Freedom is our mission
zkSync is the layer 2 protocol that scales Ethereum's security and values through zero-knowledge cryptography. We believe that the single most impactful way we can make this world better is by increasing people’s freedom, and today, freedom relies on cryptography.
The mission of zkSync is to accelerate the mass adoption of crypto for personal sovereignty.
Ethereum is the most decentralized blockchain, capable of bringing sovereignty to billions of people. zkSync scales Ethereum’s security and its values of trustlessness, permissionless access, censorship resistance, resiliency through decentralization and community ownership.
Integrity via math & code
Cryptography is the key technology protecting people’s freedom today — because it's the only technology that can enable a single individual to resist immensely powerful adversaries.
We are committed to apply advanced cryptography of zero-knowledge proofs to eventually eliminate all trust assumptions from the realm of public blockchains. You should only trust what you can yourself verify: math and code.
Learn more about Zero-Knowledge Proofs.
Open source & forkability
zkSync is and will always remain fully open source under permissive software licenses (such as MIT/Apache 2.0), so anyone can view, audit, modify and fork the code. We see forkability as the key property that keeps blockchains free and trustless, preventing usurpation of power by forces that seek greater centralization and control over others.
Keeping our code open source and forkable – and making sure that the protocol can be exited under any conditions – guarantees that even if the core team or the protocol governance ever deviate from the mission, community can always take over the stewardship of zkSync and push it in the right direction.
Resilience via decentralization
Contrary to popular belief, we don't view decentralization as an end goal in itself. Instead, we see it as a necessary means to an end – one that provides the real value of resilience: the ability to preserve freedom, inclusivity, and trustlessness for all participants of the network. We understand that achieving all of these goals at once is difficult, and believe that healthy pragmatism is necessary. During the initial stages of the protocol deployment, our core team will manage the sequencer and protocol upgrades to ensure security, reliability, and swift response to critical issues.
However, we recognize that there is a fine line between pragmatism and opportunism when it comes to values. We are only able to operate a centralized sequencer for zkSync initially because the security of a ZK-rollup does not depend on the sequencer in any way. We do not have custody over user funds and cannot control them. Even when it comes to protocol upgrades, we plan to relinquish all control over upgradability once the protocol is out of Alpha/Beta stage.
Our long-term goal is to move towards a future where the sequencer, ZK prover, zkPorter, community governance, and all other critical pieces of the network are fully decentralized.
But don’t take our word for it. You – every member of our community – are the true owners of the zkSync and the guardians of its values. It is your right and responsibility to hold the core team accountable and steer us toward the North Star of Freedom. If we ever deviate from this path, speak up, and if necessary – fork away in protest.