Matter Labs Opens zkSync 2.0 to Crypto Projects

Matter Labs, the blockchain developer team behind zkSync, has finally opened the gates of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) mainnet to registered crypto projects.

zkSync is a layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution that seeks to eliminate the network congestion faced on Ethereum through zero-knowledge proofs. Through the zkEVM, zkSync offers fast and cheap transactions.

On October 29, 2022, Matter Labs debuted the zkEVM mainnet. At that time, it was closed to external users.

zkSync Rebrands

Upon attaining the fourth stage of its public roadmap, dubbed the Fair Onboarding Alpha, Matter Labs rebranded its zkEVM mainnet to zkSync Era. The previous version of zkSync, known as zkSync v1.0, has also been changed to zkSync Lite.

Although Matter Labs now onboards developer teams who register, its gates remain closed to end users. 

The newly rebranded technology will enable token bridging while limiting its use for testing and deployment. It will also upgrade developer tools, documentation, tutorials, and plugins.

The codes governing the zkEVM project have been made open-source as part of zkSync’s efforts to decentralize the technology. Still, the team recommended that developers wait until the “Full Launch Alpha” before forking the technology.

Alex Gluchowski, the cofounder of Matter Labs, stated in a tweet that developers don’t need to modify their solidity codes before deploying them on the zero-knowledge roll-up technology.

During its journey from testnet to mainnet in the past four months, zkSync has attracted nearly 500 active addresses and nine million transactions. It also recorded the deployment of 30,000 smart contracts.

The team added that it would update its roadmap as it strives to attain new milestones.

Ethereum Scaling Projects Step Up Game

Aside from zkSync, other layer-2 Ethereum scaling projects are actively building technologies to improve the scalability issues faced by Ethereum.

A recent example is Polygon Labs, a development team building the Polygon network. On February 14, the team announced that its zkEVM mainnet beta would be rolled out on March 27. Other platforms building a similar technology include Scroll and Applied ZKP.