keeps running. Even bad actors cannot stop it: the worst-case scenario is that they only have to pay a fine.

3. How can we support the market in the long term?

Behind the bustling square is a vault where investors and couriers can deposit market tokens (ZKC). The operation works as follows:

1. When you lock ZKC in the vault, you will receive non-transferable points, such as a membership card.
2. Over time, as the market charges fees from each delivery, treasury participants can consume their points to withdraw a proportional share of the revenue or unlock their tokens.
3. Couriers can also pledge here. The tokens they lock not only earn points but can also serve as the deposit required when they accept work.

The system ensures that both workers (couriers) and supporters (investors) share in the success of the market. The busier the market, the greater the returns.

4. Boundless as a global express company.

Through this analogy, Boundless becomes easier to imagine:

• Market contracts are the job boards of town squares.
• Reverse auction is a method of fair pricing for work.
• The courier (Prover) completes the heavy work with the support of the deposit.
• Proof is a sealed envelope: easy to check, impossible to forge.
• Slashing and retrying keep delivery reliable.
• The vault + points system allows long-term supporters and couriers to maintain their investment.

All of this is supported by underlying cryptography, but for users and developers, it feels like a self-regulating, always-online gig economy. The only difference is that what it offers is not mobile boxes, but computing for the blockchain.

5. Applications on Boundless.

Boundless converts the lightweight client into a zk non-state client by outsourcing its verification work to the Prover network, making it more secure and trustless. These clients can verify multiple chain states in parallel and broadcast results globally through Boundless Signal, effectively acting as a universal lightweight client for all chains.

This architecture has unlocked a new form of delivery in the blockchain world.

• For cross-chain communication, Signal functions similarly to a global bulletin board, with each delivery being stamped and published.
• Any chain can simply check the bulletin board and see the certified receipts indicating that a package from another chain has arrived, without needing to send a messenger (bridge, multi-signature, custodian) that you must trust.
• For developers, Steel is like renting a private studio within a delivery network. You hand over the raw materials, it builds the product remotely, and what comes back is a sealed report (zk proof) that anyone can trust without having to redo the work.

In this way, Boundless will convert computation into a shared express economy, packages move faster, receipts can be trusted by anyone, and every site in the network becomes part of a verifiable delivery system.