The zkSync Era ecosystem is growing steadily and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon: the past few weeks have seen such an increase in active addresses and TVL on the network that it is determining the anticipated success for this Ethereum layer 2.
In addition to zkSync, other zk infrastructures such as StarkNet, Polygon zkEVM and Arbitrum are attracting a lot of capital and investor interest from the DeFi world.
We are officially in zk season!
Let’s delve deeper below.
Summary
Active addresses and TVL on the rise on zkSync Era
zkSync Era is a layer 2 network using Zero Knowledge technology, developed by Matter Labs with the intent of providing the Ethereum ecosystem with an infrastructure that can scale more while maintaining high security standards.
The scaling solution is part of the “zk rollup” category, which distinguishes zero-knowledge networks in which transactions are wrapped and validated off-chain.
A cryptographic proof, called SNARK, shows that all transactions performed off-chain are valid on zkSync.
There are other versions of rollups that are part of the “optimistic rollup” family, in which transactions processed off-chain are considered valid by default, and nullified only if proof of fraud is present.
zkSync Era, launched on the mainnet on 24 March 2023, has already achieved unprecedented success, particularly in what concerns the number of active addresses and TVL (total value locked).
According to data from Artemis, a crypto analytics platform, both the number of active addresses and daily transactions are growing steadily.
In detail, 17 June saw 192,000 active users and 729,000 transactions, in a trend that sees strong interest from investors and surprisingly high numbers for an infrastructure just launched in the market.
The data regarding TVL, or the number of capital locked within the ecosystem, are also encouraging for the future of zkSync Era.
In this area we can mention two sources that provide different data from each other, namely L2beat and DefiLlama.
The former, which focuses its analysis on layer 2 activity, shows a TVL of $506 million for the zk network, which takes into account both capital locked on the protocols’ smart contracts and funds bridged by Ethereum (not deposited on any protocol).
The second analysis platform, namely Defillama, shows a TVL of $155 million for zkSync, which is lower than L2beat’s data because it only takes into account funds deposited on infrastructure protocol contracts.
In both cases, it is possible to glimpse a continued rise in the metrics numbers, which shows how users are transferring a lot of capital from Ethereum to the zk solution and how many more are taking advantage of the landscape of decentralized applications built on top of it.
Airdrop FOMO on the zkSync Era network
The large amount of on-chain activity that is occurring on the layer 2 zkSync Era, such that it has sent everyone into FOMO, is driven primarily by two factors.
The first has to do with the fact that without a shadow of a doubt the network is a convenient and secure solution for users in the Web3 world who want to make the most of their cryptocurrencies, trading at low cost and with maximum execution speed.Â
The second, probably more crucial to the infrastructure’s momentary success, is that there are rumors of a rumored airdrop for early adopters of the zkSync ecosystem.
Since there is no governance token yet, it is likely that this will be created soon and distributed among those who have contributed the most to the emergence of the network.
In addition, Matter Labs has received about 458 million in funding from venture capitalists, so it is possible that this money will be used as seed cash to launch a token.
As happened with other zero knowledge solutions such as Optimism and Arbitrum, it is likely that zkSync will also introduce its own governance token through the airdrop marketing strategy.
This narrative incentivizes users to devote as much capital as possible to the zkSync Era ecosystem and to test the zkSync Lite network, an earlier version than the first listed that does not support smart contracts.
In particular, those individuals who have performed these tasks in the greatest number will be rewarded:
- bridge of funds from Ethereum to zkSync Era;
- execution of transactions at different times on zkSync Era and zkSync Lite; and
- creation of trading volumes on DEXsÂ
- NFT trading and testing of ecosystem protocols.
Airdrop is likely to arrive by the end of the year or early 2024 and could give early users of the scaling solution a 3-figure gain in their hands.
If you have performed transactions on zkSync Era, you can track your results via this tool. Make sure you have executed transactions in at least 2 different months and created volumes of at least $20,000.
Zk Season: market focus is on layer-2 Zero Knowledge infrastructure
At a time of uncertainty on the macroeconomic front and with centralized cryptocurrency exchanges struggling after pressure from US regulators, decentralized infrastructure such as zkSync Era is focusing the attention of crypto investors.
Not only the network developed by Matter Labs, but also other competitors such as Starknet, Polygon ZkEVM and the now-established Arbitrum are scoring well.
Blocked capital, active users, executed transactions and paid commissions are just some of the more bullish metrics for the zero knowledge network category.
Unfortunately, as the topic is quite complex, especially for those less experienced in the field, the zk narrative has not yet become mainstream but there are already those who have decried this period as “zk season.”
In all likelihood the trend will remain positive for the coming months as Ethereum improvement proposal 4844 will introduce a new transaction type that accepts “blobs” of data and allows for lower transaction fees on rollups.
In this regard, according to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, EIP 4844 and the Ethereum code change expected with the Cancun/Deneb update in Q4 2023 – Q1 2024, will be instrumental in pushing rollups to greater scalability in the long run.
a lot of capital, which is now on Ethereum, will be shifted to rollup solutions that are extremely cheaper and better performing than L1s.
Although altcoins are bleeding at the speculative level, with disastrous capitalization losses, innovations in blockchain have not stopped, and in fact are more thriving than ever.
The zk season is here, and it is poised to disrupt market hegemonies.
Let’s get ready for a revolution.
