EF says zkEVMs hit real-time proving and turns to security: 128-bit provable security targeted by end of 2026

Ethereum Foundation/L1 zkEVM (proof-checked blocks)

Citing the Ethproofs 2025 review, the EF said proving latency fell from 16 minutes to 16 seconds in a year and costs fell 45-fold, with zkVMs now proving 99% of blocks in under 10 seconds on target hardware. It named security the main open issue and set three deadlines for zkVM teams.

• End Feb 2026: all teams plug their proof systems into 'soundcalc', a shared security estimator.
• End May 2026 (Glamsterdam): 100-bit provable security, proofs ≤600 KiB.
• End 2026: 128-bit provable security, proofs ≤300 KiB, and a formal soundness argument for recursion.
• Higher security usually means larger proofs, which must still spread across the P2P network quickly.