The Cysic Network has recently embarked on a journey with the launch of its Incentivised Testnet Phase 1, accompanied by the Cysic Points System.
This initial phase is an exclusive opportunity for participants listed on the Verifier Node Whitelist to engage with the network's zero-knowledge (ZK) projects and begin accumulating points that will eventually translate into mainnet tokens.
The Cysic Testnet is structured into three phases, each designed to progressively enhance the network's capabilities and decentralisation.
Integral to each phase is a points incentive system, crafted to recognise and reward the invaluable contributions of verifiers, computing resource providers, and active community members.
Testnet Phase 1, initiated on 29 July, lays the groundwork with essential features such as a Cosmos-based blockchain, a centralised scheduler for task allocation, streamlined registration processes, a task tracking system for proof generation, an intuitive dashboard, and a dedicated Cysic blockchain explorer.
This phase introduces the concept of incentive points, which will be redeemable for mainnet tokens, rewarding participants for their contributions to the network's development.
Scheduled for early September 2024, Testnet Phase 2 will introduce the Proof-of-Compute mechanism, a consensus protocol that promises to elevate the security and decentralisation of the Cysic Network.
This phase will invite community members with substantial computational resources to participate as provers and validators.
The final Testnet Phase 3, anticipated in late November 2024, will mark the last iteration before the mainnet launch.
This phase will introduce significant advancements, including a decentralised task assignment process, permissionless network access, and a voting mechanism for community governance.
The transition from a centralised scheduler to a system where provers and verifiers determine their eligibility for tasks through a verifiable random function and a credit-based probability system will be a key feature.
Additionally, the implementation of necessary defence strategies and the voting functionality will pave the way for a community-driven network.
With the successful completion of the final testnet phase, Cysic will be poised to unveil its mainnet in early 2025, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of decentralised networks.
In an AMA on 22 July with Cysic's co-founcer Xiong Fan, Leo, he elaborated on the main goal of Phase 1:
“The main goal of Phase 1 is to test the backbone of the Cysic Network by involving the community. We want the community to participate, test it out, and provide feedback on how we can improve and become more efficient. Engaging the community is crucial, and this phase is about integrating community members as verifiers and validators to gather valuable insights and feedback.”
As of 30 July, RootDataLabs reported that Cysic had emerged as the top hot project on RootData over the last 24 hours.
However, by the end of the day, it had slipped to second position.
By 31 July, Cysic had further declined to the fourth spot.
Cysic announced on 24 May that it had secured $12 million in a pre-A funding round.
This round was spearheaded by industry titans HashKey Capital and OKX Ventures, with a vision to revolutionise the generation of ZK proofs, making them more rapid, cost-effective, user-friendly, and decentralised.
This funding round was further graced by the participation of reputable investors such as ABCDE, Bit Digital, Coinswitch, IDG, Matrix Partners, Polychain, SNZ Holding, and Web3.com Ventures.
Notably, the round also welcomed contributions from distinguished angels, including George Lambeth, a seed investor in projects like Celestia, Arbitrum, and Avax, and Ken Li, the Co-founder of Eternis.
The strategic influx of capital is poised to propel Cysic's ambitious global expansion initiatives, fuel the recruitment of new talent, and support the critical aspect of hardware production.
This approach underscores Cysic's commitment to not only scaling its operations but also to innovating at the core of blockchain technology.
Rui, Investment Manager of HashKey Capital, commented:
“As an early-stage investor in Cysic, we have been with them since the beginning and are doubling down our investment in this round. As Vitalik has stated, ZK technology will be the most essential part of ETH’s future. The key challenge in the ZK space is achieving sufficient performance speed. Beyond algorithm improvements, hardware acceleration is equally crucial. Cysic is an industry leader that has already developed GPU and FPGA solutions, and is also ready for ASIC chips. With collaboration from other ZK Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects, we believe Cysic will become an indispensable player in the space.”
The generation of ZK proofs on conventional CPUs has historically been a slow process, posing a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of ZK technology.
Recognising this challenge, Cysic, a pioneering project specialising in ZK hardware acceleration, is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge ASIC chips.
Their mission is to drastically reduce the time required for ZK proof generation, thereby establishing the first ZK Prover Network.
