Contributors in the zero-knowledge (ZK) field, including StarkWare and Polygon, publicly condemn zkSync, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, for attempting to trademark “ZK,” calling it a threat to the crypto community and demanding the withdrawal of the application.
The dispute arose from the Polyhedra Network and zkSync’s dispute over token codes. Polyhedra issued the “ZK” token as early as March of this year. However, Bybit exchange’s announcement last week to list zkSync’s token ZK sparked Polyhedra’s dissatisfaction.
Polyhedra later explicitly stated on X platform that zkSync intended to seize their token code and claimed that zkSync never contacted Polyhedra and continued to spread rumors between different entities.
On May 30th, Polyhedra Network received public support from several leaders in the ZK field. In a statement, projects including StarkWare and Polygon condemned the actions of zkSync developer Matter Labs. They claimed that Matter Labs attempted to register the ZK trademark and use it for their own token, which goes against the fundamental spirit of the crypto and Ethereum community.
The statement emphasized that zero-knowledge technology is a public good and should remain open to everyone, urging Matter Labs to withdraw their trademark application. The signatories of this statement include Turing Award winner and co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs Shafi Goldwasser, Algorand founder Silvio Micali, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, Polygon co-founders Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, Polyhedra Network co-founder Tiancheng Xie, and zkEVM project founder Elias Tazartes.
L2 network Linea developed by ConsenSys also published a post today supporting this statement and urging Matter Labs to adhere to their mission and withdraw their trademark application.
Additionally, the recently launched Ethereum mainnet Layer 2 network Taiko stated that, “Given the recent discussions regarding token codes, we want to be fair to everyone.” Due to other projects already using $TKO as a code, Taiko decided to change their token code from $TKO to $TAIKO. In response to the conflict with zkSync, Polyhedra also announced that they will change the token code used when listing on the HashKey exchange to “ZKJ.”
In response to criticism from several industry figures, Matter Labs posted on X platform earlier today, stating, “ZK technology belongs to the community, and that’s where it ends.” They claimed that their application for ZK-related trademarks aims to ensure that the term “ZK” can be freely used in contexts such as “ZK Sync” and “ZK Stack,” stating that “whether you like it or not, trademarks are the only legal tools available today.”
Matter Labs continued by saying that the existence of trademarks is to protect users, not the company, and that all trademarks previously registered by Matter Labs are defensive, including those related to ZK, to prevent dishonest actors from misleading customers and confusing their products and services with those provided by Matter Labs.
Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, clarified that the company had previously contacted the Ethereum Foundation’s legal team, expressing willingness to cooperate in creating a legal framework for using “ZK” and similar important technological terms in the public domain.