# Taiko in 2025: What We Proved

> Most projects talk about what they'll do eventually. We proved what's possible today.


**Published by:** [Taiko Labs](https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/)
**Published on:** 2025-12-31
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/taiko-in-2025-what-we-proved

## Content

We proved speed doesn't require centralizationSub-2-second preconfirmations on a fully decentralized, based rollup. No trusted operators. No centralized sequencing. Just Ethereum validators doing what they do best. The journey:Q1: Pacaya upgrade deployed on Hekla testnet, laying the foundation for preconfirmationsQ1: Partnered with OpenZeppelin to develop next-generation based rollup architecture with Proposer-Prover Separation (PPS)Q2: Pacaya hardfork went live on Alethia mainnet, introducing batch-based proofs and multiprovingQ2: Preconfirmations launched on Hekla testnet, achieving ~2-second finalityQ2: Strategic partnerships with Fabric, Commit-Boost, and Nethermind to develop validator tooling and preconfirmation standardsQ3: Preconfirmations activated on mainnet, slashing confirmation times from ~45 seconds to ~2 secondsQ3: Phase 1 whitelisted partners validated stability across real production workloadsQ3: Hoodi testnet launched with full preconfirmation support, replacing HeklaUsers experienced 20-30× faster confirmation times. The future doesn't choose between speed and decentralization. It has both. Read more:Q1 2025 Community UpdateQ2 2025 Community UpdateQ3 2025 Community Update We proved security can be immediate, not eventual100% ZK coverage achieved in December 2025. Every single block on Taiko mainnet is now proven with zero-knowledge proofs via SP1 and Boundless. Not someday. Today. The journey:Q1: Started at 5% ZK coverage in FebruaryQ1: Gradually increased to over 30% by end of MarchQ1: Achieved 100% ZK coverage for Taiko-proposed blocksQ2: Maintained 100% ZK for Taiko-proposed blocks while community provers handled growing shareQ2: Processed over 847 million cumulative transactions by end of Q2Q3: Community provers continued scaling network proof generationQ4: Achieved 100% ZK coverage for ALL blocks on mainnet (December 4)Multi-prover system (SP1 + Boundless) ensures redundancy and reliabilityStage 2 rollup maturity in sight, not theory. Decentralization roadmaps are easy. Actual decentralization is rare. We chose the harder path. Read more: Taiko Achieves 100% ZK Coverage We proved institutions care about decentralizationWhen it matters most, the best teams choose based rollups. The partnerships:Q1: OpenZeppelin collaboration on minimal, modular based rollup protocol with improved governance, neutral sequencing, and optimized fee mechanismsQ2: Fabric & Commit-Boost partnership to develop validator tooling and preconfirmation standards for the entire based rollup ecosystemQ2: Nethermind strategic partnership to enhance protocol performance, sequencing, and execution layersQ3: Chainlink Data Streams integration established Chainlink as official oracle infrastructure, providing sub-second market data for Taiko dAppsQ3: Real-time data integration with Dune Analytics, giving the community access to on-chain insights through customizable dashboardsQ4: ENS chose Taiko's stack for Namechain - Ethereum's most critical naming infrastructure launching as a based rollup via Nethermind's SurgeQ4: Chainlink ACE integration - Taiko joined Ethereum and Linea as one of three launch partners for institutional compliance infrastructureQ4: Updated Alethia Whitepaper - Technical blueprint showing production-ready based rollup architecture with Ontake, Pacaya, and Shasta specificationsThe infrastructure that will last decades can't depend on trusting a single operator. ENS understood this. Others will follow. Read more:Taiko Stack Selected by ENS for NamechainChainlink ACE IntegrationThe Updated Taiko Alethia Whitepaper We proved community can governReal power, real accountability, real decentralization. The journey:Q1: Taiko DAO launched on Hekla testnet in January, designed with Aragon featuring multi-threshold multisig, optimistic governance, and community veto powerQ1: Security Council announced in April with eight distinguished members from research organizations, security firms, and public goods initiativesQ2: DAO soft launch on May 1 with Security Council operational and proposal infrastructure in placeQ3: Binding on-chain governance activated on mainnet in October - token holders can now veto protocol upgradesQ3: Security Council appointed heavyweight Board Directors:Joy Lam (former Head of Global Regulatory at Binance)Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee (Harvard Business School)Professor Wen Yonggang (IEEE Fellow, NTU Singapore)Advisor: CPA Ren Jang (Head of Strategy at Flipster)Not