Here we report on the progress of the leading builders in the @ethereum L2 ecosystem, documenting recent significant releases, technical breakthroughs and general updates.
Featuring: @aztecnetwork, @KakarotZkEvm, @LineaBuild, @malda_xyz, @MantaNetwork, @0xPolygon, @Scroll_ZKP, @Starknet/@StarkWareLtd, @taikoxyz, @HelloTelos, @ZircuitL2, & @zksync.
Ignition Chain
@aztecnetwork announced the launch of Ignition Chain, introducing what it calls the first fully decentralized L2 on @ethereum: https://x.com/aztecnetwork/status/1991214517594759652
The rollout began once the validator queue reached 500, triggering block production on mainnet. The new L2 contract is now live, allowing anyone to stake, earn block rewards, and participate in decentralized block coordination from the start.
Publications
1/ In an article by @Cointelegraph, @aztecnetwork Co-founder @Zac_Aztec explained how blockchain is drifting toward institutional finance at the expense of its original purpose (enabling decentralized coordination): https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-struggling-original-purpose-aztec
Zac argues that early governance failures pushed the ecosystem toward a monetary focus, while privacy remains essential for functional onchain organizations.
He maintained that ZK technology can let institutions participate without dominating, preserving user autonomy and keeping blockchain aligned with its founding principles.
2/ Zac also published a personal piece arguing that today’s technology incentives erode communication, privacy, and human agency, and outlined why he believes ZK cryptography and privacy-preserving blockchains can counter those trends: https://zac1258019.substack.com/p/the-privacy-manifesto
He warns that advertising-driven platforms commodify attention, distort culture, and create surveillance systems, while ZK tools could enable private payments, credentials, and online interactions that shift power back to individuals and support more humane digital systems.
Acquisitions
@KakarotZkEvm announced its acquisition by @zama, aligning both teams around advancing confidentiality and scalability in open blockchain systems: https://x.com/KakarotZkEvm/status/1986011501904245044
The move combines Kakarot’s zkVM work - focused on efficient client-side proving and @ethereum compatibility - with Zama’s efforts to apply fully homomorphic encryption to public chains.
Together, they plan deeper integrations ahead of the Zama Protocol mainnet launch, aiming to enable private smart contracts, confidential transactions, and more flexible developer tooling.
Media
In a recent episode of @HouseofZK Radio, @ClementWalter, Co-founder of Kakarot, and @sylvechv, Co-founder of @hyli_org, highlighted how client-side proving, privacy, and broader ZK accessibility are reshaping user and developer interactions: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1993290941457731642
They discussed Hyli’s opinionated L1 approach, Kakarot’s move toward a general-purpose zkVM for consumer hardware, their joint FibRace mobile proving benchmarks, and how modular, multi-prover stacks can support practical wallets, identity, and agent-oriented workflows.
Full podcast: https://hozk.io/radio#90-sylve-chevet-co-founder-of-hyli-clement-walter-co-founder-of-kakarot
Exponent
1/ @LineaBuild introduced Exponent, a three-month program that rewards the apps that attract the most verified user transactions: https://paragraph.com/@linea/ethereum-to-the-next-power-introducing-exponent-the-new-l2-growth-engine
Rankings are based solely on onchain activity from wallets that pass Proof of Humanity checks through @sumsub, removing bots and spam. Top teams share a $250K prize pool and gain access to Consensys tools, audits, engineering support, and ecosystem visibility.
The program also reinforces Linea’s economic model by increasing transaction-driven ETH and LINEA burn.
2/ Following the launch of Exponent, Linea rolled out Proof of Humanity v2 to strengthen the integrity of user activity across the network: https://x.com/LineaBuild/status/1988995275944305140
The team reported that roughly 40% of wallets were removed from the recent airdrop as Sybils, underscoring the scale of the problem. PoH v2 now gives developers a simple way to verify real users and protect incentive systems.
Events
Linea took part in a series of high-profile events during Devconnect Buenos Aires, contributing to discussions on the future of L2s, ZK proving, privacy, and real-world crypto adoption.
• ETH Day at Devcon: @DeclanFox14, Product Lead at Linea, outlined the three eras of L2 development - infrastructure, efficiency, and now the sovereign era - during ETH Day. His talk focused on what it takes for L2s to evolve into self-sustaining economies.
• ZKonnect by @brevis_zk - co-hosted with @HouseofZK: Linea took part in multiple sessions, including:
1) Real-Time Proving Panel: @goinfrexeth, Engineering Lead at Linea, joined a panel moderated by @francescoswiss, DevRel of @Consensys & @MetaMask alongside speakers from @Scroll_ZKP, @ProjectZKM, and Brevis. The discussion centered on sub-10-second proofs, proving pipelines, hardware bottlenecks, and emerging shared proving layers.
