Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has suggested that the use of zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines (zk-EVMs) at the base layer of the network could be beneficial for Ethereum users by speeding up the verification process and not compromizing decentralization and security. By inclusion of zk-EVMs at the base layer of Ethereum, it would become the third type of client.

To understand the impact that the use of zk-EVMs would have on decentralization, Buterin considered the situation of Ethereum and its established “multi-client philosophy”. Already two clients, the consensus and the execution, exists as part of this philosophy. The consensus client follows a proof-of-stake protocol to reach agreement between nodes of the network, whilst the execution client is responsible for listening to and executing the newly-broadcasted transactions in the standard EVM and keeping a record of the most recent state of the blockchain.

Buterin's idea of using zk-EVMs at the base layer is a suitable solution for the issue known as “The Verge”, which is part of Ethereum's roadmap, as it would make the verification of data easier. A potential problem could be that an “open zk-EVM infrastructure”, where new clients could be developed, may lead to data inefficiency and latency issues, however Buterin believes these could be overcome with technical advancements.

Companies such as Polygon, ConsenSys, Scroll, zkSync and Immutable are already in the process of trying to scale their zk-EVM solutions in order to reduce transaction costs as well as achieve increases in the deployment of smart contracts. Ultimately, the implementation of zk-EVM's could be an important moment for the cryptocurrency world that leads to improved security and increased decentralization.



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