Boundless and logic of correctness on the blockchain

Why It Is Necessary to Scale Blockchains

Every programmable blockchain faces one problem: each validating node must re-execute all transactions in a block. This ensures security but creates enormous redundancy and slows down the system. Boundless addresses this dilemma differently — through a decentralized marketplace of proof providers and the application of zero-knowledge technology (ZKP).

Instead of each node repeating the same calculations, one provider completes the task entirely and creates a cryptographic proof. The other nodes simply verify the correctness of this proof in seconds, rather than repeating the entire calculation from scratch. This is not just optimization — it is a rethinking of the very architecture of consensus.

How the ecosystem is structured: the ZKC token in practice

The native ZKC token is not just a medium of exchange. It governs the entire economy of Boundless:

Staking and provider rewards

Proof providers stake ZKC before accepting a computation request. The system uses the Verifiable Work Proof model (PoVW) — this is not a classic Proof of Work, but rather a redirecting of computational power towards generating useful ZKP proofs instead of cryptographic puzzles. If the provider successfully completes the work, they receive a reward in ZKC; if they miss the deadline, their stake is partially burned, and the remainder goes into the rewards fund. This mechanics strongly incentivizes reliability.

Protocol Management

ZKC holders gain voting rights for updates and grant distributions. As the system evolves, the community will have the opportunity to make proposals and exercise veto power.

As of December 21, 2025, ZKC is trading at a price of $0.10 with a daily volatility of -5.70%. The trading volume over the past 24 hours was $417.70K, and the market capitalization reached $20.13M with a circulating supply of 200.9 million tokens out of a total maximum of 1 billion.

Technical Stack: From RISC Zero to Practical Applications

Boundless is built on zkVM from RISC Zero, a zero-knowledge virtual machine. Developers write programs in Rust that run off-chain in the zkVM and generate proofs of correctness. The system itself consists of two components:

• Bento manages requests locally, executes programs, and formats proofs on a single GPU or scales to entire clusters.
• Broker connects suppliers with the marketplace, evaluates requests, places bids, and sends ready proofs to the blockchain for verification.

The process looks like this: the developer submits a task to Boundless Market ( both on and off the blockchain ), suppliers compete in a reverse Dutch auction, the chosen provider generates proof and sends it to the chain. After verification, the developer receives the verified proof of correctness and embeds it into their application.

Steel: ZK-coprocessor for Ethereum

Steel allows Solidity developers to perform large-scale computations on the Boundless network and store verified results on Ethereum. Instead of loading all calculations onto the blockchain and paying for every byte of gas, the developer offloads computations off-chain, while Steel ensures that the result can be proven in the EVM. This opens up the possibility of creating complex decentralized applications that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive or even technically impossible.

OP Kailua: improving optimistic rollups

OP Kailua is a toolkit based on the Kona engine from Optimism that applies ZKP to enhance the security of optimistic rollups. Instead of relying solely on fraud proofs, Kailua introduces an alternative dispute resolution model with additional protection against invalid transactions. As of September 2025, the project is under active development and is recommended only for testing environments.

Market Recognition: Listing of ZKC on Major Exchanges

On September 12, 2025, ZKC was included in the airdrop program for HODLers on one of the largest exchanges. Users who staked BNB from September 2 to 5 were entitled to receive 15 million ZKC (, which is 1.5% of the total supply ). The token received Seed status and is traded against USDT, USDC, BNB, FDUSD, and TRY.

The Essence of the Approach

Boundless reinterprets the very concept of scalability. Instead of trying to make each node faster, the system uses division of labor: one provider performs the computations, and the rest of the network verifies the correctness of the result. This is not just a technical trick — it is a transition from redundancy to efficiency, from high costs to accessibility, from the limitations of blockchain to the endless possibilities for developers.