Ethereans argue that ZK Compression is little more than a Layer 2.<\/p>\n
Solana developers are working on zero-knowledge compression, a new scaling technique that promises to significantly reduce on-chain computation costs. However, some in the Ethereum community are calling out its developers for seemingly contradicting Solana\u2019s anti-Layer 2 ethos.<\/p>\n
On June 21, Light Protocol, a Solana-based privacy layer, announced<\/a> it had teamed up with the Solana development team, Helius Labs, to ship the testnet for their new “ZK Compression” scaling solution.<\/p>\n Light Protocol said that ZK Compression enables fee savings or orders of magnitude by using zero-knowledge proofs and calldata \u2014 a coding technique borrowed from Ethereum\u2019s recent Dencun upgrade<\/a> \u2014 to minimize the amount of data stored on-chain and thus the computation demand placed on Solana through transactions.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly the state roots (fingerprints of all compressed accounts) are stored on-chain,\u201d Light said. \u201cThe protocol uses small zero-knowledge proofs to ensure the validity of state that\u2019s stored as calldata on the Solana ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n Mert Mumtaz, the CEO of Helius Labs, estimated<\/a> that ZK Compression reduces the cost of airdropping tokens to one million users on Solana from $260,000 to $50. \u201cWe’re introducing ZK compression to Solana, directly on the L1 \u2014 without requiring L2s,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cDevelopers and users can opt to compress their on-chain state, reducing state costs by orders of magnitude while preserving the security, performance, and composability of the Solana L1,\u201d ZK Compression\u2019s documentation<\/a> said.<\/p>\n The price of SOL<\/a> is down 4.77% over the past 24 hours amid a broader market pullback, according to The Defiant\u2019s crypto price feeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n ZK Compression has garnered support from prominent members of the Solana community.<\/p>\n \u201cCompression on Solana solves one of the key pain points faced by institutions and mass-consumer applications: the cost of on-chain account storage,\u201d tweeted Austin Federa, head of strategy at the Solana Foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cNew technologies allow new entrants to leapfrog competition,\u201d said<\/a> Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana. \u201cIf you are a Solana dev, jump on building protocols for compressed tokens\u2026 They need marketplaces, mint infra, anchor support, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n However, many prominent voices from the Ethereum community, are accusing ZK Compression\u2019s developer of hypocrisy regarding the Solana community\u2019s anti-Layer 2 ethos, arguing that ZK Compression effectively comprises an L2.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter how loudly Mert shouts\u2026 compression is an L2,\u201d tweeted<\/a> Adam Cochran, vice president of operations at SBT Partners.\u201cOne day the Solana crowd will realize what they\u2019ve built is a good L2 feature\/validity-based rollup and not a monolith chain.\u201d<\/p>\n “[ZK Compression] is actually an L2,\u201d chimed in<\/a> Ryan Berckmans, an investor and web3 influencer. \u201cL2s are a winning model.\u201d<\/p>\n Yakovenko replied, acknowledging the similarities and highlighting the differences between ZK Compression\u2019s design and typical Ethereum-based Layer 2s.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like an L2 without all the things that people complain about L2s,\u201d Yakovenko said. \u201cIt\u2019s an L2 that doesn\u2019t need a security council multisig, users don\u2019t need to switch chain IDs, doesn\u2019t need a governance token, doesn\u2019t need an external sequencer, Solana validators still get all the transaction fees.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Emmanuel Awosika, of 2077 Collective, a group of Ethereum builders, emphasized<\/a> similarities between the architecture of ZK Compression and Facet, an \u201calternative\u201d Ethereum rollup.<\/p>\n \u201cFacet describes itself as an \u2018L1+\u2019, or \u2018based sovereign rollup\u2019,\u201d Awosika said. \u201cThe underlying ideas of using cheap calldata for storage, persisting state off-chain, and using the L1 for sequencing applying to both ZK Compression and Facet\u2026 That many people haven’t heard of Facet and the similarities with ZK Compression (\u2018not an L1, not exactly an L2\u2019) is an indictment of Ethereum’s marketing department.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Raoul Pal, the CEO of Real Vision, took a step back and criticized the mud-flinging between Ethereans and Solana supporters.<\/p>\n \u201cRead a lot of midcurve debates on the new Solana ZK Compression,\u201d Pal said<\/a>. \u201cMOAR Scale. MOAR Cheap\u2026 This is a BIG step change for SOL.\u201d<\/p>\nSolana supporters and Ethereans clash<\/h2>\n