About ZK Rollups
As we all know Ethereum has a hard time scaling. This causes huge gas fees, often hundreds of dollars for a simple transaction. Even in the video showing you how to do this, you will see the absurdity of such gas fees… especially when the network is congested (such as with the crypto kitties mania). Often layer 1 Ethereum becomes virtually unusable for the average investor.
Enter what are known as layer 2 scaling solutions. These are essentially tools to outsource the process of verifying transactions on the blockchain. This can greatly increase the speed and efficiency of the main net, cut down or nearly eliminate gas fees, and allow the layer 1 network to grow and scale without becoming unusable.
There are several types of rollups, and by far the most promising is the Zero Knowledge (ZK) Rollup, that can verify the transaction without having to share all the information. This makes for extreme data efficiency.
Below is a chart showing the different scaling solutions and their pros and cons.
As you can see, ZK rollups have all the benefits of scaling with none of the drawbacks. This is what makes them such a powerful narrative for investors going forward. By bridging all the networks with lower fees and more inclusivity, the L2 fabric will create a unified network that will get rid of L1 tribalism and be good for crypto overall.
Who are the ZK Rollup players?
Right now the players in the ZK rollup space are numerous. Although, some are yet to launch their own tokens.
Starkware has no token on the market just yet, but looks extremely promising. It is a smart contract network that can help metaverse games and other projects scale. It’s one to be aware of.
ZKSync is user centric rollup solution by Matter Labs. It is already live on the Ethereum network and is being promoted by huge influencers. However, there is no token out just yet.
The first already tokenized ZK rollup solution is Polygon Matic. Known as Ethereum’s “internet of blockchains,” $MATIC is currently trading at $2.30, and is available on virtually every major exchange. It held up extraordinarily well during the liquidity flash crash we recently experienced in late December.
Loopring is another ZK Rollup with its token already out on the market.
SysCoin also has its token out. It is a decentralized protocol with censorship resistance. The ambitious roadmap wants to define the next generation of scalable ledger tech.
Immutable X is another Layer 2 worth looking out for, with its own NFT marketplace that defies the gas fees of the ETH main net.
ZK Swap is the lowest market cap of all the relevant ZK Rollup solutions. It’s another one to keep your eye on.
How to get started?
One way to get started is to simply buy the promising ZK Rollups with tokens out. As this mega trend starts to mature, many of these tokens are likely to pump. You can find the best exchanges to buy all these available tokens by looking them up at CoinMarketcap.com.
There are talks of a possible airdrop by ZKSync, and/or others without tokens out. Popular YouTubers are mentioning that you must open your wallet and deposit some Ethereum to be eligible for the airdrops. To do so simply go to Wallet.zksync.io and deposit some Ethereum into the wallet to activate it. A tutorial on how to do this will be included in the YouTube video accompanying this article.
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