Leo explained:
“We wanted to bring our early experience of designing specialized hardware to accelerate Bitcoin mining and apply the idea to ZK proof generation. That is how we got Cysic.”
Cysic is dedicated to providing enterprise-grade ZK compute-as-a-service to a diverse range of ZK projects.
By harnessing the power of chip computing and community GPU resources, Cysic integrates numerous verification nodes within the community to build the Cysic Network.
This network is designed to offer a reliable and integrated computing and verification solution for the entire industry, with the ultimate goal of enabling real-time ZK proof generation.
The Cysic Network is poised to offer proving and settlement services for ZK proofs to all ZK projects, fostering a sustainable ecosystem for ZK proof generation and verification.
The network specifically targets two critical issues:
-Prover Decentralisation: Cysic embraces the concept of decentralised provers as a resilient strategy to safeguard against single points of failure in ZK projects. This approach not only enhances the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of proof generation but also aligns with the decentralised philosophy that is deeply rooted in the blockchain community. It is a principle that is seamlessly integrated into both Layer 1 and Layer 2 ZK projects.
-Latency and High Cost in ZK Proof Settlement: The current process of settling ZK proofs on Ethereum is hampered by high costs and latency. The common workaround involves aggregating multiple proofs before settling them on Ethereum, which marginally reduces the gas fees but increases the waiting time. However, the settlement of ZK proofs is largely a stateless process and can be performed outside of Ethereum, suggesting potential for more efficient solutions.
The rough structure of the Cysic Network
Cysic's innovative approach aims to overcome these challenges, paving the way for a new era of ZK technology that is both efficient and accessible.
Cysic emerged in late August 2022, founded by Xiong Fan (Leo) and Bowen Huang, with a primary objective to revolutionise the ZK proof generation process through hardware acceleration for ZK projects.
The members of this team boast impressive credentials, primarily holding PhDs in computer science from top 20 universities in the United States and hailing from chip design teams at the prestigious Institute of Computing, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Their expertise in cryptography and hardware design positions them as thought leaders in their respective fields.
Xiong Fan (Leo), Co-Founder
Leo, co-founder of Cysic, oversees system architecture and cryptography research.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Sichuan University, a master's in computer science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University under the guidance of renowned cryptography professor Elaine Shi.
During his academic career, Leo conducted research at IC3, Yahoo, Bell Labs, and IBM.
He also served as a cryptography researcher at Algorand before becoming an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers University, a position he currently holds.
Bowen Huang, Co-Founder
Bowen, co-founder of Cysic, leads the company's chip and supply chain management.
He spent six years at the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where he earned a master's degree and served as a research engineer.
Bowen later pursued a Ph.D. at Yale University.
His career includes significant contributions to chip development at several prominent tech companies, where he secured multiple patents and designs.
Cysic's Socials
Coinlive envisions Cysic Network as a transformative force in the advancement of ZK ZKP technology, fostering broader adoption of ZK verification, particularly in the realms of ownership, governance, and community diversification.
The confidence of industry titans such as HashKey Capital and OKX Ventures, among other investors, is evident in the $12 million funding Cysic secured in May, further bolstering their credibility.
Despite the absence of detailed information regarding tokenomics, distribution supply, and the release of a whitepaper, anticipation for Cysic's developments remains high.
When asked when Cysic's formal whitepaper will be released, Leo noted:
“After the testnet stabilizes. Detailed token economics will be included.”
Currently, Cysic has only released a litepaper.
The project kicked off its inaugural community AMA on 1 May, attracting over 700 participants, showcasing the community's keen interest.
Cysic's journey into the public sphere continued with the launch of Phase 1 of its testnet.
It also achieved a significant milestone on 4 June by reaching 100,000 users, a number that has since climbed to 125,200, underscoring the growing interest and engagement surrounding the project.
The network is poised to serve as a collaborative hub for provers, facilitating the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and innovation that could reverberate across various industries within the global ecosystem.
In the future, the income of ZK miners may be comparable to that of Bitcoin or Ethereum miners, and hardware acceleration solutions based on GPU, FPGA, and ASIC will have huge market space.
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