The platform is designed to allow developers to easily run unmodified Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) contracts and Ethereum transactions on a second layer, while still benefiting from Ethereum's excellent layer 1 security.

It’s built to address some of the shortcomings of current Ethereum-based smart contracts — such as poor efficiency and high execution costs — which have damaged the Ethereum user experience and frequently make transacting an expensive task.

Arbitrum uses a technique known as transaction rollups to record batches of submitted transactions on the Ethereum main chain, and execute them on a cheap, scalable layer 2 sidechain while leveraging Ethereum to ensure correct results. This process helps to offload most of the computational and storage burden Ethereum currently suffers from, while enabling new classes of powerful layer 2-based DApps.

New York-based development firm Offchain Labs is currently building the Arbitrum product, as well as an entire suite of scaling solutions. The initiative is spearheaded by Offchain Labs co-founders Ed Felten, Steven Goldfeder and Harry Kalodner. Ed is a professor, Steven received his Ph.D, and Harry is a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University. All three are blockchain experts with a passion for making cryptocurrencies more capable.

Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto.[11] The currency began use in 2009,[12] when its implementation was released as open-source software.[7]: ch. 1  The word "bitcoin" was defined in a white paper published on October 31, 2008.[3][13] It is a compound of the words bit and coin.[14]

The Library of Congress reports that, as of November 2021, nine countries have fully banned bitcoin use, while a further forty-two have implicitly banned it.[15] A few governments have used bitcoin in some capacity. El Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, although use by merchants remains low.[16] Ukraine has accepted cryptocurrency donations to fund the resistance to the 2022 Russian invasion. Iran has used bitcoin to bypass sanctions.

Bitcoin has been described as an economic bubble by at least eight recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[17]

The environmental effects of bitcoin are worth noting.[18] Its proof-of-work algorithm for bitcoin mining is designed to be computationally difficult, which requires the consumption of increasing quantities of electricity, the generation of which has contributed to climate change.[19][20] According to the University of Cambridge, bitcoin has emitted an estimated 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since its launch, [21] or about 0.04% of all carbon dioxide released since 2009.

Welcome to our article on zkSync, the Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution.

As the Ethereum network continues to face scalability issues and high transaction fees, the need for solutions has become increasingly pressing. 

This is where zkSync comes in – a Layer 2 scaling solution that offers faster and cheaper transactions than the main Ethereum blockchain (Layer 1).

In this article, we will delve into what zkSync is, how it works, and more. 

So, let’s get started!

zkSync is a Layer-2 scaling solution that helps Ethereum scale, while preserving its valuable properties. In turn, this builds a technology that potentially thousands of developers and millions of people want to use. 

Initially, it was a collection of projects built on the Ethereum blockchain. The network operates through specific apps and platforms, such as decentralized marketplaces and exchanges. 

With nearly half a billion USD in funding, it is set to become one of the biggest players in the Layer-2 space.