zkSync has released its coins. The project that countless mao mao fans have been longing for for years is finally coming. ZkSync is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution launched by Matter Labs in 2019. As one of the leading L2 projects, it belongs to the same level as the three L2 kings, Optimism, Arbitrum, zkSync, and StarkNet. The four kings have long been in the cryptocurrency circle. Today, zkSync has just released its coins. Whether it will sink or catch up has become a major suspense. However, no matter what, despite the controversy surrounding ZKS with full traffic, major exchanges have still listed their tokens one after another. The First has not fallen behind and launched the ZK/USDT trading pair at 18:00 on June 18th (UTC + 8). Now let's take a closer look at the last leading token of L2, zkSync.
What is zkSync?
ZkSync is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution launched by Matter Labs in 2019. Alex Gluchowski, the founder of Matter Labs, was an early Plasma researcher at the Ethereum Foundation (Plasma is a relatively basic scaling solution). He founded Matter Labs in 2018 and has received investment from many well-known VCs such as a16z and Dragonfly.
zkSync is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution based on the zk-rollup architecture, aimed at achieving high-performance, low-cost smart contract and blockchain applications. It utilizes zk-rollup Technology Implementation for high-throughput scaling to reduce transaction costs and improve confirmation speeds. zkSync Era is built on the zkSync protocol, with faster transaction speeds, higher scalability, and more cost-effective features. It is applied in multiple fields such as DeFi, cross-chain bridges, and NFTs. Due to its efficient and low-cost characteristics, zkSync has received widespread attention from Capital Markets and is rapidly developing.
ZkSync is part of a two-layer solution called rollps. More specifically, zkSync is ZK rollup. (ZK stands for "zero knowledge," which is an encryption term that means one party can prove to the other that something is true without disclosing any other information.)
What is rollup? The working principle of rollup is to package or "aggregate" off-chain transactions into smaller transactions and send them to the first layer. By sending the transaction back to L1, rollup inherits the security and final result of the Ethereum blockchain.
There are two types of rollup: zero-knowledge ZK and optimal. Here we only discuss ZK rollup.
ZK rollup sends each batch of transactions to an off-chain validator, which generates an encrypted certificate (called SNARK in zkSync) to prove that these transactions are valid. Although it is difficult to generate a proof, it is easy to verify whether the proof is valid. This means that it can be sent to L1 and verified in a smart contract. This makes the transmission between L1 and L2 almost frictionless.
Although Dapps will be able to build on zkSync, the platform is not yet ready. It will also be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means you will be able to easily transfer existing smart contracts on L1 to L2.
ZkSync Era History
The main differences between zksync 1.0 and zksync 2.0
Smart contract support
The ZK-Rollup technology adopted by zkSync has advantages in privacy, scalability, and transaction costs, which will help the project stand out in the fiercely competitive Layer 2 market. It successfully raised $258 million in financing and received a $200 million funding commitment from BitDAO. The members of the zkSync team have rich industry experience and technical background, which will be conducive to the steady development and continuous innovation of the project. zkSync is a Layer 2 solution focused on expanding Ethereum transaction throughput. By using zero-knowledge proof (zkProofs) technology, zkSync aims to achieve high-performance, low-cost, high-security, and decentralized transactions.
II. Economics of zkSync Tokens
The official token of zkSync is ZK, with a supply of 21 billion tokens. In addition to airdrops, community allocation accounts for 66.7%, ecosystem incentives account for 19.9% (distributed by the zkSync Foundation), investors allocate 17.2%, teams allocate 16.1%, and Token Assembly allocates 29.3%. The tokens allocated to investors and teams will be locked in the first year and then unlocked for 3 years between June 2025 and June 2028. The specific allocation method is as follows:
Token Assembly: 6,153,000,000 ZK, 29.30% of total supply;
Ecosystem rewards: 4,179,000,000 ZK, representing 19.90% of the total supply;
Airdrop: 3,675,000,000 ZK, 17.50% of the total supply;
Early investors: 3,612,000,000 ZK, or 17.20% of the total supply;
Team: 3,381,000,000 ZK, 16.10% of total supply;
zkSync stated that two-thirds (about 67%) of ZK tokens will be allocated to the community. Among them, 17.5% of the total supply will be distributed through a one-time airdrop, and the remaining community tokens will be distributed over time through the zkSync Foundation and the ZK Nation Governance Process Management ecosystem plan to support the constantly developing ecosystem.
