Original link: https://www.hellobtc.com/kp/du/10/4022.html
Author: Terry / Source: Vernacular Blockchain
Author | Terry
Produced | Vernacular Blockchain (ID: helloBTC)
If nothing else, the Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution zkSync will be officially launched on the 2.0 mainnet today (mainly for stress testing and security work).
As an L2 blockchain compatible with zkEVM (a virtual machine that is compatible with EVM and also friendly to zero-knowledge proofs), this upgrade may be the beginning of the whole Layer2 test, especially zkEVM.
01
zkSync: the ZK-Rollups solution favored by the Ethereum Foundation
As an Ethereum expansion plan based on the ZK-Rollups architecture developed by Matter Labs, it can be said that it was born with a golden spoon: in March 2019, it received funding from the Ethereum Foundation’s fifth wave of grants to support its zero-knowledge Prove the work on L2 extensions.
Half a year later, in September 2019, it received a seed round of 2 million yuan led by Placeholder VC. At that time, it was at the bottom of the last round of cold winter in the encryption market. Since then, zkSync has been favored by capital:
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Completed $50 million Series A in March 2021, led by Union Square Ventures, with other investors including Placeholder, 1kx, and Dragonfly
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In January, Matter Labs also launched a $200 million DAO organization, backed by BitDAO, with plans to help expand the zkSync ecosystem through public goods, infrastructure, security frameworks, R&D grants, and investments in other crypto organizations
In general, although the total financing amount of zkSync is not particularly outstanding among the Layer2 kings, it can be recognized by the Ethereum Foundation in the early stage of its establishment, and it can still receive capital support in the cold winter of encryption.
In terms of project progress, zkSync launched the 1.0 mainnet as early as June 2020, mainly focusing on payment purposes, that is, only supporting Layer 2 transfers on the chain (I believe that many small partners have used zkSync to transfer grants on Gitcoin. experience), 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 test network Zinc Alef, and Curve was the first to deploy DApps, but it was not compatible with EVM, and took a customized route.
And its universal 2.0 testnet, which is fully compatible with EVM, was not launched until February this year—the Portal, a tool for developers and users, was released, including wallets, Token bridges, faucets for requesting test ETH, etc.
The launch of the 2.0 mainnet also means that as a ZK-Rollup compatible with EVM, zkSync is at the forefront of many Layer 2 arenas.
02
zksync ecology
According to the ecological panorama of the zkSync official website, the zkSync ecosystem currently has more than 160 projects, covering wallets, DeFi, infrastructure, payment gateways, public products, social networking, privacy, NFT and other diversified tracks.
However, these 160 projects include DApps that have been supported or will be supported, and most of them are not yet supported . Currently, there are only about 20 projects that have integrated zkSync, and more than half of the wallets (4) and DeFi (8) add up. , the actual ecology is still relatively simple.
This is mainly because zkSync 1.0 is not yet compatible with EVM, resulting in relatively thin native DApps that are actually available on zkSync. Therefore, the official launch of zkSync 2.0 will be so eye -catching. It is expected that after zkSync 2.0 is officially launched, it will be used in DeFi and NFT. Other areas promote ecological development.
Therefore, a simple inventory of several native DApp applications that have been launched:
1) Orbiter Finance
Orbiter Finance is a Layer 2 cross-Rollup bridge. Currently, it 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 (swipe airdrops).
2) ZigZag
ZigZag Exchange is a ZK-Rollup based order book DEX that supports Ethereum and zkSync asset exchange. It was hit by the deep binding of ZigZag and UST in the Terra crash, and there are still signs of slowing down. A while ago, it was said that ZigZag DAO would be launched after the zkSync 2.0 mainnet was 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 the purchase and exchange of crypto assets. According to the roadmap, Numio will integrate other Layer 2 solutions, as well as integrate NFT and DeFi functions, including mining and borrowing.
5) zkSync: The “Top Student” of zkEVM
At the recent Korean Blockchain Week, Vitalik reiterated his optimism about ZK-Rollup in the Layer 2 war:
Still believe that some Optimistic Rollup projects today will be successful, but expect some Optimistic Rollup projects working on scaling Ethereum today to embrace ZK-Rollups because ZK-Rollups have “fundamental advantages” and even bluntly “ZK-Rollups are likely to be Ethereum’s Top Layer 2 Expansion Weapon”.
In general, ZK-Rollup works by executing batches of transactions off-chain and periodically posting proofs on L1 to prove the validity of these transactions. And zkEVM takes this concept one step further by using proof circuits to generate proofs to verify the correctness of programs executed by the EVM.
So for many, zkEVM is seen as the “end game” for scaling Ethereum – zkEVM is the first fully Ethereum-compatible ZK scaling solution that makes it very easy for developers to scale from an EVM-compatible chain to migrate their DApps in.
There are many teams currently driving the development of zkEVM, including:
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Polygon zkEVM, Scroll, which focus more on EVM equivalence
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zkSync, StarkWare (StarkNet), they are more focused on proof speed
Among them, zkSync is on the cusp of releasing zkSync 2.0, according to their own words: “This will be the first optimized end-to-end zkEVM”.
According to the roadmap announced not long ago, within 1 month after the zkSync 2.0 mainnet goes live on October 28, it will not be available to anyone except the Matter Labs team.
After the initial test, developers can transplant and develop 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 Token has also begun to gradually circulate in the market).
This also means that the more than 100 DApps in other fields such as DeFi and NFT that are waiting on the zkSync official website will gradually complete the migration, thereby helping the current large number of zkEVM ecosystems to gradually take shape.
03
summary
Now that the Ethereum merger has been completed for a month and a half, especially in the context of the current sluggish encryption market sentiment, Layer2, especially zkEVM, will play a particularly important role in the entire Ethereum ecosystem (after all, the OP Rollup ecosystem has already taken shape). , but the effect is not satisfactory):
Can it bring a new narrative space, can it directly obtain the network effect of Ethereum, so as to take into account the trade-off between ecology and scalability?
After two years of shouting about the midsummer of Layer2, it’s time for the final test gold acceptance.
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