An unexpected rise. In a bearish context for cryptocurrencies, zkSync’s ZK has just jumped significantly, bucking the trend. How can this be explained?
The price of zkSync’s ZK has surged in recent days
While Bitcoin is struggling, falling 19% from its all-time high a month ago, the same cannot be said for the cryptocurrency associated with zkSync: ZK.
Over the last seven days, the cryptocurrency has risen 100%, with two successive increases bringing ZK to around $0.070-0.075:
Launched in 2024, the ZK cryptocurrency benefited from a sustained rise in the weeks that followed, reaching $0.27 last December. But since then, the cryptocurrency associated with zkSync had fallen steadily, reaching a low of around $0.020 in October.
But the trend reversed decisively over the course of October. While ZK is still 80% below its all-time high, there is no denying the enthusiasm surrounding it. Why?
The Atlas upgrade as a trigger for the rise
The main reason seems to be the arrival of the Atlas update in early November. This highly anticipated update boosts zkSync. It now allows it to process up to 15,000 transactions per second in theory, with almost instantaneous transaction confirmation (in about 1 second).
In addition, the update has drastically reduced network usage fees and transfer costs.
The other revolution is the principle of liquidity unification. In short, this means that zkSync-based L2 chains can now directly access Layer 1 liquidity (Ethereum in this case), without relying on separate liquidity pools.
With much higher efficiency and less capital fragmented in pools, zkSync has experienced a growth spurt that has attracted investors, hence the jump in the price of ZK.
New tokenomics for ZK?
Furthermore, zkSync creator Alex Gluchowski has confirmed that he does not intend to stop there. Yesterday, he proposed new “tokenomics,” or economic mechanisms, for ZK on his X account.
Alex Gluchowski proposes the introduction of cross-chain fees, as well as revenue based on licenses offered to companies. According to him, this would give the token real utility. The value generated in this way would be directed towards governance, to finance buybacks, token burns, and staking in particular. This is in order to support the price of ZK.
These prospects have attracted investors, who rushed to buy ZK this week. However, beware of the fad effect: the sharp fall in the token’s value since its launch calls for a degree of caution, even if zkSync seems well positioned to establish solid foundations.
