Matter Labs has launched its zero-knowledge EVM mainnet zkSync Era in alpha, marking the first-ever launch of a permissionless zero-knowledge Ethereum scaling solution.
Several notable crypto projects are already live on the zkSync era, including Argent, a DeFi and Ethereum wallet, Frax, a fractional algorithmic stablecoin, and the oracle network Pyth.
Ethereum projects and exchanges are joining the zkSync era
Ethereum projects such as decentralized exchange Uniswap, DEX aggregator 1inch, and self-custodial wallet MetaMask all have registered interests in the project.
Currently, users can receive funds from Ethereum by connecting to self-custodial wallets such as MetaMask.
Developers familiar with Ethereum’s Solidity, Viper, and the Yule programming language can compile code for the zkSync Era using LLVM, a compiler developed by the LLVM developer group. Compilers convert the human-readable smart contract language into instructions that the blockchain can understand.
Matter Labs will delay withdrawals and run security audits on the alpha version of zkEVM. When the system matures, a Security Council will be appointed to conduct emergency upgrades.
Accordingly, Matter Labs advises users not to risk significant funds on the Alpha Network. Currently the total-value-locked on zkSync Era is $5.42 million.
The company launched a fair onboarding alpha on February 17, 2023, to allow decentralized application developers to optimize their smart contracts and test the security of the network.
Prover and Sequencer Hardware Challenges for ZK-Rollups
Zero-Knowledge Rollup is a type of scaling solution designed to improve transaction throughput and reduce transaction fees on Ethereum.
The difference between zero-knowledge rollups and other optimistic rollups like Arbitrum and Optimism is how the transaction batches are finalized.
In most cases, rollups reduce congestion on the main blockchain by performing heavy computations on batches of transactions and sending smaller amounts of data back to the main chain based on the results of those computations.
Zero-knowledge rollups generate cryptographic proofs that transaction batches are valid. They send these proofs to the main Ethereum chain, where the batch becomes final. Zk-rollup node operators change the status of a rollup by submitting a proof of validity to a particular rollup smart contract on the main Ethereum network.
The ZkSync era uses a special type of zero-knowledge proof called SNARK, which is an acronym for Concise Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge.
Zero-knowledge rollup requires expensive hardware to run a sequencer that orders transactions in a batch. However, cryptographic provers may also use expensive hardware such as graphics processing units, field-programmable gate arrays, or expensive cloud storage which may compromise the decentralization properties of Rollup.
Ethereum sidechain Polygon Labs’ upcoming zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine uses 64-core servers to validate 500,000 units of gas. Gas is paid based on the computational power required of a transaction in the current state of the blockchain.
On the other hand, ConsenSys, the creator of MetaMask, provides users with a mesh-based software prover based on internal libraries.
Matter Labs plans to build a prover later this year with lower hardware requirements.
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