2) ZK Across the Rollup Stack: @florian_huc from Consensys presented a technical deep dive on ZK validation, multi-prover architectures, and privacy-preserving execution, detailing how ZK shapes each layer of modern rollups.
• DeFi Day del Sur by @aave: Declan represented Linea on a panel hosted by Aave, joining leaders from @privy, @Mastercard, @Optimism, @avax, and @Aptos. The session explored how crypto rails can power global commerce and the evolving role of L2s in real-world payment flows.
• @LidoFinance Event: Goinfrex presented Linea’s Native Yield at the Lido Finance event, outlining the mechanism, opportunities for LPs, and its long-term impact on Linea’s users and ecosystem treasury.
Progress
@malda_xyz reports several key updates across its ongoing development and ecosystem work: https://x.com/malda_xyz/status/1992684171278352872
• The co-founder @realbarnakiss attended @EFDevcon to advance discussions on unified liquidity and engage with teams focused on long-term coordination.
• Malda Labs confirmed that its multi-chain sequencer will be released to the public.
• Integration of @HypernativeLabs Firewall is complete, allowing the system to detect and block malicious contracts before they cause harm.
• The team is finalizing sequencer testing, preparing the bug bounty program, and completing deployment checks ahead of launch.
Publications
1/ Malda published an article highlighting how its Unified Liquidity architecture makes funding-rate arbitrage on perp DEXs accessible to regular users: https://x.com/malda_xyz/status/1989017922128200027
The post explains how funding rates work and outlines two delta-neutral approaches: perp-vs-spot and perp-vs-perp. It notes that fragmented liquidity and slow cross-chain movement limit most traders, while Malda’s global collateral pool, ZK messaging, unified rates, and yield-bearing assets enable faster adjustments and more consistent execution.
2/ Malda Co-founder Barna published 'The Ethereum Interop Solution', outlining why true interoperability requires permissionless, modular, and verifiable cross-chain execution without coordination between rollups: https://x.com/realbarnakiss/status/1990827055311634497
The article introduces Malda’s ZK-powered Multichain Sequencer, an application-specific sequencer operating across multiple chains using a fully zk-secured pipeline and custom zkVMs. It enables mainnet-grade security, minimal latency, and optional unified liquidity without shared sequencing, centralized bridges, or liquidity replication.
@0xPolygon introduced a set of new strategic collaborations that strengthen its position across payments and real-world asset infrastructure, including:
• @Mastercard: partnered with Mastercard to support the expansion of Mastercard Crypto Credential to self-custody wallets, enabling verified, username-based transfers on Polygon. The collaboration introduced alias-based identities, portable verification, and soulbound credentials, with @Mercuryo_io onboarding verified users while Polygon provides fast, low-cost settlement for global-scale payments infrastructure: https://polygon.technology/blog/mastercard-selects-polygon-to-power-verified-username-transfers-for-self-custody-wallets
• @R25Official: partnered with R25 as the protocol launched its institutional-grade RWA platform on Polygon, bringing the yield-bearing rcUSD+ token to the network. The integration introduced an onchain asset backed by money-market funds and stable, low-risk instruments, giving Polygon users access to sustainable yield and providing developers and institutions with a transparent RWA primitive designed for scale: https://polygon.technology/blog/r25-launches-institutional-grade-rwa-protocol-on-polygon-introducing-yield-bearing-rcusd-token
• @StableportX: partnered with Stableport to support its non-custodial B2B payments orchestration platform, which uses a “stablecoin sandwich” model for instant cross-border transfers. Leveraging Polygon PoS for high-speed, low-cost settlement, Stableport aims to enable rapid, scalable stablecoin flows between developed and emerging markets for global business payments: https://x.com/0xPolygon/status/1993340225167540591
• @Revolut: integrated with Revolut as the neobank adopted Polygon for stablecoin transfers, payments, trading, and staking, processing over $690M in volume to date. The partnership enabled Revolut’s 65M+ users to send and receive stablecoins, pay with crypto cards, and trade or stake POL directly in-app, highlighting Polygon’s reliability as enterprise-grade payments infrastructure for everyday financial activity: https://polygon.technology/blog/revolut-integrates-polygon-for-payments-trading-and-staking-processing-690m-to-date
• @CalastoneLtd: partnered with Calastone as the world’s largest global funds network launched tokenized fund share classes on Polygon, bringing onchain fund distribution to 4,500 institutions across 58 markets. The integration enabled asset managers to operate share classes directly over blockchain rails with faster settlement, lower costs, and programmable automation, leveraging Polygon’s scalability, sub-cent fees, and near-instant finality for institutional-grade tokenization: https://polygon.technology/blog/calastone-brings-global-fund-distribution-onchain-with-polygon
Security Subsidy Program
@Scroll_ZKP introduces a subsidy program designed to make continuous security accessible to all builders following approval by the Scroll DAO: https://scroll.io/blog/security-subsidy-program
The initiative responds to the gap between audits and real resilience, offering subsidized reviews, fuzzing, formal verification, monitoring, and bug bounties through @areta_io and @immunefi.
