*A production grade zero knowledge consensus proof path supported by Wormhole, starting with NTT on Ethereum.
Originally posted on the Wormhole blog:* https://wormhole.com/blog/boundless-partners-with-wormhole-to-launch-zk-network-powered-by-risc-zero
What’s new: Boundless (RISC Zero’s proof generation network) has built a custom verifier with Wormhole. It uses their Ethereum consensus ZK client to prove Ethereum mainnet finality for Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers.
Why this matters: This is the first step in a modular ZK strategy for Wormhole, utilising our edge in connecting the most diverse set of blockchain ecosystems to operationalise best-in-class, open source ZK components.
What’s the context: Wormhole is building on ZK contributions including co-developing a generalised zkVM and ZK ****light clients for Aptos and NEAR, and upcoming research on a novel tree-based folding scheme for proof generation.
How to use it: NTT integrators can optionally enable ZK proof-verified transfers for Ethereum, configured as a two‑of‑two alongside the Wormhole Guardian signing mechanism for defense-in-depth security.
L2 readiness: The verifier pairs the latest finalised root of Layer 2 blockchains to an Ethereum mainnet ZK consensus proof via Wormhole Guardian signatures, so the same security policy applies to rollups without changing application logic.
Where you can verify: Proofs verify anywhere the RISC Zero Groth16 verifier is deployed: Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Linea, Avalanche and soon Solana, extending as additional deployments land.
What’s next: Expanding beyond NTT to general message passing, extending consensus proof support across fast-finality and nondeterministic blockchains, support for UTXO chains including a Dogecoin ↔ Solana bridge with PSY.
Open source Ethereum: Wormhole is supporting The Signal and helping to make Ethereum consensus proofs open source.
We’re adding a Boundless NTT verifier for Ethereum and L2s, allowing for proofs generated by the Boundless Ethereum consensus ZK client (TSEth) to accompany Wormhole Guardian signatures.
For Ethereum-originated NTT flows, the destination chain verifies a ZK proof of Ethereum consensus, along with the block that contained the token lock or burn event before minting on the target chain.
When originating a transfer from an L2, the latest finalised root is referenced in the state of Ethereum mainnet. In order for this to work, Wormhole distributes verified Ethereum block hashes to all currently supported chains where the RISC Zero Groth16 verifier is deployed, enabling the Boundless verifier for Wormhole to operate across other EVM chains.
This means NTT integrators will be able opt into a two‑of‑two policy requiring both a valid Wormhole signature set and a valid Ethereum consensus ZK proof before the transfer is executed. The design adds an independent, cryptographic verification path for Ethereum finality while preserving the same developer experience integrators expect from NTT.
Proof verification is supported today on Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Linea and Avalanche, with Solana support planned soon.
Wormhole’s edge is in connecting heterogeneous ecosystems with composability, optionality, and security as its lifeblood. As the space has evolved it has become clear that a great generalised zkVM is a moving target, so while prover networks continue to iterate and push proof systems and hardware efficiency to the edge, Wormhole’s ZK strategy is in integrating the most effective and secure ZK components into our infrastructure without locking developers or applications to a single zkVM, circuit family or prover.