ZkSync, as one of the leaders in the field of Ethereum Layer 2 scaling, has broad market prospects and commercial value. ZkSync is the L2 project that Ethereum founder V God is most optimistic about. With the continuous growth and development of the Ethereum ecosystem, Zkync uses Zk technology as the L2 solution. The first point of Zk technology is that it is very difficult technically, and it solves the technical problems that arb and op cannot solve. It is also the solution that V God and the Ethereum team are most optimistic about.
With the release of the zkSync token airdrop, zkSync has now become the focus of the entire network. According to Dune data, as of June 11th, the total value of zkSync bridged storage (TVB) is about 3.286428 million ETH, and the total number of bridged user addresses is 2,926,969. Compared with other L2s, the total value of Optimism bridged storage is 770,890 ETH, Arbitrum is 3,794,152 ETH, and Starknet is 904,659 ETH. Of course, many funds on zkSync are still being used for airdrops, and there is still a big gap between the long-term retention of funds due to the ecosystem and other Layer2 leaders.
As the latest project to issue coins among the four heavenly kings of Layer2, many people have great expectations for zkSync. However, time is still the ultimate factor in project development. Now, other major L2 projects have already flourished. Whether ZK can overtake in this bull market and become the top project in the L2 track again remains to be seen.
What is zkSync?
ZkSync is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution launched by Matter Labs in 2019. Alex Gluchowski, the founder of Matter Labs, was an early Plasma researcher at the Ethereum Foundation (Plasma is a relatively basic scaling solution). He founded Matter Labs in 2018 and has received investment from many well-known VCs such as a16z and Dragonfly.
zkSync is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution based on the zk-rollup architecture, aimed at achieving high-performance, low-cost smart contract and blockchain applications. It utilizes zk-rollup Technology Implementation for high-throughput scaling to reduce transaction costs and improve confirmation speeds. zkSync Era is built on the zkSync protocol, with faster transaction speeds, higher scalability, and more cost-effective features. It is applied in multiple fields such as DeFi, cross-chain bridges, and NFTs. Due to its efficient and low-cost characteristics, zkSync has received widespread attention from Capital Markets and is rapidly developing.
ZkSync is part of a two-layer solution called rollps. More specifically, zkSync is ZK rollup. (ZK stands for "zero knowledge," which is an encryption term that means one party can prove to the other that something is true without disclosing any other information.)
What is rollup? The working principle of rollup is to package or "aggregate" off-chain transactions into smaller transactions and send them to the first layer. By sending the transaction back to L1, rollup inherits the security and final result of the Ethereum blockchain.
There are two types of rollup: zero-knowledge ZK and optimal. Here we only discuss ZK rollup.
ZK rollup sends each batch of transactions to an off-chain validator, which generates an encrypted certificate (called SNARK in zkSync) to prove that these transactions are valid. Although it is difficult to generate a proof, it is easy to verify whether the proof is valid. This means that it can be sent to L1 and verified in a smart contract. This makes the transmission between L1 and L2 almost frictionless.
Although Dapps will be able to build on zkSync, the platform is not yet ready. It will also be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means you will be able to easily transfer existing smart contracts on L1 to L2.
ZkSync Era History
- zkSync 1.0 - zkSync Lite was launched on the Ethereum mainnet on June 15, 2020, achieving a transaction throughput of about 300 TPS, but it is not compatible with EVM.
- zkSync 2.0 - zkSync Era was launched on March 24, 2023, supporting Solidity (through zkEVM) and Zinc (the internal programming language of rollup) to implement arbitrary smart contract functions; secondly, through zkPorter - a protocol that combines zk-rollup and sharding, the throughput has grown exponentially, reaching 20,000 + TPS.
