Most zkVMs look great on paper. SP1 was built for the real world. Succinct didn’t use Risc0, zkSync, or Polygon’s zkVM and for good reason. SP1 isn’t a copycat. It’s a ground-up zkVM built to power the next generation of trustless infra. Here’s why that matters: Why build a new zkVM? @SuccinctLabs could’ve chosen existing zkVMs. Risc0, Cairo, or even zkEVMs. But they didn’t and here’s why: Most zkVMs aren’t general-purpose enough Many don’t support recursion out of the box Some are tightly coupled with custom DSLs (e.g., Cairo) Others lack transparency or are deeply embedded in larger rollup stacks Succinct needed something more: → A zkVM that could run any program, anywhere, and prove it efficiently. That’s SP1. What is SP1? SP1 is a performant, modular zkVM built in Rust that supports: - General-purpose computation - Efficient recursion - Proof portability to other chains And crucially open-source flexibility It’s designed from first principles around a few core ideas: • ZK needs to be accessible. • Proof generation must be composable and verifiable across chains. • Developers shouldn't have to learn cryptography to use ZK. SP1 is built on a custom ISA (instruction set architecture) not a copy of EVM, making it far more performant and extensible. And it’s already being used to power cross-chain light clients, EigenLayer AVSs, and more. What makes SP1 different? Compared to other zkVMs, SP1 stands out in a few big ways: Designed for real-world proving Not optimized for zero-knowledge games or rollup competition, optimized for multi-chain verification. Extremely modular You can modify SP1, swap components, and plug into different proving curves or recursion strategies. Rust-native developer experience Write ZK programs in safe, efficient Rust, not exotic DSLs. Built-in support for recursive proofs Crucial for scalability and composability in verifying many off-chain events on-chain. Why this matters now Crypto’s future is multi-chain. That means more light clients, more bridges, and more shared proving systems. But proving the state of one chain on another securely requires zkVMs that are optimized not just for throughput, but for flexibility and portability. SP1 does just that. → It’s not just a ZK primitive — it’s the proving engine behind trustless interop. In the next post, we break down the Succinct Prover Network: how it runs ZK computation off-chain, and what this unlocks for developers and chains. Tagging Gigachads that might be intrested in this 👇 - @SamuelXeus - @TheDeFISaint - @hmalviya9 - @poopmandefi - @ayyeandy - @DigiTektrades - @zerokn0wledge_ - @LadyofCrypto1 - @milesdeutscher - @1CryptoMama - @Deebs_DeFi - @RubiksWeb3hub - @stacy_muur - @TheDeFinvestor - @splinter0n - @izu_crypt - @belizardd - @eli5_defi - @the_smart_ape - @ViktorDefi - @cryppinfluence - @CryptoGirlNova - @Haylesdefi - @DeRonin_ - @0xAndrewMoh - @defiinfant - @DeFiMinty - @Louround_ - @0xSalazar - @crypthoem - @CryptoShiro_