Base Zero Knowledge Proofs: Why Your Trophy Record Stays Put

Base zero knowledge proofs are a new way for Base to prove to Ethereum that its record of transactions is correct, so the record no longer depends only on nobody raising a challenge. For a player, finality means a closed round and a minted trophy reach a point where they cannot be undone. How you vote, how a round settles and where your trophy lands stay the same.

What are base zero knowledge proofs?

Base zero knowledge proofs are cryptographic receipts showing that Base processed its transactions correctly. A computer called a prover does the work, and Ethereum checks the receipt without redoing every step. Succinct describes the change as a multi-proof system that pairs a trusted execution environment, or TEE, with ZK proofs generated by its SP1 software, as a step toward full ZK proving.

Here is the short version. A zero-knowledge proof lets one party prove a statement true to another party without revealing the underlying data. The party checking it is the verifier. It only learns the fact that matters: the statement is valid. The Block reports that Base is adding SP1 and TEEs to strengthen security and move toward cryptographic certainty.

That is the whole idea. One prover, one verifier, one statement. The maths is hard. The concept is not.

How do zero-knowledge proofs work on a blockchain?

A zero-knowledge proof works by turning a computation into a compact proof that a verifier can check quickly. The prover runs the program, records what happened, and produces the proof. The verifier checks it in far less computational time than the original work took.

Two properties make a good proof system. Completeness means a true statement always convinces an honest verifier. Soundness means a false statement cannot convince one, except by an absurdly small chance. Some systems add privacy on top, hiding sensitive details. On a rollup like Base, the big benefit is integrity and efficiency rather than privacy, because the transactions themselves stay public.

Succinct introduced SP1 as a zkVM that verifies the execution of programs written in ordinary languages like Rust. That matters because developers can use normal code instead of writing custom cryptography for every new use.

What does finality mean, and why does it matter for a trophy?

Finality is the point where a transaction cannot be reversed or rewritten. For a player, that means a round’s settlement, its payouts and its trophies are permanently part of the record.

Here is the real problem the old design had. Under the optimistic model, Base posted its record to Ethereum and treated it as correct unless someone challenged it. The OP Stack documentation explains that state commitments are posted without any direct proof of validity and stay pending through a challenge window. Ethereum.org notes that withdrawing to Ethereum means waiting until the challenge period, roughly seven days, has elapsed.

A proof flips that. Silence no longer has to stand in as evidence, because the evidence is attached. When a round closes and the voting contract mints a trophy, that mint is a transaction like any other. Stronger proof behind the chain means stronger ground under your trophy.

What does a Temptation Token round look like at settlement?

A round settles in one transaction on Base mainnet, chain ID 8453, and the move to proofs does not change any step of it. Here is how it works, in order:

• Each round lasts one week and closes on Sunday night, US Eastern time. On-chain, the end time is Monday 04:59:00 UTC.
• The operator’s own keeper service triggers settlement.
• Chainlink VRF draws the winning profile at random, weighted by tickets. More votes give better odds, but no profile is guaranteed to win.
• The voting contract pays every share in $TTS, straight to the recipients’ wallets, in the settlement transaction.
• The same contract mints three TTS Round Trophy NFTs: one to the winning profile’s wallet, one to the top voter and one to the house wallet.
• All $TTS left over from votes on profiles that did not win goes to the burn address.

Payouts, trophies and the burn all sit inside that one settlement transaction. Base finality is what makes that record permanent. A round with no votes has no winner, no payout and no trophies, so there is nothing to finalise. For the full walk-through from first vote to trophy, read our round mechanics explainer.

What will a player notice, and what stays the same?

Most players will notice nothing in the app. Voting, settlement and trophies work exactly as before. The change sits underneath Base, in how the chain proves its record to Ethereum.

What stays the same is the part you touch. The minimum vote is still 5 $TTS. Votes are still final. Votes are still exempt from the transfer tax. The trophy contract address is still 0x02DDd0e63DC2A5F66Fdb5a46F5981191959AC9A5, and the voting contract is still 0x783b8cd80b586b723188c93ef94ee1beede617b4. You still need a little ETH on Base for gas.