The main differences between zksync 1.0 and zksync 2.0
Smart contract support
- zkSync 1.0 mainly focuses on simplified payment and asset transfer scenarios, and does not support smart contracts compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
- zkSync 2.0 provides full support for EVM-compatible smart contracts, which means developers can easily deploy existing Ethereum smart contracts to zkSync 2.0.
- zkSync 1.0 only supports limited cross-contract interactions
- zkSync 2.0 improves interoperability between protocols by retaining key EVM features such as smart contract composability, making it more suitable for building complex decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
- zkSync 2.0 introduces a new feature of account abstraction, simplifying the interaction between users and smart contracts. Account abstraction allows users to interact with smart contracts using any signature scheme, thereby improving the User Experience
- zkSync 2.0 comes with a complete set of power builders, including CLI (Command Line Interface) and SDK (Software Development Kit), making it easier for developers to build and deploy zkSync-based applications.
The ZK-Rollup technology adopted by zkSync has advantages in privacy, scalability, and transaction costs, which will help the project stand out in the fiercely competitive Layer 2 market. It successfully raised $258 million in financing and received a $200 million funding commitment from BitDAO. The members of the zkSync team have rich industry experience and technical background, which will be conducive to the steady development and continuous innovation of the project. zkSync is a Layer 2 solution focused on expanding Ethereum transaction throughput. By using zero-knowledge proof (zkProofs) technology, zkSync aims to achieve high-performance, low-cost, high-security, and decentralized transactions.
II. Economics of zkSync Tokens
The official token of zkSync is ZK, with a supply of 21 billion tokens. In addition to airdrops, community allocation accounts for 66.7%, ecosystem incentives account for 19.9% (distributed by the zkSync Foundation), investors allocate 17.2%, teams allocate 16.1%, and Token Assembly allocates 29.3%. The tokens allocated to investors and teams will be locked in the first year and then unlocked for 3 years between June 2025 and June 2028. The specific allocation method is as follows:
Token Assembly: 6,153,000,000 ZK, 29.30% of total supply;
Ecosystem rewards: 4,179,000,000 ZK, representing 19.90% of the total supply;
Airdrop: 3,675,000,000 ZK, 17.50% of the total supply;
Early investors: 3,612,000,000 ZK, or 17.20% of the total supply;
Team: 3,381,000,000 ZK, 16.10% of total supply;
zkSync stated that two-thirds (about 67%) of ZK tokens will be allocated to the community. Among them, 17.5% of the total supply will be distributed through a one-time airdrop, and the remaining community tokens will be distributed over time through the zkSync Foundation and the ZK Nation Governance Process Management ecosystem plan to support the constantly developing ecosystem.
ZkSync, as one of the leaders in the field of Ethereum Layer 2 scaling, has broad market prospects and commercial value. ZkSync is the L2 project that Ethereum founder V God is most optimistic about. With the continuous growth and development of the Ethereum ecosystem, Zkync uses Zk technology as the L2 solution. The first point of Zk technology is that it is very difficult technically, and it solves the technical problems that arb and op cannot solve. It is also the solution that V God and the Ethereum team are most optimistic about.
With the release of the zkSync token airdrop, zkSync has now become the focus of the entire network. According to Dune data, as of June 11th, the total value of zkSync bridged storage (TVB) is about 3.286428 million ETH, and the total number of bridged user addresses is 2,926,969. Compared with other L2s, the total value of Optimism bridged storage is 770,890 ETH, Arbitrum is 3,794,152 ETH, and Starknet is 904,659 ETH. Of course, many funds on zkSync are still being used for airdrops, and there is still a big gap between the long-term retention of funds due to the ecosystem and other Layer2 leaders.
As the latest project to issue coins among the four heavenly kings of Layer2, many people have great expectations for zkSync. However, time is still the ultimate factor in project development. Now, other major L2 projects have already flourished. Whether ZK can overtake in this bull market and become the top project in the L2 track again remains to be seen.
