ZKsync believes that next year the first Ethereum zero-knowledge rollup blockchain will have an “orderly sunset” because it has accomplished its function. The company behind ZKsync Lite, the first zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup network to emerge on Ethereum, says it will be shut down next year because it has served its function.
ZKsync wrote to X on Sunday, stating that they plan to stop supporting ZKsync Lite (also known as ZKsync 1.0), the first ZK-rollup they launched on Ethereum, in 2026. This is a planned, orderly end for a system that has done its job and won’t affect any other ZKsync systems.” It also said that ZKsync Lite “was a groundbreaking proof-of-concept that confirmed important ideas about how to build production ZK systems.
ZKsync Lite was a ground breaking proof-of-concept and validated critical ideas related to building production ZK systems. It did its job: prove what’s possible and pave the way for the next generation.
— ZKsync (@zksync) December 7, 2025
The evolution of ZKsync Lite
Matter Labs, a tech startup, released ZKsync Lite in 2020. Matter Labs designed ZKsync Lite to facilitate quick transfers and the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). But it couldn’t handle smart contracts, which made it less useful. The network was the first to deploy validity proofs, which quickly showed if a transaction was genuine before it was transferred to the Ethereum mainnet for final validation.
Matter Labs discontinued working on ZKsync Lite in early 2023 after releasing ZKsync Era, its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) that could run smart contracts. ZKsync Lite users don’t need to do anything right away, and the network is working normally, according to ZKsync. Additionally, withdrawals to L1 will continue throughout the procedure, and funds are still secure.
The company added that ZKsync Lite’s other products are also unaffected and that they will publish “concrete details, dates, and migration guidance soon.
Network usage and future developments
DefiLlama reports that the network currently has connections worth just under $50 million. However, L2BEAT data shows that it has only had a little over 330 user operations in the past day. DefiLlama says that ZKsync Era has a total value locked in decentralised finance of $36.4 million.
According to L2BEAT, it has seen over 22,000 user actions in the past day. The ZKsync blockchain could alter again in the future. Last month, co-creator Alex Gluchowski suggested changing the ZKsync ZK$0.03 governance token to put “economic utility” first by linking it to the network’s fees.