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Matter Labs Opens zkSync Era to Users, Claiming First in ‘Zero Knowledge’ Tech on Ethereum
After zkSync Era was launched only for developers last month, the project took the additional step Friday of opening to general users. The latest push comes just days ahead of the rival Polygon system’s planned rollout Monday of its own “zero knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine.”
Updated Mar 24, 2023, 3:05 p.m. Published Mar 24, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
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The race between Ethereum scaling platforms to come out with the first ”zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine” (zkEVM) – seen as a key advance in speeding up blockchain transactions and reducing the cost – culminated Friday as Matter Labs opened its zkSync Era to users.
Matter Labs said zkSync Era, which launched last month for developers only, is now also open to general users.
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So-called ZK rollups are a type of blockchain scaling system based on cryptography known as zero-knowledge proofs. A zkEVM is a special type of ZK rollup compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine, a piece of software that executes smart contracts, so it’s easier for developers familiar with the ecosystem to design or reconfigure applications.
Zero-knowledge proofs were invented in the early 1980s, and blockchain developers have been working on ZK rollups for years, but not until now has one been made available to general users with the EVM compatibility.
The competition among developers to reach market first with a zkEVM has been a source of intense speculation this year in blockchain tech circles. Polygon, a rival Ethereum scaling provider, has disclosed plans to push its own zkEVM live on Monday.
“ZK rollups are the Holy Grail of scaling Ethereum but, obviously, only if you can preserve compatibility with the existing ecosystem,” Alex Gluchowski, the CEO of Matter Labs, told CoinDesk.
According to Gluchowski, zkSync Era will have over 200 projects ready to be deployed on the ZK rollup.
He said a differentiator for zkSync Era is that there will be native Account Abstraction, enabling users to have a more user-friendly experience where they can define how they pay their gas (meaning, they won’t need to necessarily pay transaction fees in ether).
Read more: Matter Labs Says zkSync 2.0 Entering New ‘Era’ With Re-Brand and Developer Rollout
The rollup race comes to a close
When Polygon announced the date it would release the first zkEVM on the market, Matter Labs had not publicly shared when it intended to release its version – providing an extra jolt of drama in the competition.
A few days’ difference probably won’t make a huge difference in the long run, but it could confer bragging rights and possibly some extra juice in the marketing.
Gluchowski claims that Matter Labs was “ready to launch earlier” so the team saw little reason to wait.
“We opened the mainnet to developers a month ago,” he said.
ZkSync Era has gone through seven independent security audits, according to Matter Labs’ press release.
Gluchowski also noted that the team is referring to Friday’s opening as the “Alpha launch” because he wants to warn users that this is a new technology so “ people should take it carefully.”
“We don't want people to bridge a lot of funds and, like, just ape into it,” he said.
Read more: Polygon Sets March Date for zkEVM Mainnet Beta to Go Live
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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
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- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
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Ethereum Foundation makes post quantum security a top priority as new team forms
EF researcher Justin Drake says a new post-quantum team will drive wallet safety upgrades, research prizes and test networks as quantum timelines shorten.
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- The Ethereum Foundation has elevated post-quantum security to a top strategic priority, forming a dedicated Post Quantum team led by Thomas Coratger with support from leanVM cryptographer Emile.
- Researcher Justin Drake said Ethereum is shifting from background research to active engineering, including biweekly developer sessions on post-quantum transactions and multi-client post-quantum consensus test networks.
- The foundation is backing new cryptography with funding and outreach, launching two $1 million prizes, planning post-quantum community events and education, and stressing that blockchains must prepare early for quantum threats despite their long-term nature.
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