Latest Zilliqa (ZIL) News Update

By CMC AI
12 January 2026 01:46AM (UTC+0)

What are people saying about ZIL?

TLDR

Zilliqa's community juggles cautious optimism about its tech upgrades with frustration over price stagnation. Here’s what’s trending:

  1. EVM compatibility hype – Devs gain Ethereum tools on cheaper infra

  2. Staking migration milestone – 2.4B ZIL moved to new PoS system

  3. Technical tug-of-war – Analysts spot bullish patterns despite -75% yearly drop

Deep Dive

1. @zilliqa: Full EVM Compatibility Goes Live 🚀 (Bullish)

"Deploy Solidity contracts for cents vs Ethereum’s $100+ fees – our scalable shards handle heavy apps"
– @zilliqa (458K followers · 12.7K impressions · 2025-08-01 12:36 UTC)
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What this means: This lowers barriers for Ethereum developers to build on Zilliqa, potentially increasing network activity. EVM compatibility could attract projects priced out of Ethereum’s high gas fees.

2. @zilliqa: Staking Migration Hits Critical Mass 📈 (Bullish)

"60% of staked ZIL (2.4B tokens) now securing 2.0 network – 1.3s blocks, institutional-grade infra"
– @zilliqa (458K followers · 8.9K impressions · 2025-08-11 11:57 UTC)
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What this means: Large-scale validator participation suggests growing confidence in Zilliqa’s PoS transition, though price remains -39% from migration announcement three months prior.

3. Cryptonewsland: Descending Channel Traps ZIL 📉 (Mixed)

"ZIL holds $0.01071 support after 3-year bear market – RSI divergence hints at reversal, but 300% rally needs volume confirmation"
– Cryptonewsland (28 June 2025 Analysis)
View article
What this means: While technicals show accumulation at multi-year lows, the token faces stiff resistance at $0.015 with spot volume down -18% YTD.

Conclusion

The consensus on ZIL is mixed – developers applaud the EVM integration and faster staking, while traders remain wary until price breaks key levels. Watch the $0.0115-$0.0117 resistance zone: A sustained move above could validate bullish technical setups, while failure might extend the 3-year downtrend. Can Zilliqa 2.0’s infrastructure upgrades finally translate to market momentum?

What is next on ZIL’s roadmap?

TLDR

Zilliqa's roadmap focuses on modular scaling, institutional readiness, and enhanced developer tools through phased upgrades.

  1. X-Shard Rollout (2026) – Customizable shards for app-specific scaling

  2. Smart Accounts (2026) – ERC-4337 compatibility for programmable wallets

  3. Light Client Support (2026) – Mobile/low-resource node optimization

Deep Dive

1. X-Shard Rollout (2026)

Overview:
Zilliqa 2.0’s Onyx phase introduces x-shards – sovereign, application-specific chains that communicate with the mainnet. These enable developers to customize gas fees, privacy settings, and validator sets, effectively offering dedicated scaling without new L1s.

What this means:
This is bullish for ZIL because it addresses Ethereum’s scalability limitations (e.g., high fees) while maintaining EVM compatibility. Modular shards could attract projects in DeFi and tokenized assets, though adoption depends on seamless cross-shard interoperability.

2. Smart Accounts (2026)

Overview:
The Carnelian phase adds native smart accounts with ERC-4337 support, enabling features like social logins, gasless transactions, and multi-signature wallets.

What this means:
This is neutral-to-bullish, as improved UX could drive mainstream adoption, especially for institutional RWA (real-world asset) use cases. However, competing chains like Starknet and zkSync already offer similar features, raising execution risks.

3. Light Client Support (2026)

Overview:
The Citrine phase introduces lightweight nodes for mobile devices, reducing hardware requirements for network participation while maintaining security.

What this means:
This is bullish for decentralization and accessibility, particularly in emerging markets. However, delayed rollout could cede ground to rivals like Solana Mobile or Polygon’s Supernets.

Conclusion

Zilliqa’s roadmap prioritizes scalability (via x-shards), compliance-ready tooling (smart accounts), and broader accessibility (light clients). While these upgrades position ZIL as a contender for institutional tokenization, success hinges on timely delivery and ecosystem adoption. Will Zilliqa’s EVM-compatible architecture attract enough developers to offset its late-mover disadvantage in modular blockchains?

What is the latest news on ZIL?

TLDR

Zilliqa navigates network upgrades and ecosystem growth while trading at steep discounts. Here are the latest developments:

  1. Mainnet 0.19.0 Upgrade (17 November 2025) – Faster unstaking and validator penalties to boost network efficiency.

  2. Top-Tier Altcoin Status (19 December 2025) – Highlighted for infrastructure strength despite -40%+ market discounts.

  3. StraitsX Stablecoin Expansion (16 December 2025) – XSGD/XUSD integration expands Zilliqa’s payment and DeFi use cases.

