Towards Cost-Effective ZK-Rollups: Modeling and Optimization of Proving Infrastructure

Abstract

Zero-knowledge rollups rely on provers to generate multi-step state transition proofs under strict finality and availability constraints. These steps require expensive hardware (e.g., GPUs), and finality is reached only once all stages complete and results are posted on-chain. As rollups scale, staying economically viable becomes increasingly difficult due to rising throughput, fast finality demands, volatile gas prices, and dynamic resource needs. We base our study on Halo2-based proving systems and identify transactions per second (TPS), average gas usage, and finality time as key cost drivers. To address this, we propose a parametric cost model that captures rollup-specific constraints and ensures provers can keep up with incoming transaction load. We formulate this model as a constraint system and solve it using the Z3 SMT solver to find cost-optimal configurations. To validate our approach, we implement a simulator that detects lag and estimates operational costs. Our method shows a potential cost reduction of up to 70\%.