governance in name only. The community has actual decision-making power over protocol upgrades and parameters. Read more: Taiko DAO Appoints Board Directors We proved synchronous composability is possibleULTRA TX and Gwyneth enable atomic cross-chain transactions between L1 and multiple L2s. No bridges. No message passing delays. True synchronous composability. The journey:Q1: Taiko mainnet renamed to Taiko Alethia in February, reaffirming commitment to truth and transparencyQ1: Gwyneth development progressed with successful Uniswap L1-L2 liquidity sharing demosQ1: ULTRA TX implementation demonstrated synchronous composability potentialQ4: Comprehensive technical writeup published November 2025, explaining how Gwyneth achieves synchronous L1-L2 composabilityTestnet coming 2026. Ethereum doesn't have to feel like islands. It can feel like one chain. Read more: ULTRA TX & Gwyneth — Synchronous composability across L1 & L2 We proved our ecosystem thesisInfrastructure and applications grow together. We're building both. Community engagement:Q1: Taiko Takeoff launched to support projects with marketing, funding, networking, and technical assistance - Avalon Labs featured first with 134% APY TAIKO poolQ1: Taiko Status introduced with five levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Based) rewarding token holders with enhanced access and allocation opportunitiesQ1: Trailblazers Season 4 launched with 4.5M TAIKO reward pool, split Liquidity Royale tracks, and Status integrationQ1: DoraHacks Grant Factory Hackathon concluded with largest MACI-powered vote, $20K+ in prizesQ1: $25M Grant Fund announced for 2025 to support DeFi, AI, RWA, SocialFi, Gaming, and moreQ1: Based Rollup Summit in San Francisco featuring Ethereum co-founder Vitalik ButerinQ2: Trailblazers Season 5 launched with 3M TAIKO rewards including 700K for Liquidity RoyaleQ2: Based Rollup Summit Cannes Edition with 500+ participants including Justin Drake, Tomasz Stańczak, and ecosystem leadersQ3: Trailblazers Season 5 concluded with 3M TAIKO distributedQ3: Trailblazers Season 6 launched with The Arena and The Undercity dual-track systemQ3: Moon Party with K11 Art Foundation in Seoul alongside Maserati, Hypebeast, and luxury brandsQ3: Korea Blockchain Week presence with official Taiko Seoulmates PartyQ3: TOKEN2049 Singapore - partnered with ForkOff and IoNet to host "AI, DePIN & RWA Builders" forumQ3: Monthly Galxe campaigns featuring ecosystem projects like GemsTown, Symbiosis, CoNFT, engaging thousands of new usersEcosystem growth:Q1: TAIKO listed on Revolut, opening access to 45 million users across 50 countriesQ2: TAIKO listed on Binance Futures with 1.495M TAIKO rewards distributionQ4: Avalon Labs partnership - Leading Bitcoin-focused capital markets platform deploying complete RWA and stablecoin infrastructure on Taiko, bringing institutional-grade yield products and sustainable liquidityQ4: TaikoSwap - Native DEX launched with battle-tested Uniswap architecture (ETH/USDC, TAIKO/USDC, TAIKO/ETH pairs)By the numbers:909.3M transactions processed since mainnet launch2.3M active addresses engaging with the network$12.6M in rent paid to L1 - real value settled on EthereumOver 1 million combined followers across Discord and XMultiple Trailblazers seasons engaging hundreds of thousands of usersRead more:Taiko × Avalon Labs PartnershipTaikoSwap Launch What 2025 taught usThe most difficult technical problems aren't impossible. They're just hard. Based rollups work. Decentralized sequencing works. Full ZK coverage works. Sub-second finality works. All without compromise. We didn't wait for permission. We didn't accept "good enough." We built what Ethereum scaling should be. From launching our DAO in January to achieving 100% ZK coverage in December, 2025 was about execution. We proved that you can build infrastructure that's fast, secure, and fully decentralized; not eventually, but today.What we're proving in 2026Shasta hardfork: Enhanced ZK requirements, permissionless preconfirmations, protocol optimizationsGwyneth testnet and production rolloutContinued ecosystem growth and strategic partnershipsThe future is based. The future is fast. The future is proven. The future is Taiko. Join us 💗Explore open positions on our job board.Follow us 🥁Get the latest from Taiko:Website: https://taiko.xyz.Discord: https://discord.gg/taikoxyz.GitHub: https://github.com/taikoxyz.Twitter: https://twitter.com/taikoxyz.Community forum: https://community.taiko.xyz.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@taikoxyz.Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/taikoxyz.Contribute🤓Contribute to Taiko on GitHub and earn a GitPOAP! You will also be featured as a contributor on our README. Get started with the contributing manual.

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