Deep Dive

1. Mainnet 0.19.0 Upgrade (17 November 2025)

Overview:
Zilliqa’s hard fork reduced the unstaking period from 14 to 7 days, enhancing liquidity for stakers, and introduced “jailing” for unreliable validators to improve network reliability. This upgrade is part of the broader Zilliqa 2.0 migration to Proof-of-Stake and EVM compatibility.

What this means:
The changes aim to attract more validators and stakers by reducing capital lockup risks, potentially improving network participation. However, ZIL’s price remained muted post-upgrade, trading below key EMAs ($0.007) as of November 2025. (Yahoo Finance)

2. Top-Tier Altcoin Status (19 December 2025)

Overview:
Zilliqa was listed among the top 5 altcoins to watch by Cryptonewsland, praised for its sharding tech, active development, and liquidity despite a -41% price decline over 90 days.

What this means:
The recognition signals confidence in ZIL’s long-term utility, but its underperformance relative to competitors like IMX and LINK highlights persistent adoption challenges. Traders are eyeing $0.008 as a critical resistance level for a bullish reversal. (Cryptonewsland)

3. StraitsX Stablecoin Expansion (16 December 2025)

Overview:
Singapore-licensed StraitsX announced plans to bring its MAS-compliant XSGD and XUSD stablecoins to Solana in 2026, building on existing support for Zilliqa. XSGD already operates on ZIL’s network, facilitating $18B+ in transaction volume.

What this means:
This reinforces Zilliqa’s role in regulated DeFi and cross-border payments, though the focus on Solana may divert attention from ZIL’s ecosystem. Monitoring XSGD/ZIL liquidity pairs could gauge real-world traction. (CoinMarketCap)

Conclusion

Zilliqa continues prioritizing technical upgrades and compliance-ready infrastructure, but market sentiment remains cautious amid broader altcoin weakness. Will ZIL’s sharding innovations and stablecoin integrations translate into sustained adoption as the crypto market recovers?

What is the latest update in ZIL’s codebase?

TLDR

Zilliqa's codebase saw significant protocol upgrades and infrastructure improvements in late 2025.

  1. Mandatory v0.19.0 Hard Fork (17 Nov 2025) – Reduced unstaking period to 7 days and penalized faulty validators.

  2. Zilliqa 2.0 Mainnet Launch (28 Jun 2025) – Introduced EVM compatibility and modular architecture.

  3. Network Stability Fixes (Oct–Nov 2025) – Addressed validator issues and syncing challenges.

Deep Dive

1. Mandatory v0.19.0 Hard Fork (17 Nov 2025)

Overview: This upgrade streamlined staking mechanics and enforced stricter validator accountability.

The hard fork introduced a 7-day unbonding period for unstaking (down from 45 days), improving liquidity flexibility. Validators failing to propose blocks reliably faced automatic "jailing", enhancing network liveness. Node operators were required to update software before block 13,514,400 to avoid disruptions.

What this means: This is bullish for ZIL because it balances user flexibility with network reliability, making staking more attractive while deterring poor validator performance. (Source)


2. Zilliqa 2.0 Mainnet Launch (28 Jun 2025)

Overview: A foundational overhaul transitioning Zilliqa to Proof-of-Stake with Ethereum compatibility.

The upgrade replaced Zilliqa’s original codebase with a Rust-native implementation, achieving 1.3-second block times (vs. 30 seconds previously). Key features included:
- Customizable x-shards for app-specific environments
- Cross-chain communication bridges
- Light client support for mobile/low-resource nodes

What this means: This is neutral-to-bullish long-term—while enabling EVM developers to deploy existing tools, the migration initially caused staking disruptions and required validators to adapt. (Source)


3. Network Stability Fixes (Oct–Nov 2025)

Overview: Critical patches resolved syncing issues and validator bugs post-Zilliqa 2.0.

Updates included:
- Lookup node optimizations to prevent transaction stalls
- Heartbeat timers for peer-to-peer connections
- Enhanced logging for faster troubleshooting

What this means: This is bullish for ZIL because it improved uptime (99.7% post-fix) and validator participation (23 active nodes by November 2025). (Source)

Conclusion

Zilliqa’s recent upgrades prioritize scalability (EVM compatibility), user experience (faster unstaking), and institutional readiness (modular architecture). While short-term price action remains muted, the focus on technical robustness could strengthen developer adoption. How will Zilliqa balance its legacy sharding model with new modular x-shards in 2026?

CMC AI can make mistakes. Not financial advice.