ZK proofs have been a status symbol or at least, they used to be. They were difficult to scale and generate, with only major protocols that had enterprise-level infrastructure able to afford them. But now, things are different.

Enter ZkCloud’s Firestarter, which changes everything. It’s a first-of-its-kind decentralized proving engine that not only delivers high-throughput ZK computation, but also serves as the foundational layer for what could be the next internet. With over 95% cost reduction and out-of-the-box support for the latest zkVMs, Firestarter is laying down the infrastructure for a new class of applications, chains, and developers stepping into the ZK universe.

Let’s break it down.

What is Firestarter?

Firestarter is a proving network that went live in Q4 2024 for all things ZK required. It’s a decentralized compute layer to transact for proof jobs on CPUs and GPUs worldwide to drive efficiency and lower costs.

It’s running on the same architecture of the anticipated ZkCloud mainnet—with one caveat: it’s permissioned. This means it’s stress-tested, it’s live, it’s proving things on actual workloads, even before going live on mainnet with the general public.

How Firestarter works

Prior to Firestarter, the only way to generate ZK proofs was spinning up expensive servers, manually configuring your stack, then paying a premium for underutilized compute.

Now? You onboard. You choose your prover (or use your own). And you start proof generation—on demand.

Behind the scenes:

• Pay-as-you-go pricing: You only pay for exact compute time and resources used.

• Credit transparency: Everything is charged through ZkCloud Credits (1 Credit = 1 USDC).

• To give you a sense: A proof on 1 GPU for 5 minutes? ~$0.035. A large CPU job with 96 cores and 768GB RAM for 10 minutes? ~$0.101.

That’s bonkers. And that’s a bonkers approach compared to traditional cloud providers like AWS or GCP, who charge you even when your server sits idle.

Pre-Deployed Provers & Developer Flexibility

Perhaps the greatest thing about Firestarter is that it’s open to developers. You can generate proofs with:

• RISC Zero’s R0VM 2.0

• SP1

• Aztec

• ZKSync

• Scroll

• Polygon zkEVM

• Starkware

Or use your own custom prover application. This means no vendor lock-in, and complete flexibility no matter what you’re building—rollups, privacy apps, zk-bridges, and more.

Firestarter vs. Traditional prover marketplaces

Many prover marketplaces work like Uber or Lyft. You submit your job, wait for a prover to attach to it, pay marketplace fees as they see fit, and hope the ride doesn’t go sideways.

It’s like Firestarter vs. traditional cloud.

Cloud offerings aren’t built for proving. They’re designed for general workloads—meaning you’re paying for excess resources you don’t need, and still paying when they sit idle.

Firestarter solves this.

It’s tuned specifically for ZK workloads. Every second of computation counts. And it’s cheaper than nearly every other solution thanks to backend optimization and scale.

95% cheaper than hyperscalers

Real world proof: Ethereum blocks

Still need proof that Firestarter is real? Just look at Ethereum.

Since April 2025, ZkCloud has been deploying Firestarter to generate live ZK proofs for every block mined on the Ethereum mainnet. That’s right, every single one. 100k+ blocks and counting.

This isn’t theoretical. This is practical proving happening right now.

Firestarter + Deluge = Mainnet ready

Firestarter doesn’t operate alone. It works alongside Deluge, ZkCloud’s decentralized testnet for block generation and consensus.

Together, they make up the ZkCloud ecosystem:

• Firestarter: proof generation

• Deluge: decentralized consensus

The two will merge upon mainnet launch later this year—and anyone will be able to run a node, provide compute, and earn.

$PROOF powers everything

PROOF is the gas of the entire ecosystem. Upon mainnet launch,

PROOF will power staking, payments, governance, and node rewards.

It’s fully MiCA compliant (EU crypto regulations), future-ready, and built for real-world utility.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ever wanted ZK proving to be faster, cheaper, more dev-friendly ,this is it. Firestarter is live. And it’s only going to get better with mainnet.

If you’re building appchains, deploying zkIDs, or experimenting with zkVMs —Firestarter is the proving engine to help you scale all of it.

And the best part? You don’t need to be a validator or own expensive hardware. Firestarter already has everything set up.

Get started:

→ zkcloud.com

→ docs.gevulot.com