Projects gain a unified workflow, discounted services, and six months of free access to Magnus, with $500k allocated to support teams across their development lifecycle.
Events
Scroll joined @brevis_zk’s ZKonnect, co-hosted with @HouseofZK, where Co-founder @shenhaichen joined a panel on real-time proving.
Alongside speakers from @LineaBuild, @ProjectZKM, and Brevis, he discussed the requirements for sub-10-second proofs, the impact of circuit design and hardware bandwidth, and the pressure to maintain decentralization.
Events
@Starknet was one of the major sponsors of Verifying Intelligence 3.0 at @EFDevcon, organized by @HouseofZK. Team members from @StarkWareLtd and @StarknetFndn took part in several sessions:
• @zKsisyfos, Exploration Team Lead at StarkWare joined the “AI and Work - Proving Human Contribution” panel to discuss verifiable authorship, POV data, and ZK-based provenance. The session also included @reka_eth of @boundless_xyz, @humpty0x of @OntologyNetwork, @DacEconomy of @ProjectZKM, and @Viggy_117 of Eigencloud: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1993685245430734977
• @barretodavid, Developer Advocate at the Starknet Foundation joined the “User Data Privacy - Dignity-Preserving AI by Default” panel to examine privacy-preserving AI architectures and how ZK proofs protect user data. Other speakers were @_rutefig of @zkemail, @aurobindo_arman of @ZKVProtocol, @Shubhamb of @MantaNetwork, and @sd_eigen of ZKM. Timestamp - 03:36:12: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1dRKZanqOygxB
• @gyanlakshmi, Ecosystem Director at the Starknet Foundation delivered a keynote session as part of the program. Timestamp - 01:54:37: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1dRKZanqOygxB
Proposals
1/ @AbdelStark, Head of Ecosystem at StarkWare, outlined a proposal to add a small STARK-verification extension to @Zcash, enabling a Starknet-style L2 to handle computation while Zcash remains the privacy-focused settlement layer: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/proposal-ztarknet-a-starknet-l2-for-zcash/52926
The plan introduces one bounded verifier that validates L2 state transitions without changing shielded pools or value rules. L2 apps, fees, and bridged ZEC operate above, increasing utility without adding L1 complexity.
2/ Abdel also introduced Zoro, a STARK-proven Zcash light client written in Cairo that generates succinct receipts for validating long header chains and block commitments: https://forum.zcashcommunity.com/t/zoro-a-stark-proven-zcash-light-client-in-cairo/53220
The system verifies PoW, FlyClient MMR data, and v5 transaction digests without altering Zcash consensus. Its receipts enable compressed SPV proofs, trust-minimized light clients, and clean interoperability for wallets, bridges, and L2 applications, all while remaining an external, non-invasive tool.
Integrations
Finally, Starknet integrated @privy_io’s embedded wallet support, giving developers a way to combine the network’s ZK-based performance with smoother onboarding: https://starknet.io/blog/privy-brings-seamless-embedded-wallets-to-starknet/
The update allows apps to embed wallet functionality directly, manage the full user journey, and access analytics across it. StarkWare is now preparing an SDK that will use native account abstraction and Privy’s tools to further simplify adding embedded wallets to Starknet applications.
TaikoSwap
@taikoxyz introduced TaikoSwap, the native DEX built for the Taiko network to offer an @ethereum-like trading experience with lower fees: https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/taikoswapislive
Developed on the open-source @Uniswap architecture, it combines Taiko’s based Type 1 rollup security with a modular design that will expand over time. The platform launches with ETH/USDC, TAIKO/USDC, and TAIKO/ETH pairs as the ecosystem grows.
Publications
Taiko published an article explaining how ULTRA TX and the Gwyneth execution stack enable synchronous composability across L1 and multiple L2s: https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/ultra-tx-gwyneth-synchronous-composability-across-l1-l2
The piece outlines how a single L1 transaction can bundle L1 account-abstracted transactions, L2 blocks, proofs, and cross-chain call outputs, allowing both layers to execute, interact, and commit atomically. It highlights the role of Gwyneth’s modified REVM in simulating and later enforcing identical state transitions onchain.
