RISC Zero launches Boundless testnet on Base
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Promote with Leviathan NewsRISC Zero has launched the incentivized testnet (mainnet beta) of its Boundless network on Base, giving developers and GPU provers an onchain environment to experiment with its decentralized zero-knowledge (ZK) proving marketplace and earn early rewards. Boundless is not a new L1 or L2 chain, but a universal ZK compute layer / proof market that lets any blockchain or application outsource heavy computation to off-chain provers and settle compact ZK proofs back on the host chain. In the Base deployment, Boundless runs as a marketplace where chains and dapps post computation/proof jobs, and provers (miners) running CPUs/GPUs compete to generate proofs off-chain. Provers stake the native ZK Coin (ZKC) to lock jobs, with stake slashable to enforce honest behavior, and are rewarded in ZKC for successful proofs. The resulting small, verifiable proof is then committed on Base or another destination chain, enabling high-throughput, verifiable compute without each project running its own prover infrastructure. RISC Zero positions this as analogous to Chainlink for price feeds, but for verifiable compute, aiming to standardize outsourced ZK proof generation across ecosystems. The Base testnet marks an important integration step for RISC Zero’s broader strategy to become shared ZK infrastructure for Ethereum and other networks. Early adopters and integrators include EigenLayer, Celestia, Taiko, Lido and Wormhole, which are exploring Boundless for tasks like rollup proofs, data availability, cross-chain verification and other compute-heavy workflows. Although Boundless ships with RISC Zero’s own zkVM, the network is proof-system agnostic, with roadmap support for other zkVMs such as Succinct’s SP1, ZKsync’s Boojum and Jolt, allowing developers to retain their tooling while tapping into a shared prover market. The project plans a full mainnet rollout and ZKC token generation event following this incentivized phase, positioning Base as a key staging ground for stress-testing its economics, performance and reliability at scale.
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More coverage
- RISC Zero launches Boundless testnet on Base - Blockworks (blockworks.com)
- Boundless by RISC Zero: Can the Decentralized Proof Market Solve ... (blockeden.xyz)
- Remote Proving | RISC Zero Developer Docs (dev.risczero.com)
- What is Boundless (ZKC): Native Token of Risc Zero's Zero ... (web3.bitget.com)
- Boundless (RISC Zero) - Zero-knowledge Project | Crypto-Fundraising (crypto-fundraising.info)
