Tech Talk: Neon (Ivan Bjelajac)

A former Ethereum developer who helped bring over 300 blockchain use cases to Polygon is now betting big on Solana—and he's unveiled a groundbreaking solution that could revolutionize how complex DeFi applications run on the network.

Summary

Ivan Bjelajac, the newly appointed CEO of Neon Labs, took the Breakpoint 2025 stage to announce a significant pivot for the company best known for its Neon EVM product. After years of attempting to bridge Ethereum developers to Solana through EVM compatibility, the team has developed a new approach using zero-knowledge proofs to enable off-chain computation while maintaining trustless verification on Solana's mainnet.

The core revelation is ParaSol, a specialized virtual machine designed specifically for trading applications on Solana. This technology addresses a fundamental challenge: Solana's speed optimizations, while revolutionary, have created constraints that make running complex DeFi programs difficult without offloading computation. Rather than forcing developers to completely rewrite their business logic, Neon Labs is now offering a network extension solution that keeps users in their Solana wallets while processing complex operations off-chain.

What makes this technically feasible is an innovative "proof composition" technique where two different ZK proving systems run sequentially—one generates a proof, and another proves that proof, resulting in smaller, faster verification. The team has achieved results that are ten times faster when leveraging GPUs, with the ultimate goal of near-instant proving.

Bjelajac emphasized that perpetuals trading has emerged as the primary use case driving this development, reflecting the massive interest in perps witnessed throughout Breakpoint 2025. The specialized nature of the solution means custom ZK circuits must be written for each program type, but Neon Labs has prioritized the most in-demand applications first.

Key Points:

The Challenge of Complex DeFi on Solana

Solana's architectural decisions that enable its legendary speed have created inherent trade-offs for complex applications. While the network excels at fast, parallelized transactions, developers attempting to port sophisticated DeFi applications from Ethereum face significant hurdles. The constraints aren't simply about learning a new programming language like Rust instead of Solidity—they require fundamental changes to application business logic.

This reality explains why some traders have gravitated toward platforms like Hyperliquid for high-frequency trading and why EVM developers haven't migrated to Solana as quickly as originally hoped. Neon Labs' original mission of bringing EVM compatibility to Solana through their network extension concept encountered these limitations head-on, prompting the strategic pivot toward zero-knowledge solutions.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Overcoming Solana's ZK Challenges

Zero-knowledge proofs on Solana present unique difficulties compared to Ethereum. The slower block times on Ethereum actually make ZK verification easier—there's more time available to generate and verify proofs. Solana's speed becomes a double-edged sword here, as ZK proofs are inherently compute-heavy and require significant time to generate.

Neon Labs' breakthrough came from treating the problem creatively. Since ZK circuits are mathematical representations of computer programs, the team discovered that composing proofs—running one ZK circuit on a program, then running another proving system on the resulting proof—could achieve both smaller proof sizes and faster verification times. This "jumping through the green squares" approach, as Bjelajac colorfully described it, allowed them to navigate around individual technology limitations by combining complementary systems.

ParaSol: Purpose-Built for Perpetuals Trading

Rather than attempting to build a general-purpose solution immediately, Neon Labs strategically targeted perpetuals trading as their initial focus. The decision reflects market reality—perps dominated conversations at Breakpoint 2025 and represent the highest-demand use case in current DeFi.

ParaSol enables building perpetuals central limit order book (CLOB) decentralized exchanges on Solana with execution speeds of 10-20 milliseconds. The system operates as a network extension, meaning users never leave the Solana ecosystem—they continue using their Solana wallets and accessing Solana's native liquidity while benefiting from off-chain computation for complex trading operations.

The Network Extension Model

The network extension concept represents a middle path between fully on-chain execution and moving to a separate layer-2 solution. Users maintain their connection to Solana mainnet—their wallets, assets, and access to Solana's capital markets remain unchanged. Only the computational heavy-lifting moves off-chain.

This architecture preserves trustlessness through ZK verification while removing the computational bottlenecks that would otherwise prevent complex applications from achieving competitive performance. For developers building trading applications or any sophisticated DeFi product, this means accessing Solana's ecosystem benefits without being constrained by its computational limitations.

From EVM Conversion to Broader Infrastructure

Bjelajac's personal journey mirrors Neon Labs' evolution. Coming from deep experience in the Ethereum ecosystem—including roles at Polygon and Tenderly where he worked with EVM infrastructure across over 100 networks—he was "converted" to Solana through his exposure to Neon EVM. His appointment as CEO coincided with the strategic shift toward ZK-powered solutions.

The long-term vision includes making contributions toward a more general-purpose ZK solution for Solana, potentially analogous to SNARKs and STARKs in the Ethereum world. The team is actively seeking contributors interested in open-source ZK development within the Solana ecosystem.

Facts + Figures

• ParaSol enables 10-20 millisecond execution speeds for complex DeFi applications on Solana
• GPU acceleration achieves 10x faster proof generation compared to baseline ZK implementation
• Neon Labs expanded its ZK capabilities primarily through acquisitions
• The proof composition technique runs two ZK proving systems sequentially—first proving the program, then proving the proof
• Ivan Bjelajac previously brought over 300 blockchain use cases to Polygon Edge as a client
• Tenderly infrastructure was deployed to developers on over 100 EVM-based networks during Bjelajac's tenure
• Neon EVM originally launched in late 2021 with the goal of bringing EVM developers to Solana
• ParaSol is currently in beta with registration open for early users
• Custom ZK circuits must be written for each specific application type running on the platform
• The system maintains full Solana wallet compatibility—users don't need to bridge assets or switch networks

Top Quotes

"I'm actually one of the people that Solana through Neon Labs and Neon EVM was able to convert from Ethereum space to Solana."

"The main blocker for these people was actually not to learn Rust instead of Solidity. There are many constraints in Solana that make you change your EVM application business logic if you actually wanted to run on Solana."

"Solana did a lot of amazing things to achieve this great speed. However it also had to do a lot of different changes that made it less possible to run complex programs on Solana in full without offloading your computation to something like a network extension."

"The only way for this system to work for us and remain trustless is actually to use zero knowledge proofs."

"By running simultaneously one after another two different proving systems we can actually maybe in some cases even faster prove something and make it small."

"If you are at Breakpoint today you know that the most used use case is perps because everyone is talking about perps."

"You are just at the end of the day using your Solana wallet, you are not moving away—only the computation is."

Questions Answered

Why haven't more Ethereum developers migrated their apps to Solana?

The main barrier isn't learning a new programming language like Rust instead of Solidity. The real challenge is that Solana's architectural design—which enables its exceptional speed—imposes constraints that force developers to fundamentally restructure their application business logic. Complex DeFi applications that work seamlessly on Ethereum often cannot be directly ported to Solana without significant modifications to how they process transactions and manage state. This has created friction that slowed the migration of sophisticated applications.

What is a network extension and how does it work?

A network extension allows developers to offload heavy computation off-chain while maintaining full integration with Solana mainnet. Users continue using their Solana wallets and accessing Solana's native capital markets—they never need to bridge assets to a different network or layer-2 solution. The off-chain computation handles complex operations that would otherwise be constrained by Solana's on-chain limitations, with zero-knowledge proofs ensuring the results can be trustlessly verified on mainnet.

How did Neon Labs solve Solana's ZK proof challenges?

The team developed a proof composition technique that chains two different ZK proving systems together. First, they generate a ZK proof for the target program using one system. Then, they run a second proving system that proves the first proof. This approach produces smaller proofs faster than either system could achieve alone. The insight came from recognizing that ZK circuits are mathematical representations of programs, and different proving systems have complementary strengths that can be combined strategically.

What is ParaSol and what can it be used for?

ParaSol is a specialized virtual machine built specifically for trading applications on Solana. It enables developers to build perpetuals central limit order book decentralized exchanges with execution speeds of 10-20 milliseconds. The platform uses custom ZK circuits optimized for trading operations. Developers building any type of application that wants to incorporate decentralized exchange functionality can leverage ParaSol, whether they're creating a new platform or adding trading features to existing applications with established user bases.

Why did Neon Labs prioritize perpetuals trading over other applications?

The decision was driven by market demand. Perpetuals trading emerged as the dominant topic at Breakpoint 2025 and represents the highest-demand use case in current DeFi markets. Since the ZK-based approach requires writing custom circuits for each application type, Neon Labs strategically focused on the use case with the greatest immediate impact. Future development may expand to additional applications like lending and spot trading, with the long-term vision including a more general-purpose ZK solution for Solana.

Can existing Solana applications use this technology?

Yes, existing Solana applications that want to achieve faster execution times can integrate with ParaSol. The network extension model is particularly valuable for applications that already have users on Solana but need sub-20 millisecond performance for complex operations. Teams building decentralized exchanges or wanting to add trading functionality to existing applications are encouraged to reach out to the Neon Labs team to explore integration possibilities.