Consensys Opens zkEVM Testnet to Whitelisted Users

Consensys, the blockchain software company, is readying to launch an EVM-compatible rollup powered by zero-knowledge proofs, according to the firm.

On Jan. 10, Consensys tweeted that it is beginning to send out emails with onboarding instructions for a private testnet of its zkEVM to people who signed up for its whitelist.

“Once you receive an email confirming you have been onboarded, you will receive instructions on how to interact with the zkEVM testnet,” Consensys said. “Please do not try and bridge funds until you have received an email and can see the zkEVM card inside your Infura dashboard.”

On the same day, Olimpio, a popular crypto influencer, posted that Consensys opened up the private testnet for its zkEVM to roughly 100 whitelisted users.

“If you filled out their whitelist form back in November, then you might have gotten an email today to get started,” Olimpio said. “They’ll be sending out emails daily, starting with around 100 today.”

Layer 2 rollups emerged as Ethereum’s leading scaling solution during 2022, with the top rollups Arbitrum and Optimism boasting a combined TVL of $3.6B, according to L2beat.

Rollups bundle together transactions executed on Layer 2 and submit them to the Ethereum mainnet for final settlement in batches, significantly reducing fees for users.

Arbitrum and Optimism both offer optimistic rollups, which offer developers high interoperability with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, Ethereum’s core smart contract engine. This means developers can easily port their code from Ethereum’s mainnet onto an optimistic rollup.

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However, optimistic rollups have limited throughput compared to zero-knowledge-based solutions, and require a seven-day delay when withdrawing back to the mainnet so validators can screen for fraudulent transactions.

The lack of interoperability between existing zk-rollups and the EVM sparked a race between top Ethereum scaling teams to deliver a fully EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup in mid-2022. Polygon, Matter Labs, and Scroll all unveiled forthcoming solutions in July. The teams are currently tinkering with testnet deployments of their respective zkEVMs.

Mihailo Bjelic, the co-founder of Polygon, told The Defiant that zkEVM systems “inherit the familiar developer experience of Ethereum, allowing developers to deploy their existing contracts and applications without any modifications, thus offering vastly increased transaction speeds and reduced fees to their users.”

“Our zkEVM is currently showing great performance on testnet with more than 1,500 smart contracts and applications deployed, and is scheduled to be available on mainnet in early 2023,” he added.

Potential Airdrop

Consensys entered the fray in November, announcing it had opened testnet registrations for its own zkEVM project. Consensys said its goal was to enable Ethereum code to be executed by a zero-knowledge rollup without alteration. The company launched a private beta testnet for its zkEVM in mid-December.

Olimpio also speculated that there may be rewards allocated for early users. They cited a November Discord post authored by a Consensys representative stating that the team was “discussing the best way to… give back to our early community and testers.”

Consensys said whitelist registrations for testnet users are still open.