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 controversy stems from the dispute between cross-chain protocol Polyhedra Network and zkSync over token codes. Polyhedra issued the “ZK” token as early as March this year. However, Bybit exchange announced last week that it would list zkSync’s token ZK, which led to Polyhedra’s dissatisfaction.
Polyhedra later explicitly stated on the X platform that zkSync intended to hijack their token code and claimed that zkSync had never contacted Polyhedra, spreading rumors between different entities.
On May 30, 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, calling on Matter Labs to withdraw their trademark application. The signatories of the 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 posted in support of this statement today, urging Matter Labs to stick to their mission and withdraw their trademark application.
Additionally, the recently launched Layer 2 network Taiko on the Ethereum mainnet stated that, “In light of the recent discussions regarding token codes this week, we want to be fair to everyone.” As other projects were already using $TKO as their code, Taiko decided to change their token code from $TKO to $TAIKO. In response to the conflict with zkSync, Polyhedra also announced that the token code they will use when listing on HashKey exchange will be changed to “ZKJ.”
In response to criticism from several industry professionals, Matter Labs posted on the X platform earlier today, stating that “ZK technology belongs to the community, end of story.” They claimed that their intention in applying for ZK-related trademarks was to ensure that the term “ZK” could be freely used in contexts like “ZK Sync” and “ZK Stack,” stating that “like it or not, trademarks are the only legal tool available today.”
Matter Labs continued to say that the existence of trademarks is to protect users, not the company. All trademarks previously registered by Matter Labs, including those related to ZK, were defensive in nature 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 contacted the Ethereum Foundation’s legal team earlier to express willingness to collaborate in creating a legal framework for the use of “ZK” and similar essential technological terms in the public domain.