Ethereum could be on the verge of a major technological leap as Brevis, an Ethereum scaling firm, revealed a breakthrough that could redefine how the blockchain scales. The company’s new zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM), known as Pico Prism, has successfully achieved 99.6% real-time proving of Ethereum blocks using consumer-grade hardware — a feat that moves the network closer to handling 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).
A Major Step Forward for Ethereum Scaling
Brevis announced on Wednesday that its new zkEVM system, Pico Prism, can now prove Ethereum blocks in real time using standard gaming graphics cards instead of costly data-center servers.
In its latest test, Brevis used 64 Nvidia RTX 5090 GPUs, the most advanced gaming processors currently available, to achieve 99.6% real-time proving in under 12 seconds. This means that the system generated cryptographic proofs verifying block correctness faster than Ethereum could produce new blocks.
“Brevis has achieved real-time proving of Ethereum L1 using consumer-grade hardware,” the company stated, calling it a milestone that could scale Ethereum by 100x and enable “a future where you can validate the chain from a phone.”
Why Real-Time Proving Matters
Real-time proving (RTP) is one of the most complex challenges in blockchain scalability. It refers to generating cryptographic proofs confirming that each block’s transactions were executed correctly, all while staying ahead of the next block’s production speed.
Currently, every Ethereum validator must re-execute all transactions to confirm block validity — a process that requires significant computing power and time. This model creates a bottleneck, limiting scalability and efficiency.
Pico Prism changes that dynamic. According to Brevis, “Real-time proving breaks this model. One prover generates a proof, and everyone else verifies it in milliseconds.”
If this approach becomes mainstream, it could dramatically reduce validation costs, making it possible to run an Ethereum node even on consumer hardware — potentially even smartphones.
Brevis’ Roadmap: Scaling With Fewer GPUs
Brevis has ambitious plans to improve its results further. The company aims to reach 99% real-time proving using fewer than 16 RTX 5090 GPUs within the next few months.
This would make real-time block verification even more affordable and energy-efficient. By using consumer hardware instead of enterprise-grade servers, Ethereum’s network could expand globally without requiring massive capital investment.
This shift marks the beginning of a new era for blockchain scalability — one where ordinary devices can help secure the network.
A Leap Toward Ethereum’s 10,000 TPS Goal
Ethereum’s long-term roadmap envisions a future where validators verify zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs instead of re-executing transactions. This would allow the base layer to achieve 10,000 transactions per second, a major leap from the current throughput of roughly 15 TPS.
Crypto researcher Ryan Sean Adams, co-founder of Bankless, commented on this development:
“At 3x per year, scaling Ethereum L1 would reach 10K TPS by April 2029.”
The breakthrough achieved by Pico Prism is a crucial part of that trajectory, showing that real-time proof generation is becoming feasible on consumer-grade hardware — not just specialized data centers.
Upcoming Ethereum Upgrades to Support Real-Time Proving
Ethereum’s upcoming Fusaka upgrade, expected in December, will further streamline real-time proving capabilities.
According to Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, EIP-7825 — a proposed improvement — will cap per-transaction gas usage, making it easier to process proofs in parallel.
Drake explained:
“By year’s end, several teams will prove every L1 EVM block on a 16-GPU cluster, drawing less than 10kW total.”
This move would bring Ethereum closer to an efficient, parallelized validation model, paving the way for ultra-high throughput with minimal energy consumption.
The “Phone-as-a-Node” Future
The Ethereum Foundation described Brevis’ achievement as “one big step toward Ethereum’s future.”
According to the foundation, zk-technology like Pico Prism will enable Ethereum to scale to meet global demand while remaining decentralized and secure.
Tech entrepreneur Mike Warner echoed this sentiment, noting that “the phone-as-a-node future just got real.”
As Ryan Sean Adams summarized, Ethereum is now transforming into a zk-chain, where:
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Layer 1 will host global decentralized finance (DeFi) operations, running at up to 10,000 TPS, and
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Layer 2 networks will handle more specialized or application-specific workloads.
This model combines scalability with accessibility — the long-sought “holy grail” of blockchain development: massive throughput without sacrificing decentralization or security.
The Bottom Line
Pico Prism’s success represents one of Ethereum’s most promising technical milestones to date. By achieving 99.6% real-time block proving on consumer GPUs, Brevis has demonstrated that Ethereum can scale dramatically while staying affordable and decentralized.
If Brevis’ roadmap continues as planned — achieving near-total real-time proving with as few as 16 GPUs — the dream of validating Ethereum from a smartphone may soon become reality.
As the technology evolves, Ethereum’s base layer could soon process thousands of transactions per second — securely, efficiently, and accessible to everyone.
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