January 13, 2026
Proofs and pitchforks
Zirgen: Compiler for a Domain-Specific Language
Zirgen lands and devs start swinging — Rust vs “yet another language” vibes
TLDR: Zirgen promises faster zero‑knowledge apps by letting devs build custom circuits and even new VMs, while most should still stick to Rust. The community split: performance nerds cheer, others roll eyes at “another language,” with Circom integration fueling a friendly turf war over complexity vs speed.
RISC Zero just dropped Zirgen, a compiler for a new language that builds math-heavy circuits for its zero‑knowledge proof system, and the comments instantly turned into a popcorn fest. The official line: most people should still write apps in Rust and use the zkVM (a virtual machine for proofs), but power users can hand‑craft circuits for speed — with an upcoming zkVM circuit written in Zirgen. Cue split reaction. The hype crew cheered “hardware‑level superpowers!” while skeptics groaned at learning a new DSL: “How many languages does one blockchain need?” The reveal of a Circom integration — letting Zirgen verify Circom circuits via recursion — sparked a mini turf war: Circom fans called it a peace treaty, RISC Zero purists called it “proofception.” One meme summed up the mood: the diagram looked “like a subway map to anxiety.” The “work in progress” caveat became a lightning rod: some begged for docs and guardrails, others yelled “ship accelerators now.” Still, the promise of building accelerators and even entire VMs that plug into RISC Zero had pragmatists nodding: performance over vibes. TL; community is simultaneously excited, exhausted, and extremely online.
Key Points
- •Zirgen is a domain-specific language and compiler that generates arithmetic circuits for the RISC Zero proof system.
- •RISC Zero recommends building most zkApps in Rust on its RISC-V zkVM, using Zirgen for performance-critical circuit components.
- •An upcoming version of the RISC-V zkVM circuit is written in Zirgen, indicating deeper integration.
- •Zirgen enables accelerators and custom VMs that integrate into the RISC Zero ecosystem via proof composition.
- •Circom integration is in progress to produce recursion circuit programs that verify witnesses for arbitrary Circom circuits; the compiler outputs Rust, C++, and recursion VM predicates.