Ethereum’s quantum race takes a new turn as zkSync courts banks and Starknet weighs exit

What happened

ZkSync announced Airbender Prime, a prover that Matter Labs says handled 99% of 7,200 consecutive Ethereum mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds each on a single NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU (a chip built for many calculations at once, used for graphics and AI). 14, 2026 3 min read Quick Take 01 zkSync unveiled a real-time Ethereum prover as Starknet considers becoming an independent blockchain to accelerate quantum protection.

Make CryptoSlate preferred on Share Share ZkSync announced Airbender Prime, a prover that Matter Labs says handled 99% of 7,200 consecutive Ethereum mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds each on a single NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU. ETH 2.58% · 24h Ethereum’s quantum race takes a new turn as zkSync courts banks and Starknet weighs exit zkSync's new prover meets Ethereum's real-time performance benchmark while rival Starknet considers independence, highlighting diverging paths for L2 networks By Gino Matos Reporter • CryptoSlate Oct.

02 The competing strategies highlight how Ethereum's quantum-security roadmap is reshaping priorities across its Layer-2 ecosystem. 03 zkSync is courting banks while Starknet weighs independence, but neither strategy has established a sustainable commercial model.

Key facts

• ZkSync — announced: Airbender Prime, a prover that Matter Labs says handled 99% of 7,200 consecutive Ethereum mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds each on a single NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU
• Make CryptoSlate preferred on Share Share ZkSync — announced: Airbender Prime, a prover that Matter Labs says handled 99% of 7,200 consecutive Ethereum mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds each on a single NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPU