diff --git a/.github/workflows/dependencies.yml b/.github/workflows/dependencies.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e24d48ae5..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/dependencies.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
-# Runs `cargo update` periodically.
-
-name: Update Dependencies
-
-on:
-  schedule:
-    # Run at the first of every month
-    - cron: "0 0 1 * *"
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    # Needed so we can run it manually
-
-env:
-  GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-  BRANCH: cargo-update
-  TITLE: "chore(deps): monthly `cargo update`"
-  BODY: |
-    Automation to keep dependencies in `Cargo.lock` current.
-
-    <details><summary><strong>cargo update log</strong></summary>
-    <p>
-
-    ```log
-    $cargo_update_log
-    ```
-
-    </p>
-    </details>
-
-jobs:
-  update:
-    name: Update
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-
-      - name: cargo update
-        # Remove first line that always just says "Updating crates.io index"
-        run: cargo update --color never 2>&1 | sed '/crates.io index/d' | tee -a cargo_update.log
-
-      - name: craft commit message and PR body
-        id: msg
-        run: |
-          export cargo_update_log="$(cat cargo_update.log)"
-
-          echo "commit_message<<EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          printf "$TITLE\n\n$cargo_update_log\n" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-          echo "body<<EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "$BODY" | envsubst >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Create Pull Request
-        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7
-        with:
-          add-paths: ./Cargo.lock
-          commit-message: ${{ steps.msg.outputs.commit_message }}
-          title: ${{ env.TITLE }}
-          body: ${{ steps.msg.outputs.body }}
-          branch: ${{ env.BRANCH }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docs.yml b/.github/workflows/docs.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 31c4bbda7..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/docs.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-name: Docs
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-
-jobs:
-  docs:
-    name: Generate docs
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-      - name: Check docs leaving the dependencies out
-        env:
-          RUSTDOCFLAGS: --show-type-layout --enable-index-page -Zunstable-options -A rustdoc::private-doc-tests -D warnings
-        run: cargo doc --workspace --no-deps
diff --git a/.github/workflows/functional.yml b/.github/workflows/functional.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4655f02fe..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/functional.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,139 +0,0 @@
-name: Run functional tests
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-jobs:
-  lint:
-    name: Lint test files
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        id: setup-python
-        with:
-          python-version: "^3.10" # Keep in sync with `pyproject.toml`
-
-      - name: Install poetry
-        uses: snok/install-poetry@v1
-        with:
-          virtualenvs-create: true
-          virtualenvs-in-project: true
-      - name: Load cached venv
-        id: cached-poetry-dependencies
-        uses: actions/cache@v4
-        with:
-          path: functional-tests/.venv
-          key: venv-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.setup-python.outputs.python-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/poetry.lock') }}
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        working-directory: functional-tests
-        #if: steps.cached-poetry-dependencies.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' # this was giving issues in cache
-        run: poetry install --no-root --no-interaction
-
-      - name: Check formatting
-        working-directory: functional-tests
-        run: poetry run ruff format --check
-
-      - name: Lint
-        working-directory: functional-tests
-        run: poetry run ruff check
-
-  run:
-    name: Run functional tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Cleanup Space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cleanup
-
-      - name: Install bitcoind
-        env:
-          BITCOIND_VERSION: "28.0"
-          BITCOIND_ARCH: "x86_64-linux-gnu"
-          SHASUM: "7fe294b02b25b51acb8e8e0a0eb5af6bbafa7cd0c5b0e5fcbb61263104a82fbc"
-        run: |
-          curl -fsSLO --proto "=https" --tlsv1.2 "https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}/bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}-${{ env.BITCOIND_ARCH }}.tar.gz"
-          sha256sum -c <<< "$SHASUM bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}-${{ env.BITCOIND_ARCH }}.tar.gz"
-          tar xzf "bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}-${{ env.BITCOIND_ARCH }}.tar.gz"
-          sudo install -m 0755 -t /usr/local/bin bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}/bin/*
-          bitcoind --version
-          rm -rf "bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}" "bitcoin-${{ env.BITCOIND_VERSION }}-${{ env.BITCOIND_ARCH }}.tar.gz"
-
-      - name: Set up Python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        id: setup-python
-        with:
-          python-version: "^3.10" # Keep in sync with `pyproject.toml`
-
-      - name: Install poetry
-        uses: snok/install-poetry@v1
-        with:
-          virtualenvs-create: true
-          virtualenvs-in-project: true
-      - name: Load cached venv
-        id: cached-poetry-dependencies
-        uses: actions/cache@v4
-        with:
-          path: functional-tests/.venv
-          key: venv-${{ runner.os }}-${{ steps.setup-python.outputs.python-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/poetry.lock') }}
-
-      - name: Install dependencies
-        working-directory: functional-tests
-        #if: steps.cached-poetry-dependencies.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' # this was giving issues in cache
-        run: poetry install --no-root --no-interaction
-
-      - name: Set up Rust
-        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-
-      - name: Build Cargo project
-        run: cargo build --locked
-
-      - name: Run functional tests (1)
-        id: funcTestsRun1
-        continue-on-error: true
-        run: |
-          export PATH=$(realpath target/debug/):$PATH
-          which strata-client
-          cd functional-tests && \
-          poetry run python entry.py
-
-      # Run again just to be sure as some tests are flaky
-      - name: Run functional tests (2)
-        if: steps.funcTestsRun1.outcome == 'failure'
-        run: |
-          export PATH=$(realpath target/debug/):$PATH
-          which strata-client
-          cd functional-tests && \
-          poetry run python entry.py
-
-  functional-tests-success:
-    name: Check that all checks pass
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: always()
-    needs: [lint, run]
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-      - name: Decide whether the needed jobs succeeded or failed
-        uses: re-actors/alls-green@release/v1
-        with:
-          jobs: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/integration.yml b/.github/workflows/integration.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e223fbf7d..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/integration.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-# Runs integration tests.
-
-name: Integration Tests
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-  RUST_LOG: debug
-  RUST_BACKTRACE: full
-
-jobs:
-  test:
-    name: Run integration tests and generate report
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60 # better fail-safe than the default 360 in github actions
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Cleanup space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cleanup
-
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-      - name: Install latest nextest release
-        uses: taiki-e/install-action@v2
-        with:
-          tool: nextest
-
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-
-      - name: Run tests
-        run: |
-          cargo nextest run -p integration-tests --locked --profile ci --no-capture
-      - name: Test Summary
-        uses: test-summary/action@v2
-        if: always()
-        with:
-          paths: "target/nextest/ci/junit.xml"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint-actions.yml b/.github/workflows/lint-actions.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index bad2e7698..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/lint-actions.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-name: Lint GitHub Actions workflows
-on:
-  pull_request:
-    paths:
-      - ".github/**"
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    paths:
-      - ".github/**"
-
-jobs:
-  actionlint:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Download actionlint
-        id: get_actionlint
-        run: bash <(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhysd/actionlint/main/scripts/download-actionlint.bash)
-        shell: bash
-      - name: Check workflow files
-        run: SHELLCHECK_OPTS="-S error" ${{ steps.get_actionlint.outputs.executable }} -color
-        shell: bash
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index f551338b6..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,107 +0,0 @@
-name: Lint
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-
-jobs:
-  clippy:
-    name: Run clippy on crates
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@clippy
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-      - run: cargo clippy --workspace --lib --examples --tests --benches --all-features --all-targets --locked
-        env:
-          RUSTFLAGS: -D warnings
-
-  crate-checks:
-    name: Check that crates compile on their own
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 90 # cold run takes a lot of time as each crate is compiled separately
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Cleanup space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cleanup
-
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - uses: taiki-e/install-action@cargo-hack
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-      - name: Configure sccache
-        run: |
-          echo "RUSTC_WRAPPER=sccache" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo  "SCCACHE_GHA_ENABLED=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-      - name: Run sccache-cache
-        uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.6
-        with:
-          version: "v0.8.1" # sccache version
-
-      - run: cargo hack check --locked
-
-  fmt:
-    name: Check code formatting
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 30
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          components: rustfmt
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - run: cargo fmt --all --check
-
-  codespell:
-    name: Check code spellings
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 30
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: codespell-project/actions-codespell@v2
-
-  taplo:
-    name: Lint and check formatting of TOML files
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 10
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Install taplo
-        run: |
-          curl -fsSL https://github.com/tamasfe/taplo/releases/latest/download/taplo-full-linux-x86_64.gz \
-            | gzip -d - | install -m 755 /dev/stdin /usr/local/bin/taplo
-      - name: Run taplo lint
-        run: |
-          taplo lint
-      - name: Run taplo format check
-        run: |
-          taplo fmt --check
-
-  lint-success:
-    name: Check that lints passed
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: always()
-    needs:
-      - clippy
-      - crate-checks
-      - fmt
-      - codespell
-      - taplo
-    timeout-minutes: 30
-    steps:
-      - name: Decide whether the needed jobs succeeded or failed
-        uses: re-actors/alls-green@release/v1
-        with:
-          jobs: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mutants.yml b/.github/workflows/mutants.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c84f2c2e..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/mutants.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-# Runs mutants tests.
-
-name: Mutants Tests
-
-on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-  DEFAULT_BRANCH: main
-
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.run_id }}
-  cancel-in-progress: true
-
-jobs:
-  mutants-test:
-    name: Generate mutants on diff against default branch and test
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    continue-on-error: true # FIXME: remove this if all mutants are covered
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false # Collect all mutants even if some are missed
-      matrix:
-        shard: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-      - name: Relative diff
-        run: |
-          git branch -av
-          git diff origin/$DEFAULT_BRANCH | tee git.diff
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-      - uses: taiki-e/install-action@v2
-        name: Install `cargo-mutants`
-        with:
-          tool: cargo-mutants
-      - name: Run `cargo-mutants`
-        run: |
-          cargo mutants --no-shuffle -vV --in-diff git.diff --shard ${{ matrix.shard }}/8 --timeout 300
-      - name: Archive mutants.out
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        if: always()
-        with:
-          name: mutants-incremental.out
-          path: mutants-shard${{ matrix.shard }}.out
-          overwrite: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/prover.yml b/.github/workflows/prover.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b5a8654b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/prover.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+name: Run prover guest code checks
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  merge_group:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Set up Rust
+        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
+        with:
+          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
+      
+      # Installs mold (modern ld), a drop-in replacement for lld.
+      # Under the hood, the following actions symlinks mold binary onto lld,
+      # so everything is linked faster (hopefully).
+      - name: Install mold linker
+        uses: rui314/setup-mold@v1
+
+      - name: Set up Clang
+        uses: egor-tensin/setup-clang@v1
+        with:
+          version: latest
+          platform: x64
+
+      - name: Install SP1 Toolchain
+        run: |
+          curl -L https://sp1.succinct.xyz | bash && ~/.sp1/bin/sp1up
+          export PATH=~/.sp1/bin:$PATH
+          cargo prove --version
+
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build guest code
+        run: cd provers/sp1/ && RUSTFLAGS="-C link-arg=-fuse-ld=lld" cargo build --profile prover-ci -F "prover"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/security.yml b/.github/workflows/security.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7abcc216d..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/security.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-name: Security
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-
-jobs:
-  supply-chain:
-    name: Run `cargo-audit`
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 30
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@clippy
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-
-       # HACK: v0.21.0 fails during dependency resolution. Remove when this is resolved
-       # https://github.com/rustsec/rustsec/issues/1249#issuecomment-2423257490 
-      - name: Install cargo-audit v0.20.0
-        run: cargo install cargo-audit --version 0.20.0 --force
-
-        #  HACK: not denying warnings as we depend on `yaml-rust` via `format-serde-error` which is unmaintained
-      - name: Check for audit warnings
-        run: cargo audit -D warnings
-        continue-on-error: true
-
-        # HACK: re-run without denying warnings so that we don't miss any vulnerabilities
-      - name: Check for vulnerabilities
-        run: cargo audit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit.yml b/.github/workflows/unit.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index f3b2e6cbf..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/unit.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,92 +0,0 @@
-# Runs unit tests.
-
-name: Unit Tests
-
-on:
-  pull_request:
-  merge_group:
-  push:
-    branches: [main]
-
-env:
-  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
-
-concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.run_id }}
-  cancel-in-progress: true
-
-jobs:
-  test:
-    name: Run unit tests and generate report
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 60 # better fail-safe than the default 360 in github actions
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Cleanup space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cleanup
-
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          components: llvm-tools-preview
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - name: Install latest nextest release
-        uses: taiki-e/install-action@v2
-        with:
-          tool: nextest
-      - name: Install cargo-llvm-cov
-        uses: taiki-e/install-action@v2
-        with:
-          tool: cargo-llvm-cov
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-
-      - name: Run tests with coverage
-        run: |
-          cargo llvm-cov --workspace --locked nextest --profile ci --lcov --output-path lcov.info
-
-      - name: Test Summary
-        uses: test-summary/action@v2
-        if: always()
-        with:
-          paths: "target/nextest/ci/junit.xml"
-      - name: Publish Test Coverage
-        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5.0.7
-        env:
-          CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
-          files: lcov.info
-
-  doc:
-    name: Run doc tests
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    env:
-      RUST_BACKTRACE: 1
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Cleanup space
-        uses: ./.github/actions/cleanup
-
-      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@nightly
-        with:
-          toolchain: nightly-2024-07-27
-      - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@v2
-        with:
-          cache-on-failure: true
-
-      - name: Run doctests
-        run: cargo test --doc --workspace
-
-  unit-success:
-    name: Check that unit tests pass
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: always()
-    needs: [test, doc]
-    timeout-minutes: 60
-    steps:
-      - name: Decide whether the needed jobs succeeded or failed
-        uses: re-actors/alls-green@release/v1
-        with:
-          jobs: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index bfa8ef844..405e4d9f4 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -242,3 +242,10 @@ uuid = { version = "1.0", features = ["v4", "serde"] }
 # This is needed for custom build of SP1
 [profile.release.build-override]
 opt-level = 3
+
+# This shall be used only in the CI for the prover to optimize the build time.
+[profile.prover-ci]
+inherits = "release"
+opt-level = 0
+lto = "off"
+strip = true
diff --git a/provers/sp1/build.rs b/provers/sp1/build.rs
index 84d50f7b7..84bc200bf 100644
--- a/provers/sp1/build.rs
+++ b/provers/sp1/build.rs
@@ -234,10 +234,32 @@ fn generate_elf_contents_and_vk_hash(program: &str) -> ([u32; 8], String) {
         }
     };
 
+    let rustflags = {
+        #[cfg(feature = "prover")]
+        {
+            //vec![]
+            vec![
+                //"-C".to_string(),
+                //"linker=clang".to_string(),
+                //"-C".to_string(),
+                //"link-arg=-fuse-ld=/usr/bin/ldd".to_string(),
+                "-C".to_string(),
+                "link-arg=--dynamic-linker=/usr/local/bin/mold".to_string()
+                //"-C".to_string(),
+                //"link-arg=--target2=riscv32".to_string(),
+            ]
+        }
+        #[cfg(not(feature = "prover"))]
+        {
+            vec![]
+        }
+    };
+
     let build_args = BuildArgs {
         elf_name: format!("{}.elf", program),
         output_directory: "cache".to_owned(),
         features,
+        rustflags,
         ..Default::default()
     };