The place a difference could show up is in moving assets from Base back to Ethereum, which is where the challenge window bites. The Block says the upgrade is meant to speed up finality, but we will not promise any specific speed or date that Base has not stated. For what happens on a bad day instead, see what an outage does to your vote and round.

How can you check your own trophy on Base?

You can check your trophy yourself in a few minutes by looking up the settlement transaction on a Base block explorer. No proof system asks you to trust us. It asks you to check.

• Open your wallet and find the Trophy NFT with the symbol TTSTROPHY.
• Confirm it came from the Trophy NFT contract address above, not a lookalike.
• Find the settlement transaction and check the $TTS payouts sent in that same transaction.
• Check that the round’s leftover $TTS went to the burn address.
• Before you move anything off Base, read the latest network notes. Our posts on the withdrawal pause and the Cobalt upgrade cover what to look for.

Here is the test. If you can trace your trophy from mint to wallet on a public explorer, you are not taking anyone’s word for it. That habit matters more than any upgrade.

Frequently asked questions

Does a zero-knowledge proof make my votes private?

No. On Base, zero-knowledge proofs check that transactions ran correctly; they do not hide them. Your votes, the voting contract and every settlement stay visible on the public blockchain. The benefit here is integrity, not privacy, so anyone can still verify a round from the outside, which is the point of playing on-chain.

No. On Base, zero-knowledge proofs check that transactions ran correctly; they do not hide them. Your votes, the voting contract and every settlement stay visible on the public blockchain. The benefit here is integrity, not privacy, so anyone can still verify a round from the outside, which is the point of playing on-chain.

What is a trusted execution environment?

A trusted execution environment is a sealed area of a processor that runs code where outside software cannot tamper with it, and it can attest to what it ran. Base pairs that attestation with SP1 zero-knowledge proofs, so two independent kinds of evidence back the same record instead of one. It is a hardware safeguard sitting next to a mathematical one.

A trusted execution environment is a sealed area of a processor that runs code where outside software cannot tamper with it, and it can attest to what it ran. Base pairs that attestation with SP1 zero-knowledge proofs, so two independent kinds of evidence back the same record instead of one. It is a hardware safeguard sitting next to a mathematical one.

Do I need to do anything with my wallet because of this change?

No action is needed for playing. Your wallet, your $TTS and your trophies stay on Base mainnet, and the contracts you use do not change. Keep a small amount of ETH on Base for gas, and always check addresses carefully, because transactions on Base are irreversible. That advice held before the upgrade and still holds after it.

No action is needed for playing. Your wallet, your $TTS and your trophies stay on Base mainnet, and the contracts you use do not change. Keep a small amount of ETH on Base for gas, and always check addresses carefully, because transactions on Base are irreversible. That advice held before the upgrade and still holds after it.

Can a finalised round be reversed by the game?

No. Once the settlement transaction lands, the voting contract has already paid every share in $TTS and minted the trophies. Votes are final and non-refundable, and there is no step that pulls a payout back. Finality on Base is about the chain’s own record, and that record is what your trophy rests on.

No. Once the settlement transaction lands, the voting contract has already paid every share in $TTS and minted the trophies. Votes are final and non-refundable, and there is no step that pulls a payout back. Finality on Base is about the chain’s own record, and that record is what your trophy rests on.

The Bottom Line

Base zero knowledge proofs change how Base proves its record, not how you play. One round, one vote, one settlement transaction that pays out and mints the trophies. Stronger proof under the chain is good news for anyone who holds a trophy. We will not tell you it changes anything else. $TTS is a utility token for playing the contest.

The one thing to try: open the app at app.temptationtoken.io, connect a wallet on Base, and check a trophy contract yourself on an explorer. Then cast your first vote with the people already playing on Base. Entrants must be 18+ and pass a one-time ID check. Questions go to support@temptationtoken.io, or to me at jim@temptationtoken.io. Join.

Play at app.temptationtoken.io.

Sources

• Base Adds ZK Proofs to Base Azul with SP1 – Succinct Blog
• Coinbase-incubated Base network adopts Succinct's zero-knowledge tech – The Block
• Optimistic Rollups – ethereum.org
• Rollup protocol overview – Optimism Docs
• Introducing SP1 – Succinct Blog