ZKsync has rolled out its "Atlas" update, a major step meant to bring banks and big businesses onto the blockchain. This move aims to make their layer-2 system, which uses zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, faster, more connected, and better suited for institutional payments and settlements. It’s all about making blockchain work for the big players.
The new update offers operational features designed to make blockchain much more appealing to companies and financial institutions. It boosts transaction speeds, allows different systems to work together, and offers high performance. These features are key for financial business models that need speed and reliability.
A Business-Focused Update for Scale
Atlas is part of the ZK Stack, a flexible foundation for ZKsync. According to Cryptopolitan, this update includes a new, high-speed sequencer. This tech can handle between 25,000 and 30,000 transactions every second. Importantly, it still works perfectly with all applications already running on the Ethereum network.
Matter Labs, the team behind ZKsync, states that Atlas’s main goal is to turn blockchain infrastructure into a useful tool for huge operations. This includes things like tokenized assets, international payments, and settlement systems between financial groups.
A standout part of the update is called Airbender. This system can check and confirm transactions in under a second. Matter Labs says this innovation brings the speed of old-school finance without giving up the decentralized nature or the privacy that corporate users need.
Flexible Design and Multiple Virtual Machines
ZKsync says that Atlas lets developers run different virtual machines within the same setup. This opens up more ways for systems to connect and speeds up deployment times.
Matter Labs explains that this modular approach makes it easier for businesses to adopt the technology. Each institution can set up its own blockchain environment without losing security or compatibility with Ethereum. This means companies can build custom solutions for payments, asset storage, or creating regulated tokens.
To show what Atlas can do, ZKsync hosted a live stream on the social platform X. For over four hours, the company displayed real-time data. This included the stock price of Apple (AAPL), the number of transactions per second (TPS), and how quickly each operation was added to the chain.
During the test, the sequencer handled roughly 18,000 transactions. It even hit peaks between 19,000 and 20,000. Engineers at Matter Labs explained they were trying to copy the real-time tokenization of stocks. They used price feeds to check how well the new execution engine performed.
Current Centralization and Future Plans
During the live stream, someone asked if the sequencer was centralized. Anthony Rose, Matter Labs’ Chief Technology Officer (CTO), confirmed that the test used one centralized sequencer. However, he made it clear that the ZK Stack supports many different setups.
Rose noted that the architecture allows for a hybrid system, like POA/2FA. In this setup, two separate sequencers, built differently, must agree on a state change. ZK proofs then confirm this change. He also mentioned that full decentralization for the sequencer is a future option as the systems become more mature.
🚀 ZKsync lanza Atlas, una actualización clave para integrar a bancos y empresas en el ecosistema Blockchain.
Promete transacciones ultra rápidas por debajo de un segundo.
Nueva infraestructura escalable capaz de procesar 25,000 a 30,000 TPS.
Ideal para activos tokenizados… pic.twitter.com/uftB5Ch5nD
— Diario฿itcoin (@Blaze Trends)
Sources: