Matter Labs launches ZK Stack for ‘Hyperchains’

Matter Labs, the team behind zkSync – a scaling solution for Ethereum – has introduced the ZK Stack. This open-source toolkit will facilitate the development of custom ZK-powered L2s and L3s, known as Hyperchains. 

According to the team, its newly released Software Development Kit (SDK) embodies two core features – ‘sovereignty with seamless connectivity’. Based on these features, it will give creators full control over the code and the ability to customise every aspect of the chain.

In the proposed infrastructure, the Hyperchains will operate independently but rely on Ethereum L1 for security, while hyperbridges will enable their trustless and fast interoperability. 

In a medium post, the team explains that the ZK Stack is primarily targeted at developers and teams who require customised and specialised solutions for their projects. 

It further explained that the new toolkit is not ideal for building generic DeFi or NFT applications. In such cases, it suggests deploying on an existing Hyperchain like zkSync Era as it offers a more direct path. 

Similarity with Optimism’s OP Stack

The ZK Stack is quite similar to Optimism’s OP Stack which enables developers to build Superchains.

Like its competitor, Matter Labs developed ZK Stack to foster innovation and to accelerate the development of scalable and efficient layer-2 solutions. Its CEO Alex Gluchowski highlighted this in a conversation with Blockworks.

“It’s going to be the only alternative — fully open-source alternative — to Optimism’s stack that is available today for anyone to build rollups,” he said.

He went on to express dissatisfaction in the time it takes to build bridges between superchains on Optimism.

“If you look at Optimism’s superchains, in order to build a trustless bridge between superchains, the user will have to wait seven days… That’s not good enough, he reckons. The latency has to be down to seconds, maybe minutes, but really, really short for the liquidity on all of those chains and for interoperability of messages between all of those chains to feel seamless to the end users,” he continued.

This drawback perhaps influenced the team’s ultimate goal of achieving a one-click deployment as stated in the medium post.

About zkSync

zkSync is a layer-2 scaling solution that aims to solve scaling problems on the Ethereum blockchain. Being a zero-knowledge roll-up, zkSync bundles multiple transactions into one and processes them off the parent chain (Ethereum). It then submits the processed data and a proof of validity called zero-knowledge proof back to the parent chain.