Research Backing
Nockchain is the first L1 blockchain powered by Zero-Knowledge Proof of Work (ZKPoW). Every part of it has been designed to carefully implement research-backed approaches. Proof of necessary work places proof generation as the integral part of proof-of-work used in Nakamoto consensus. The Nock ISA serves as a verifiable ZKP target with mathematically proven behavior. In summary, Nockchain implements the system described by the following three research articles:
Assimakis Kattis, Joseph Bonneau. (2020). "Proof of Necessary Work: Succinct State Verification with Fairness Guarantees" (key concept: proof of necessary work)
Assimakis Kattis, Brian Klatt, Philip Quirk, Logan Allen. (2025). "A Framework for Compiling Custom Languages as Efficiently Verifiable Virtual Machines" (key concept: Nock as verifiable ZKP target)
Assimakis Kattis, Fabian Trottner. (2020). "Stabilizing Congestion in Decentralized Record-Keepers" (key concept: elastic block size)
Prior to Nockchain, there was only one proof-of-work protocol: hashing-PoW. Hashing-PoW systems use a hash algorithm as their PoW puzzle to produce a collision-resistant digital data fingerprint. Hashing-PoW systems perform mostly useless computation, but consume massive amounts of energy and have incentivized the creation of an entire hardware industry competing to provide this useless computation at scale.
In a ZKPoW consensus mechanism, a Succinct Non-interactive ARgument of Knowledge (SNARK) is used as a PoW puzzle. If the SNARK is a program that verifies transactions that modify the underlying blockchain state, the PoW mechanism is said to incentivize necessary work. This necessary work creates a link between the verifiable compute that powers the chain and the blockchain state. Nockchain is the first protocol that implements necessary ZKPoW to power its blockchain and secure its scarce namespace.
In this video, Zorp engineer Chris Allen discusses aspects of how Nockchain's Nock ZKVM is engineered for performance.
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