ZkSync: Scalability & Low costs
Basic Information
- Token name: TBA (potentially $ZKS).
- zkSync is a ZK rollup, a trustless protocol that uses cryptographic validity proofs to provide scalable and low-cost transactions on Ethereum. In zkSync, computation is performed off-chain and most data is stored off-chain as well. As all transactions are proven on the Ethereum mainchain, users enjoy the same security level as in Ethereum.
- zkSync 2.0 is made to look and feel like Ethereum, but with lower fees. Just like on Ethereum, smart contracts are written in Solidity/Vyper and can be called using the same clients as the other EVM-compatible chains.
- You don't need to register a separate private key before usage; zkSync supports existing Ethereum wallets out of the box.
- Team, VCs & Partners
- zkSync is supported by Matter Lab from behind, which was founded by Alex G. and Alexander V. in 2018. Matter Lab received the grant from Ethereum Foundation in March 2019, and is committed to using existing technology, zkRollup, to promote the public acceptance of the blockchain.
- In March 2021, Matter Lab completed a $6 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures, while Placeholder and Dragonfly were also involved. This financing round introduced several partners as well, including Aave, Balancer, 1inch, Curve, Binance, Coinbase and Huobi, etc.
Features
- Mainnet-level security with zero reliance on 3rd parties
- ETH and ERC20 token transfers with instant confirmations and 10-minute finality on L1;
- Ultra-low transaction fees (~1/100th of mainnet costs for ERC20 tokens and ~1/30th for ETH transfers)
- No registration is required to receive funds
- Payments to existing Ethereum addresses (including smart contracts)
- Fees conveniently payable in the token being transferred
- Withdrawals to mainnet in ~10 minutes
- Multisig support
- Permissionless smart contracts (coming soon)
Comparables
Bullish Fundamentals
1. Vitalik is LT bullish - In general, my own view is that in the short term, optimistic rollups are likely to win out for general-purpose EVM computation and ZK rollups are likely to win out for simple payments, exchange and other application-specific use cases, but in the medium to long term ZK rollups will win out in all use cases as ZK-SNARK technology improves.
2. Offers more features compared to Polygon & StarkWare.
3. A significant portion of token supply may be staked, reducing circulating supply primarily as it will be required to become a validator on the network.
4. Gas fees can be payable on multiple tokens.
5. Addresses scaling issues, high txn fees all while maintaining ETH’s security & privacy.
6. Considerable number of dApps built on zkSync, including 1inch, Multichain, Sushi, Frax, Maker, Binance Wallet, OKX Wallet. See all here:
7. Can potentially achieve VISA-scale throughput.
Bearish Fundamentals
1. The consensus mechanism security of zkSync is compromised by consensus networks, such as practical Byzantine fault tolerance (pBFT) and delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS), that are adopted for faster speed block production and transaction finality and the speed of layer-2 networks is arguably enhanced however, falls back short in solving the decentralisation issue in the Blockchain Trilemma.
2. The general support of an ever changing EVM landscape roots zkSync in rocky grounds as functionalities and EVM code may change, which is a pain point to the project and may cause developmental set-backs if technology stacks are not compatible, especially in terms of generating validation proofs and transaction processing.
3. At this time, zkSync is solely run and operated by the zkSync team's servers and is therefore centralized. However, this will be transitioned to a decentralized system in the future.
References
- Blockcast. (n.d.). A brief analysis of the advantages and challenges of the Ethereum layer 2 solution. https://blockcast.cc/news/a-brief-analysis-of-the-advantages-and-challenges-of-the-ethereum-layer-2-solution-zksync/
- Bybit Learn. (2022, April 14). What Is zkSync: Ethereum Scalability With Zero Security Compromises. Bybit Learn. https://learn.bybit.com/blockchain/what-is-zksync/
- Cointelegraph. (2022, July 29). A beginner’s guide to the zkSync ecosystem. https://cointelegraph.com/blockchain-for-beginners/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zksync-ecosystem
- Gluchowski, A. (2019, December 5). Introducing ZK Sync: the missing link to mass adoption of Ethereum. Medium. https://blog.matter-labs.io/introducing-zk-sync-the-missing-link-to-mass-adoption-of-ethereum-14c9cea83f58
- zkSync. (n.d.). zkSync — Accelerating the mass adoption of crypto for personal sovereignty. https://zksync.io/
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