Events
@Pigi_Pal, Head of Ecosystem at Taiko, delivered a keynote at Verifying Intelligence 3.0 hosted by @HouseofZK and @brevis_zk during @EFDevcon. Timestamp - 00:41:35: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1dRKZanqOygxB
Integrations
1/ Taiko has integrated @chainlink’s Automated Compliance Engine, making it one of three blockchains in the launch ecosystem and bringing modular compliance tools to a based rollup without introducing centralized control: https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/taiko-integrates-chainlink-ace-compliance-for-decentralized-tokenization
The article outlines how ACE manages identity, policy enforcement and monitoring across jurisdictions, enabling compliant tokenization without relying on a sequencer. Taiko’s Ethereum-level neutrality allows issuers to meet regulatory requirements while preserving decentralized transaction ordering.
2/ @ensdomains selected the Taiko stack to launch Namechain, a dedicated ZK rollup for decentralized naming: https://paragraph.com/@taiko-labs/taiko-stack-selected-by-ens-for-namechain-based-rollup
Built with @Nethermind’s Surge framework, Namechain adopts a fully based architecture from day one, avoiding progressive decentralization. ENS chose Taiko after its mainnet demonstrated reliable preconfirmations, decentralized sequencing, and strong performance.
@HelloTelos published its latest updates, outlining new accessibility improvements, progress on its privacy layer, community initiatives, and ecosystem integrations: https://x.com/HelloTelos/status/1991981559688376529
• @okx added global access to the Telos token through its new CeFi-DeFi integration, expanding availability ahead of the upcoming privacy layer launch.
• The trusted setup ceremony for the Telos privacy layer has begun, enabling private accounts, shielded transfers, and quantum-hardened computation once completed: https://x.com/HelloTelos/status/1991884406638711209
• The November community creator competition is still open, with participants submitting Telos content on X and CoinMarketCap for prize eligibility.
• @RampNetwork, now fully integrated with Telos EVM, offers a simple fiat-to-crypto on-ramp using credit cards, Apple Pay, and bank transfers.
Zircuit Finance
@ZircuitL2 introduces an onchain yield platform built for institutions that need clearer credit protections and stronger security after a year of significant industry losses: https://zircuit.com/blog/introducing-zircuit-finance-safer-institutional-yield-onchain
The service combines regulated asset managers, enforceable frameworks, transparent reporting, and safeguards extending from vault contracts to the sequencer. It offers up to 11% APY on USDC and USDT, with BTC and ETH vaults coming next, and works with partners including @monarq_mgmt, Forteus, @FalconXGlobal, @aave, and @Morpho.
Publications
Zircuit published an article covering how DeFi vaults automate yield management by replacing manual switching between protocols with a single compounding deposit: https://zircuit.com/blog/defi-vaults-how-they-work-and-yield-strategies
It explains how shares track underlying assets, why non-rebasing and liquid staking tokens improve efficiency, and how vaults optimize costs through automation.
The article also outlines core strategies - lending, looping, LP positions, and delta-neutral structures - while emphasizing risk controls, collateral stability, and smart-contract safety.
Events
@jgorzny, Co-founder of Zircuit, joined a Verifying Intelligence 3.0 panel at @EFDevcon, organized by @HouseofZK and co-hosted by @brevis_zk: https://x.com/HouseofZK/status/1993629205116887092
The discussion featured @alicelingl of HoZK, @GeoffTRichards of @OntologyNetwork, @NorbertVadas of @thezkcloud, and @o1coby of @o1_labs & @MinaProtocol. Speakers examined how AI influences governance, economics, identity, and personal autonomy, contrasting futures shaped by greater opportunity or increasing centralization.
Updates
@zksync shared key updates across finance, proving systems, and institutional activity: https://x.com/zksync/status/1992676984078598492
• The team outlined scalable, private, and compliant financial rails during a presentation at @NYSE.
• Airbender generated mainnet proofs on two RTX 5090 GPUs, demonstrating low-cost proving capabilities.
• @gluk64, CEO of @the_matter_labs highlighted consistent interest from institutions and fintech partners exploring their own chains on the Elastic Network.
• DAMA 2 MVP launched on @Memento_Bc ZK Chain mainnet and was presented to @DeutscheBank’s institutional clients.
Proposals
@gluk64, shared a proposal to evolve the ZK token from pure governance into a model tied to real network usage: https://x.com/gluk64/status/1985709621114290600
He outlined two value sources: onchain interoperability fees from asset and message transfers across ZKsync and Prividiums, and offchain enterprise licensing for advanced modules used by financial institutions.
All revenue would flow into a governance-controlled system for ZK buybacks, token burn, staking rewards, and ecosystem funding, aiming for a sustainable economic loop.
