zkSync has long been seen as one of the potential heroes that can save the Ethereum ecosystem from its stifling gas fees and inherent weakness on the scalability side of the blockchain trilemma.
For months, degens throughout the metaverse have been tinkering with its public testnet. While many are just hoping to potentially receive valuable airdrops, some of the finest builders crypto has to offer are already preparing to work with zkSync’s tech. Both of these groups dream of a future where the first EVM-compatible zkRollup will make transacting on the blockchain a civilized and reasonable experience for the average user. It looks like that future is now imminent.
Powered by zkRollup technology, zkSync was one of the first to offer a viable L2 scaling solution for Ethereum and, after two years of work, the Matter Labs team is on the homestretch to launch zkSync 2.0 on Mainnet by the end of 2022.
After many requests for greater transparency in the development process, the team has released a public roadmap to keep users updated. Each roadmap milestone will be accompanied by an AMA with the founder and CEO in addition to the team’s chief product officer and head of engineering.
While milestones further into the future may be less detailed at this point, the team has pledged to include high-level assessments of longer-term milestones so users can know what to expect and make informed decisions based on the development timeline. The same goes for any unforeseen delays or changes to the proposed roadmap.
The zkSync team takes its values seriously, a fact that’s contributed to the ecosystem growing to over 120 partners including 1Inch, Gnosis Safe and Argent. The tech will also power the Neo Tokyo citizen-led project Naffles that NT News covered a few weeks ago — an NFT blockchain raffle platform that lets degens sell valuable NFTs above the floor price and offers buyers the chance to win a bluechip for the price of a coffee.
Those zkSync values include commitments to:
- The ethos of Ethereum
- Decentralization for both the tech and the company
- Being fully open source
- True community ownership
- Scaling without degradation to security or decentralization
The next roadmap milestone to be reached is dynamic fees that will allow developers to only pay for what they use. This, accompanied by a major upgrade in how fees are modeled will make the platform more accessible to — and help further grow — the already impressive ecosystem.
Next will come the much-anticipated milestone — EVM smart contract ZK proofs that can be used in a live production environment. As of Fall this year, the team’s ZK Prover will be available for everyone on the testnet to check out. Once those milestones are approved, project registration for 2.0 will officially open around October.
With many considering ZK proofs as the holy grail of L2 scaling, it’s worth keeping your eye on this project. Citizens are encouraged to connect their data streams with zkSync and Matter Labs via Twitter. Projects looking to partner can find further contact details for zkSync on the official website here.
