🎉ZK summer is here🎉

A mega-thread on the state of Zero-Knowledge Technology and all the different chains. 

Also included: 
Potential airdrops you don't want to miss

#zksync
#Polygon
#StarkWare
#Starknet 
#StarkEx
#zcash $ZEC
#Scroll_ZKP
#loopring $LRC
 https://i.imgur.com/CC0cau5.png

2/ Snarky, Starky? But it sounds the same!?

#zkSNARKs and #zkSTARKs share similarities.

a. Enhances Scalability
b. Non-interactive zk proof protocols with little interaction of prover and verifier.

However, the choice as to which, depends on the use case requirements. https://i.imgur.com/QhVnOP3.png

3/ Snarky Snarky

zkSNARKs relies on a trusted setup ceremony where private keys that will be used to create proof required for private transactions are created.

The keys could be used to forge transactions and essentially mint tokens out of thin air 😨

4/ The Warehouse

Invented by #StarkWare, zk-STARKs is an advanced cryptographic-proof technology that is more transparent, scalable and secure for blockchains than zk-SNARKs.

It allows blockchain to move storage and computation off-chain

5/ The On-chain Data

Data from: 
#l2beat
#DefiLlama
#DuneAnalytics https://i.imgur.com/orvVREy.png

6/ Off-chain data on ZK Tech

 https://i.imgur.com/UUSTLzc.png

7/ The Social Data

 https://i.imgur.com/Zgnh8Cy.png

8/ Juicy Juicy!

Let's look at all ZK Related Companies before we go to the juicy #zkSync 💦

#ConsenSys
#StarkWare
#Polygon
#Scroll_ZKP

 https://i.imgur.com/ivfllgu.png

9/ #StarkWare

Starkware is the company behind the layer two scaling solutions StarkNet and StarkEx.

StarkNet is a smart contract layer 2 network whereas StarkEx is an application-specific scaling engine.

10/ Network with Others!

#StarkNet is a layer 2 network that harnesses STARK-based scaling solutions to provide scalability, low gas costs and security.

The Starknet token is live on Mainnet but still unavailable to the public.

#Airdrop soon? 👀

11/ My Ex is a Star!

StarkEx is an app-specific layer 2 scaling engine built on the Ethereum blockchain.

The beauty of StarkEx is the ability to dramatically improve Ethereum scalability without compromising on security.

Protocols like #dYdX and #OfficialApeXdex uses StarkEx!

12/ My Speed is not Speed.

Polygon recently launch its own #zkEVM Beta.

It claims that its Zero technology is the fastest ZK proof in the world 🏎️

https://twitter.com/0xPolygonLabs/status/1641137013083471882

13/ #ConsenSys

ConsenSys zkEVM is built with three key pillars in mind - zero switching costs, easy onboarding and best-in-class performance.

Public testnet was supposed to launch on 28/3/23. 
So public testnet soon?

https://twitter.com/ConsenSys/status/1640641312201293826

14/ Don't Scroll Past!

Scroll is a zkEVM-based zkRollup on Ethereum that enables native compatibility for existing Ethereum applications and tools.

It wants to build a fully EVM-compatible zk-Rollup and support direct verification of an Ethereum block through one succinct proof.

15/ Keep me in the Loop! 

Ethereum’s first zkRollup Layer 2.
As of 31 March 2023, it has almost $117.44m of TVL!

Important to note that the #LRC Exchange's relayer system was developed as a closed-source project, and its app offers swaps, staking, liquidity providing and even NFTs.

16/ Cash is King! 

Those who have been in crypto since the early days should have heard of #ZCash

Started in 2016, $ZEC is a fork of BTC but with added features like enhanced user security and anonymity.

Uses zk-SNARK technology to encrypt information so that it cannot be tracked.

17/ Tako Balls are the best!

#Taiko is the newest kid on the block. It aims to be Ethereum-equivalent type 1 zkEVM.

It is currently in Alpha testnet with Beta testnet coming out in Q3/4 of 2023 and Mainnet launching on early 2024.

#Airdrop farmers should be familiar with Taiko 👀

18/ Are we in Sync? 

#zkSync is all the hype right now because Matter Labs recently launched zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha, the very first zkEVM on mainnet.

Devs can now easily port over Ethereum applications to zkSync and enjoy the benefit of zk tech.

https://twitter.com/zksync/status/1639251197898129408

19/ Security was one of the focal points.

The team spent a total of $3.8M on zkSync Era audit which include 7 independent audits by Tier 1 auditors (OpenZeppelin, code4rena, Immunefi), 3 internal audits, 2 public security contests, bug bounty program and open-sourcing the codes.

20/❗Important❗

Security measures like withdrawal delay will be in place because it is still in Alpha.

The time lock will give the team time to verify the transaction before the block is finalized.

There will be a 24-hour delay and it will gradually decrease as it matures.

21/ The Incoming Wave

Several big bois are coming to #zksync Era!

#Uniswap
#SushiSwap
#chainlink
#YearnFinance
#CurveFinance
#MakerDAO
#Balancer
#WOOnetwork https://i.imgur.com/Wj5zcOT.png

22/ A New Era

Lets look at how far we have come #zksync! https://i.imgur.com/3ku4H3U.png

23/ Follow the Trend!

Trending Apps on #zkSync #Era

Do note that because #zksync #Era has only recently gone live, these “trending” or “most popular” applications could change soon!

#syncswap
#mute_io
#UniDexFinance
#MintSquareNFT
#NexonFi https://i.imgur.com/6ZlHSEY.png

24/ Data on trending Apps on #zksync Era

#syncswap
#mute_io
#UniDexFinance
#MintSquareNFT
#NexonFi https://i.imgur.com/6SHsjVj.png

25/ Lets be United!

#UniDex is the first leverage perp DEX on zkSync. It is not only a prep DEX but a meta-aggregator of everything from option aggregation to cross-chain trading.

$UNIDX

https://twitter.com/UniDexFinance/status/1637239470629027844

26/ Currently, it supports 14 different chains and 11 different hot wallets.

Traders can choose from 14 crypto trading pairs with max leverage of 100x.

It also offers Forex, TradFi, Indices which offer much higher leverage.

27/ UniDex just launched its #zksync chain support on 26 March and in 5 days it garner over 4.5M in volume with over 4k trades.

The traders won 3249 USDC but paid over 5k in fees 🤔

Check out this amazing summary by the GigaChads at 
#InternDAO 👇

https://twitter.com/InternDAO/status/1641180904214368256

28/ The LP Risks

The LP's #APY of Unidex is quite volatile.

This is because the yield calculated from the losses of traders on Unidex, fee revenue from trades, and liquidations.

29/ Note the Risks!

Therefore, it is important to note that profitable trades that are closed will be taken out of the pool and paid to traders.

This means the pool is subject to negative APR if traders are net positive in PnL.

30/ Be in Sync when Swapping! 

#SyncSwap is a decentralized exchange that aims to be an easy to use DeFi hub.

The mission is to be a community-centric project where the community gets to vote on the future of SyncSwap. Sounds like an incoming airdrop to me 😉

https://twitter.com/syncswap/status/1639381281489453062

31/ Lets Earn Some Money!

#SyncSwap currently charges a 0.1% trading fee on classic pools.

The LP holders will receive 70% of the fees and the protocol will collect the other 30%.

There’s no need to manually claim fees as it is automatically auto-compounded to the LP position.

32/ Mute and Listen!

Mute is the first zkDEX on zkSync. It is similar to SyncSwap but it is more established with more functions.

The team behind Mute has a proven track record with zero-knowledge products as they created the first #zk Atomic Swap protocol.

https://twitter.com/mute_io/status/1639250884747034625

33/ Mint is the best Flavor!

Mint Square is an NFT marketplace for zk-rollups.

It is on StarkNet and zkSync Era.

It is an #NFT marketplace, and also allows users to mint their own NFTs!

https://twitter.com/MintSquareNFT/status/1639318324436938753

34/ The Regulators are Shaking in Anger!!

The #NFT market is not regulated and it is flooded by a lot of random NFT projects by the community.

But some of the bigger NFTs like #ZksyncRock and #ZkAnimals are very liquid and there’s a transaction every few minutes.

35/ Next Up... NexonFi

Nexon Finance recently went live on 28 March 2023, however, let us compare the rates with other similar platforms, such as #Aave

https://twitter.com/NexonFi/status/1640708105054097415

. https://i.imgur.com/NqUSzuT.png

36/ Cap The Risks!

Do note that the supply has been capped at $1m currently and the only market available is USDC, but it seems that they have recently added ETH too!

37/ Food for thought 🍖

It seems that most of the recent current surge of users using zk-related apps are more than likely not to be genuine users, because of the surge in users right after the $ARB airdrop from #Arbitrum.

38/ Identify and Verify!

The users there are probably trying to farm the potential airdrop.

One way to identify organic users is to see if these users have been users of other chains with airdrops before.

39/ My Quant is here!

UTC 2023-03-28:

35.6% (43,840) of zkSync Era users have not used Arbitrum before, and 52.4% (63,780) of Optimism Users have not used Optimism before.

Therefore a good estimation is (43,840 + 63,780) / 2 =
53,810 “Real Users” on zkSync Era.

40/

Do note that this might not be the best metric to determine organic users as it does not take into account new wallets!

Did you enjoy our thread?

Stay tuned for a full research report due to be released on our website soon!

https://hashbrown.info/

1/ What is Zero-Knowledge? 

To put it simply, ZK-Proofs is a way of proving the validity of a statement without revealing the statement itself. 

No other additional information other than the fact that statement is true, is revealed. 

@vitalik.eth is bullish on #ZK too! https://i.imgur.com/IPU0goN.png