Powdr is a ZK compiler framework that accelerates and secures zkVMs automatically. We apply advanced compiler techniques to identify performance-critical parts of the program being proved, and replace them with optimized circuits, called autoprecompiles. These are generated without developer intervention and come with higher correctness assurance.

Scaling Ethereum by accelerating and securing zkVMs with compiler optimizations, autoprecompiles & formal verification.

Most zkVMs nowadays must use manually written custom circuits (precompiles) to make proving fast. Handwritten precompiles are time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to verify. This is especially critical for Ethereum: making ZK proofs for Ethereum block verification would be unfeasible without custom acceleration from precompiles.

Powdr solves this by turning compiler infrastructure into a powerful zkVM optimizer that:

• Detects heavy parts of the program automatically.
• Rewrites them into fast circuits.
• Goes beyond existing precompiles and is able to create thousands of optimized circuits for a single program, providing custom acceleration that would not be feasible with handwritten precompiles.