ZK Rollup Solution: The New Hope for Ethereum Scalability and a 2025 Hot Project Overview

The Scalability Dilemma of Ethereum and the Rise of Layer 2

As the primary platform for decentralized applications (dApps), Ethereum is renowned for its rich functionality, but this has also led to scalability issues. Network congestion causes transaction fees to soar, while transaction speeds lag behind user demands. Although Ethereum 2.0 is underway, its upgrade progress still requires time. In this context, Layer 2 solutions have emerged, with ZK Rollup technology attracting significant attention from developers and investors due to its unique cryptographic mechanisms.

How ZK Rollup Works

ZK Rollup is a Layer 2 scaling solution that increases blockchain throughput by bundling multiple transactions. This technology leverages zero-knowledge proofs, powerful cryptographic tools that can verify the validity of a batch of transactions without revealing individual transaction details.

Simply put, ZK Rollup is like building a fast lane in a congested city—processing transactions efficiently off-chain while ensuring their security on the mainnet through concise, lightweight cryptographic proofs. Zero-knowledge proofs possess three core attributes: integrity, correctness, and privacy, providing strong guarantees for transaction validation.

ZK Rollup Workflow

The complete operation involves four key steps:

1. Mainnet Smart Contract Rules - Responsible for defining transaction standards and storing key data
2. Off-chain Virtual Machine Batch Processing - Executes transactions in an isolated environment, significantly reducing costs and increasing speed
3. Generating Zero-Knowledge Proofs - Creates cryptographic proofs to validate the transaction batch while hiding individual transaction details
4. Validator Confirmation on Mainnet - Proofs are sent to the mainnet for verification, ensuring the integrity of off-chain operations

This design allows the mainnet to handle rule-setting and data storage, while offloading much of the transaction processing, greatly enhancing throughput, reducing network load, and lowering transaction costs.

Advantages of ZK Rollup Compared to Other Layer 2 Solutions

Unlike Optimistic Rollup, ZK Rollup adopts a “verify before confirm” strategy. Optimistic Rollup assumes transactions are valid by default and only verifies them during disputes, leading to a dispute resolution period; ZK Rollup, however, verifies each transaction with zero-knowledge proofs, providing instant finality.

Key competitive advantages of ZK Rollup include:

• Enhanced Security - Transactions achieve immediate finality on the mainnet without the dispute resolution delay of Optimistic Rollup
• Trustless Design - Fully cryptographically secured without relying on honest validators
• Privacy Enhancement - Transaction details are hidden within proofs, offering higher privacy levels
• Flexible Technical Options - Supports multiple zero-knowledge proof schemes such as zk-SNARKs and STARKs

Notable ZK Rollup Ecosystem Projects

Manta Network (Manta Pacific)

Project Highlights

• Market Cap: $34.08M
• Launch Date: September 2023 (Testnet)
• Token: MANTA, used for governance, staking, and DeFi fee payments

Manta Network focuses on privacy transactions in DeFi. Manta Pacific, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution, employs zk-SNARKs technology to offer users fully private encrypted transactions and swaps. Transaction details, assets, and amounts are encrypted but remain verifiable. Since its launch, the project has quickly ranked among the top in Ethereum Layer 2 TVL, surpassing some well-known competitors.

Core Strength - Introducing privacy protection into DeFi, a feature many platforms lack, while also supporting cross-chain compatibility to build privacy layers for DeFi applications across various blockchains.

Linea

Project Highlights

• Market Cap: $107.83M
• Launch Date: August 2023
• Token: LINEA, specific use cases to be announced

Linea is a Layer 2 scaling solution based on ZK Rollup, utilizing zk-SNARKs to compress and verify transactions. Transactions are executed off-chain and aggregated into a single proof before being sent to Ethereum. The platform emphasizes developer usability, helping them build and deploy applications more quickly.

Core Strength - Ensuring scalability while highlighting speed and cost advantages, providing a more economical solution for high-frequency trading applications.

Starknet

Project Highlights

• Market Cap: $396.38M
• Launch Date: February 2022
• Token: STRK, used for gas fees, governance, and staking

Starknet is based on STARKs technology—a zero-knowledge proof scheme that does not require trusted setup—achieving high scalability and privacy protection. Compared to zk-SNARKs, STARKs are quantum-resistant, ensuring long-term security. The platform supports general-purpose computing, allowing any type of smart contract to run.

Core Strength - STARKs technology requires no trusted setup and offers quantum resistance, providing a more secure and transparent scaling experience.

ZetaChain

Project Highlights

• Market Cap: $80.98M
• Launch Date: February 2021
• Token: ZETA, used for gas fees, governance, and cross-chain interoperability

ZetaChain aims to build a “Universal Cross-Chain Bridge,” using ZK Rollup and zk-SNARKs to enable secure data and asset transfer across different blockchains, supporting dApps to call resources across multiple chains without complex additional operations.

Core Strength - Emphasizing cross-chain interoperability, allowing applications to seamlessly integrate resources and data from multiple blockchain ecosystems.

Other Key Projects

Polygon zkEVM - Known for EVM compatibility, enabling direct migration of Ethereum tools and contracts, with TVL reaching $115M

zkSync Era - Developed by Matter Labs, offering low fees and high throughput, with TVL reaching $555M, focusing on user experience

Scroll - Focused on high throughput and low latency, using zk-SNARKs for compression, with TVL reaching $63.46M

Aztec Protocol - Introduces the Noir programming language, supporting optional privacy in hybrid mode

ZKFair - As a DEX application, focuses on fairness issues such as front-running

DeGate V1 - A DEX focused on low-slippage trading, with a market cap of $21.14M

Taiko - Uses an “based ordering” innovative architecture, raised $37M, addressing issues with centralized sequencers

Challenges Facing ZK Rollup

Despite its enormous potential, ZK Rollup still faces multiple challenges:

• High technical complexity, difficult to implement and maintain
• Limited support for transaction types, application scenarios are restricted
• Data availability management requires reliable infrastructure support
• Proof generation is computationally intensive
• Needs widespread user adoption and ecosystem support
• Governance models still need refinement
• Balancing low costs with sustainable operation remains an issue

Future Outlook: The Future of ZK Rollup

With ongoing research and development, ZK Rollup is gradually overcoming complexity issues, and liquidity fragmentation is improving. As growth and ecosystem collaboration continue steadily, ZK Rollup is poised to fundamentally change the scalability landscape of Ethereum and the entire blockchain ecosystem, ushering in a new era of high-speed, low-cost, and highly secure applications.

Summary

ZK Rollup represents a revolutionary scaling technology that efficiently processes transactions off-chain while ensuring security and data integrity on the mainnet, opening new horizons for Ethereum’s ecosystem in terms of scalability, efficiency, and sustainability. This technology strongly promotes large-scale blockchain applications, creating new interaction possibilities for users.