Here we report on the progress of the leading builders in the zk-Layer 1 ecosystem, documenting recent significant releases, technical breakthroughs and general updates
@acityinohio has been appointed interim CEO and President of the Board at the @MinaFoundation, following the departures of @evanashapiro and @khem: https://minaprotocol.com/blog/changes-at-mina-foundation-and-next-steps…
The Foundation will now focus on transferring product and technical responsibilities to @o1_labs and advancing a decentralized treasury. Leadership aims to rebuild community trust, reassess priorities, and ensure @MinaProtocol’s growth.
@AleoHQ proposes a decentralized model for ZKP generation to eliminate reliance on centralized provers. Through its @coinbase puzzle and Proof-of-Succinct Work system, Aleo incentivizes individuals to run their own provers or delegate to others, striking a balance between privacy and performance. This structure promotes reliability, censorship resistance, and hardware innovation, aligning ZKP infrastructure with blockchain’s core values of decentralization and user autonomy: https://aleo.org/post/decentralized-proving-advantages/…
In other news, a recently released episode of House of ZK Radio featured @vivford, VP of Community at Aleo, who joined @alicelingl to discuss key challenges to the mainstream adoption of ZKPs, the development of the Leo programming language that simplifies privacy in dApps, and Aleo’s role in building a developer-friendly private blockchain: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1899809750818193759…
Finally, @ProvableHQ has released snarkOS v3.4.x for Aleo, with key performance upgrades. Prover time is now drastically faster due to optimized synthesis handling. Validators benefit from improved block production speeds. A new API endpoint enables block header queries, reducing bandwidth use: https://provable.com/blog/announcing-snarkOS-v3.4.x
@robviglione, CEO of @HorizenLabs, shared his thoughts on the growing importance of L3 blockchains, arguing they’re key to solving crypto’s cost, scalability, and usability challenges: https://cryptoslate.com/layer-3s-are-a-necessary-innovation-in-crypto/…
Viglione believes L3s offer needed customization, lower fees, and seamless user experiences. Despite criticism, he sees them as a natural evolution - bringing blockchain closer to mass adoption by making complexity invisible.
@Aleph__Zero shared an article explaining how its zkOS framework addresses the main challenges of ZKPs: slow computation, dApp compatibility, and inefficient data transfers.
By combining optimized proof systems, parallel processing, and lightweight client-side computation, zkOS enables near-instant private transactions. It also supports seamless dApp use and efficient private data sharing through techniques like fuzzy message detection, making privacy practical without sacrificing usability: https://alephzero.org/blog/usable-privacy-without-trade-offs/…
They also shared a string of latest updates, including:
• Shielder Network is now operating on several testnets - Aleph Zero EVM, @ethereum, @arbitrum, @base, @SonicLabs, and @monad_xyz.
• Work continues on the relayer system to boost scalability and enhance user privacy.
• @Common__App has finalized a security review on biometric and key handling, while an ongoing audit by Kudelski Security wraps up by April 7.
• Gas usage for core operations - deposits, withdrawals, and shielded account creation - has been reduced through smart contract tuning.
• The Shielder SDK has been delivered to Common’s frontend developers, moving privacy feature integration in web and mobile apps closer to release: https://x.com/Aleph__Zero/status/1900548788101816726…
@DuskFoundation has introduced Hyperstaking, a feature that allows smart contracts to stake $DUSK tokens on behalf of users, making staking more accessible: https://dusk.network/news/stake-abstaction-on-dusk/… It supports automated staking, rewards distribution, and custom models like liquid staking. @sozu_dusk, the first partner, will launch a Delegated Staking Beta soon, simplifying participation without the need to run a node.
Additionally, Dusk have partnered with @chainlink to enhance real-world asset tokenization on-chain. DuskEVM will integrate with Chainlink’s cross-chain protocol, enabling secure asset movement across networks. Select RWAs will trade on Dusk’s NPEX exchange, with oracle support ensuring compliance and accurate pricing: https://dusk.network/news/dusk-chainlink-rwas
@namada released an article explaining how data privacy across blockchains works through its Multi-Asset Shielded Pool, which supports shielded transfers for any asset: https://namada.net/blog/shielding-the-multichain-how-namadas-data-protection-works…
It enables cross-chain privacy and rewards users for protecting their data. By integrating ZKPs and selective disclosure, Namada offers privacy without altering existing networks.
@Zcash have shared a string of recent updates:
• @ShieldedLabs completing Milestone 1 of Crosslink, with successful integration tests using Zebra tools.
• Community polling is underway to decide on future funding models, with votes starting in early April.
• ZCG rejected two grant proposals and postponed decisions on others due to funding concerns.
• Zashi redesign progressed, and mobile wallet updates were made.
The latest @zashi_app update helps Zcash users recover funds stuck on Ledger wallets due to past integration issues. Users can restore their Ledger seed phrase using either Keystone hardware or the Zashi mobile wallet. The update also supports restoring wallets with transparent address rotation, while cautioning that such features don’t guarantee privacy on their own: https://x.com/zashi_app/status/1905643922086338627
In a new episode of @HouseofZK Radio, @galxe_yumin, CTO of @Galxe, joined @alicelingl to talk about the motivation and technical design behind Galxe’s ZK-based identity protocol and its native network - @GravityChain: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1905637799220363450…
Yumin explained Gravity’s architecture in detail, including its five-stage pipeline and parallel EVM, and addressed key challenges such as in-browser proof generation. The focus was on privacy, cross-chain interoperability, and low-latency execution.
The @Zk_Hub_Global presentation by @wraitii, CTO at @hyle_org, was released on the @HouseofZK YouTube. His presentation explored a radical rethink of @ethereum from a blank-slate design to unlock the full potential of ZK and enable real-time, scalable, and user-friendly blockchain experiences.
Hyle was also a sponsor of the event, which took place at @EthereumDenver: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1899935092958466312…
In other news, @HouseofZK released a joint interview featuring @DacEconomy of @ProjectZKM and @sylvechv of Hyle, where they discussed how ZKPs could enable pluralism by allowing multiple truths to coexist, reshape trust as programmable, and shift power from centralized identity systems to community-defined norms and individual-controlled access: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1905632918585630987
