zkSync 2.0 mainnet is about to be launched, bringing something that even Vitalik is looking forward to

If nothing unexpected happens, Ethereum's Layer 2 scaling solution zkSync will be officially launched on the 2.0 mainnet today (mainly for stress testing and security work).

As a zkEVM-compatible (a virtual machine that is compatible with EVM and friendly to zero-knowledge proof) L2 blockchain, this upgrade may be the beginning of the trial of the entire Layer2, especially zkEVM.

01
zkSync: ZK-Rollups solution favored by the Ethereum Foundation

As an Ethereum scaling solution developed by Matter Labs based on the ZK-Rollups architecture, it can be said to be born with a silver spoon in its mouth: in March 2019, it received funding from the Ethereum Foundation's fifth wave of grants to support its work on L2 expansion of zero-knowledge proofs.

Six months later, in September 2019, it received a 2 million yuan seed round of financing led by Placeholder VC. At that time, the crypto market was at the bottom of the previous cold winter. Since then, zkSync has been favored by capital:

• In March 2021, it completed a US$50 million Series A financing round , led by Union Square Ventures, with other investors including Placeholder, 1kx and Dragonfly

• In January this year, Matter Labs also established a DAO organization worth $200 million, supported by BitDAO, and plans to help expand the zkSync ecosystem through public products, infrastructure, security frameworks, R&D funding, and investments in other crypto organizations.

In general, although zkSync’s total financing amount is not particularly outstanding among the Layer2 kings, it was recognized by the Ethereum Foundation in its early days and was still able to receive capital support during the crypto winter, which shows its quality.

In terms of project progress, zkSync first launched the 1.0 mainnet in June 2020, mainly focusing on payment purposes, that is, it only supports on-chain Layer 2 transfers (I believe many friends have had the experience of using zkSync on Gitcoin to transfer grants), and does not support smart contract deployment, which also limits the development of its DApp ecosystem.

Then in October 2020, Matter Labs launched the zkSync smart contract testnet Zinc Alef. Curve was the first DApp to be deployed, but it was not compatible with EVM and took a customized route.

Its general 2.0 test network, which is fully compatible with EVM, was not launched until February of this year. It released a tool portal for developers and users, including wallets, token bridges, and faucets for requesting ETH tests.

The launch of the 2.0 mainnet also means that as a ZK-Rollup compatible with EVM, zkSync is at the forefront of many Layer2 competitions.

02
zksync ecosystem

According to the ecological panorama on the zkSync official website, the zkSync ecosystem currently has more than 160 projects, covering diversified tracks such as wallets, DeFi, infrastructure, payment gateways, public products, social, privacy, NFT, etc.

However, these 160 projects include DApps that have been supported or will be supported soon, and most of them are not yet supported . Currently, there are only about 20 projects that have integrated zkSync, and wallets (4) and DeFi (8) together account for more than half, so the actual ecosystem is still relatively simple.

This is mainly because zkSync 1.0 is not yet compatible with EVM, which results in relatively few native DApps actually available on zkSync. Therefore, the official launch of zkSync 2.0 is so eye-catching . It is expected that zkSync 2.0 will promote ecological development in other fields such as DeFi and NFT only after its official launch.

Therefore, let’s take a brief look at several native DApp applications that have been launched:

1) Orbiter Finance

Orbiter Finance is a Layer2 cross-Rollup bridge that currently supports the transfer of ETH and USDC between Ethereum, zkSync, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism. Many users also use it as one of the main ways to experience zkSync (airdrops).

2) ZigZag

ZigZag Exchange is an order book DEX based on ZK-Rollup, supporting asset exchange between Ethereum and zkSync. Previously, ZigZag was hit hard by the Terra crash due to its deep binding with UST, and it still shows signs of not recovering. A while ago, it said that it would launch ZigZag DAO after the zkSync 2.0 mainnet is launched.

3) Argent

Previously, Argent fully opened Layer2 account registration, and now anyone can access its Ethereum zkSync web wallet.

4) Numio

Numio is a Layer2 mobile wallet application based on Ethereum and zkSync, which also integrates crypto asset purchase and exchange functions. According to the roadmap, Numio will integrate other Layer2 solutions, as well as NFT and DeFi functions, including mining and lending.

5) zkSync: The top student of zkEVM

At the recent Korea Blockchain Week, Vitalik once again reiterated his optimism for ZK-Rollup in the Layer 2 war:

I still believe that some of today’s Optimistic Rollup projects will succeed, but I expect that some of today’s Optimistic Rollup projects dedicated to scaling Ethereum will turn to embrace ZK-Rollups because ZK-Rollups have “fundamental advantages” and even bluntly state that “ZK-Rollup is likely to be Ethereum’s top Layer2 scaling weapon.”

Generally speaking, ZK-Rollup works by executing batches of transactions off-chain and periodically publishing proofs on L1 to prove the validity of these transactions. zkEVM takes this concept one step further by using proof circuits to generate proofs to verify the correctness of the programs executed by the EVM.

Therefore, for many people, zkEVM is seen as the "end game" for scaling Ethereum - zkEVM is the first ZK scaling solution that is fully compatible with Ethereum, making it very easy for developers to migrate their DApps from EVM-compatible chains.

There are many teams currently promoting the research and development of zkEVM, including:

• Polygon zkEVM, Scroll, which are more focused on EVM equivalence

• zkSync, StarkWare (StarkNet), which focus more on proof speed

Among them, zkSync is on the cusp of releasing zkSync 2.0. According to their own statement: "This will be the first optimized end-to-end zkEVM."

According to the roadmap released not long ago, the zkSync 2.0 mainnet will not be available to anyone except the Matter Labs team for one month after it goes online on October 28.

After the initial testing, developers will be able to carry out porting and development on the mainnet in the fourth quarter; once all security checks are passed before the end of this year, it will be open to external users (of course, news about its tokens is also beginning to circulate among the public).

This also means that the more than 100 DApps in other fields such as DeFi and NFT that are waiting in line on the zkSync official website will gradually complete the migration, thereby helping the current large number of zkEVM ecosystems to gradually take shape.

04
summary

Now that the Ethereum merger has been completed for a month and a half, especially in the context of the current low sentiment in the crypto market, Layer2, especially zkEVM, will play a particularly important role in the entire Ethereum ecosystem in the future (after all, the OP Rollup ecosystem has been formed, but the effect is not satisfactory):

Can it bring about a new narrative space, and can it directly obtain the network effect of Ethereum, thereby balancing the trade-off between ecology and scalability?

After two years of hype, the Layer2 midsummer has finally reached the time for final testing and acceptance.