Vitalik Introduces GKR Protocol to Accelerate Ethereum Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a detailed blog post on Sunday, explaining GKR, a new cryptographic technique that significantly accelerates blockchain ￰1￱ protocol allows computers to prove complex calculations are correct without revealing the actual data, a process known as zero-knowledge ￰2￱ can verify 2 million calculations per second on regular laptops and check entire Ethereum transactions using just fifty consumer-grade graphics ￰3￱ methods require computers to do 100 times more work than the original calculation, but GKR cuts this down to just 10-15 times more ￰4￱ breakthrough matters because faster verification means cheaper transactions and better ￰5￱ of checking every step of a calculation, GKR only verifies the beginning inputs and final outputs, skipping all the work in between.

A GKR tutorial: ￰0￱ — ￰6￱ (@VitalikButerin) October 20, 2025 The development comes as the Ethereum Foundation launched a 47-member Privacy Cluster to make the network more private by default, addressing concerns that public blockchains currently expose too much financial ￰7￱ GKR Makes Verification 10 Times Faster GKR works like a teacher grading math homework by checking only the student’s work at key checkpoints instead of verifying every single calculation ￰8￱ “spot check” approach uses mathematical tricks to ensure the final answer is ￰9￱ protocol excels at verifying repetitive tasks where the same operation applies to large amounts of data through multiple processing ￰10￱ pattern fits both blockchain transaction verification and artificial intelligence calculations, which makes GKR useful beyond just ￰11￱ blockchain verification requires creating cryptographic fingerprints for every intermediate calculation ￰12￱ fingerprint needs significant computing power to generate, often hundreds of operations just to verify a single ￰13￱ eliminates nearly all this extra work.) September 14, 2025 Vitalik Buterin has also previously argued that privacy is essential to Ethereum’s survival, comparing current public blockchains to the early internet before encryption became ￰14￱ advocated for wallets that make private transactions the default setting rather than requiring extra ￰15￱ Vitalik’s growing belief, industry expert Petro Golovko from British Gold Trust told Cryptonews that public blockchains expose salaries, business deals, and account balances, making crypto “ unusable for regular people and impossible for institutions. ” He argued that “ transparency is useful for auditing, not for living.

A system where your employer, competitors, or even strangers can see your balance is not transparent—it’s unlivable. “ Golovko compared current blockchain transparency to the 1990s internet before encryption became standard. “ Nobody wanted to type credit card numbers into a browser because the internet had no ￰16￱ SSL arrived, Amazon scaled, and e-commerce became a $6 trillion ￰17￱ is stuck in the pre-SSL era. “ He warned that trade secrecy is foundational to competitive advantage. “ If your supply chain or treasury movements are visible, you’ve already ￰18￱ board of directors will approve such exposure. ” Without privacy, he concluded, “ crypto remains a casino, not a monetary system. “