Question 1

What is ZKC?

Accepted Answer

ZKC is Boundless's ERC-20 token. Its protocol role is to provide token incentives for provers that generate zero-knowledge proofs, and to establish power related to governance and staker rewards through a staking mechanism. Therefore, ZKC's uses are not limited to transfers on the secondary market: the emissions mechanism distributes a portion of newly issued tokens to provers that complete proving work, while another portion is distributed to stakers according to the reward power of their staking positions.

Question 2

How is newly issued ZKC allocated?

Accepted Answer

New ZKC emissions occur in cycles of two days each, approximately 182 cycles per year. Of the new ZKC produced in each cycle, 75% is allocated to provers that generate zero-knowledge proofs and 25% to ZKC stakers. This distinction reflects two different contributions: provers receive a share for completing proving work, while stakers receive a share for maintaining rule-compliant staking positions and holding corresponding reward power. Specific eligibility and amounts claimable in each cycle are still determined by contract-specified state and power calculations.

Question 3

What do users receive after staking ZKC?

Accepted Answer

Staking ZKC creates veZKC, a non-transferable NFT representing that staking position. This NFT is not an additional freely resellable token of the same kind; it records the position and carries the corresponding governance voting eligibility and reward power. Stakers do not receive a fixed-return promise. Their claimable emission share depends on the reward power of the veZKC position and the allocation rules in effect; the reward source is the 25% reserved for stakers from newly issued emissions in each two-day cycle.

Question 4

What are the effects of unstaking?

Accepted Answer

Unstaking is not an operation that immediately returns ZKC. When a user initiates unstaking, the original position's voting power and reward power immediately fall to zero; from that point, the position no longer retains its prior governance eligibility or continues accumulating corresponding staking reward power. A 30-day wait is then required before withdrawal can be completed and ZKC recovered. This waiting stage separates “ceasing to enjoy staking power” from “assets becoming withdrawable”: the former occurs upon initiation of unstaking, while the latter is met only after 30 days have elapsed.

Question 5

Will ZKC's supply change?

Accepted Answer

ZKC's initial supply is 1 billion tokens, but supply will not remain at that initial figure because the protocol will continue new emissions in two-day cycles. When assessing supply changes, initial supply and subsequent emissions should be considered separately. The annualized rate of new emissions declines year by year from 7% in year 0; it is at the 3% floor from year 8 onward. This annualized rate describes the pace of new emissions, not a return rate that a particular holder is necessarily entitled to receive; actual supply growth must also be understood in conjunction with the execution of emissions in each cycle.

Question 6

What is the difference between prover rewards and staker rewards?

Accepted Answer

Provers and stakers have different bases for receiving shares from new ZKC emissions. Provers correspond to the work of generating zero-knowledge proofs and therefore receive 75% of new emissions in each cycle; stakers correspond to holding valid ZKC staking positions and therefore share the remaining 25%. Although both are related to emissions, they should not be treated as the same type of reward: prover shares are related to proving work, while staker shares are related to the reward power represented by veZKC.

Question 7

What is veZKC, and why is it non-transferable?

Accepted Answer

veZKC is a non-transferable NFT created after staking ZKC. It represents a staking position, rather than a transferable token equivalent to ZKC. It records that position's governance voting eligibility and reward power within the same mechanism. Non-transferability means this NFT cannot be transferred to another person as an ordinary asset in order to transfer the position's power. If unstaking is chosen, voting power and reward power immediately become zero, and the underlying ZKC cannot be withdrawn until another 30 days have passed.

Question 8

How is ZKC governance eligibility related to staking status?

Accepted Answer

ZKC governance eligibility comes from veZKC formed by a staking position, rather than arising automatically from merely holding freely transferable ZKC. A valid veZKC position carries both voting eligibility and reward power. This directly links governance participation to staking status: when unstaking is initiated, voting power immediately becomes zero; even though the underlying ZKC cannot be withdrawn until 30 days later, the position can no longer participate in voting in its original state.

Question 9

How should the 75% and 25% of ZKC emissions per cycle be understood?

Accepted Answer

One cycle every two days is the settlement cadence for new ZKC emissions. If the new amount in a cycle is denoted by E, the amount allocated to provers in that cycle is 0.75×E, and the amount allocated to stakers is 0.25×E. This formula only explains how newly issued tokens in one cycle are divided between the two types of participants; it does not state how much any particular prover or staker can receive. Individual outcomes also depend on proving contribution or reward power.

Question 10

How does ZKC's emissions rate change over time?

Accepted Answer

ZKC's supply path has two stages: it starts with an initial supply of 1 billion tokens, followed by continuing periodic emissions. The annualized emissions rate declines year by year from 7% in year 0 and remains at a 3% floor from year 8 onward. Therefore, supply change is neither fixed once and for all nor permanently growing at the initial 7% rate. What declines over time is the annualized rate of new emissions; the 3% floor after year 8 indicates that this mechanism does not automatically fall to zero at that point.

Question 11

What happens during the 30-day unstaking waiting period?

Accepted Answer

After unstaking is initiated, during the 30-day waiting period, the user has not yet completed withdrawal of the underlying ZKC, while the original veZKC position's voting power and reward power are already zero. The waiting period is therefore not a stage in which the user can continue staking and exercising power in the original state. Only after the waiting period ends can the user complete withdrawal and recover ZKC. Whether to stake again afterward would create a new or re-established staking status and should be handled according to the contract rules in effect at that time.

Question 12

Which states should be distinguished when understanding the ZKC mechanism?

Accepted Answer

To understand ZKC, at minimum distinguish token balances, valid staking positions, and new emission shares. A transferable ZKC balance itself is not veZKC; veZKC is the non-transferable position that carries governance and staking reward power. At the same time, new emissions do not mean that all holders receive average returns: 75% of each cycle goes to provers and 25% to stakers, while an individual's obtainable share also depends on proving work or reward power.

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