Compute Network

The Compute Network is what lets anyone verify Nexus markets without trusting the operator: it produces validity proofs of execution that any party can check independently. It is a distributed proof-generation network, live on Nexus Testnet since December 2024.

While the Nexus blockchain itself is live on mainnet today, the Compute Network remains in active testing: it is exercising and hardening its ability to prove Nexus blockchain blocks on testnet before that proving becomes part of mainnet operation. The components below describe the proving architecture as it is being proven out.

Decoupled by design

Consensus and verification run as independent networks connected by a deterministic interface. NexusBFT finalizes and orders blocks; the Compute Network proves them. Separating the two lets proving scale and use specialized hardware without adding load to validators, and a proving delay never affects consensus liveness. Each layer scales and upgrades on its own.

Proof lifecycle

Finalized blocks are assigned to provers, which generate validity proofs. Proofs are recursively aggregated into a single succinct proof and verified on-chain, at which point the state is proven. The pipeline runs continuously, overlapping block production for near-real-time verifiability.

Roles

• Provers — generate validity proofs for NexusCore and NexusEVM execution.
• Aggregators — recursively combine block proofs into compact epoch proofs.
• Verifier — the consensus-side check that validates aggregated proofs and commits the proven state.

The zkVM

Every node in the network runs the Nexus zkVM, the verifiable processor that executes and proves Nexus computation. Its design is published in the Nexus zkVM specification.

Incentives

The Compute Network has no staking. Nodes are incentivized for the compute they contribute, which the network tracks continuously and aggregates into points. NEX-based incentives for compute activity are distributed on an ad-hoc basis; the first such distribution took place at mainnet genesis.

Coverage

Proof coverage expands incrementally toward full coverage of both NexusCore and NexusEVM.