Latest ZKsync (ZK) News Update

Deep Dive

1. South Korea Expands Crypto Market Probes (9 February 2026)

Overview: South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is intensifying 2026 investigations into crypto price manipulation. A specific focus is reviewing the sharp price movements of the ZKsync token that occurred during a maintenance window on the Upbit exchange. This follows a broader regulatory push for stricter oversight after recent exchange incidents. What this means: This is bearish for ZK in the short term because heightened regulatory scrutiny on a major exchange like Upbit could dampen trading sentiment and liquidity. It highlights operational risks in certain markets. (CoinMarketCap)

2. AI Surveillance Intensifies in South Korea (5 February 2026)

Overview: The FSS has expanded its use of artificial intelligence to automatically detect market manipulation. The review of ZKsync's activity is a test case for this new, faster surveillance approach, which aims to identify coordinated trading that exploits low-liquidity periods like exchange maintenance. What this means: This is neutral to bearish for ZK, as it signals a lasting shift toward stricter enforcement that could reduce speculative volatility but also increase compliance burdens for exchanges listing the token. (Cointelegraph)

3. Ethereum Foundation Funds ZK Research (5 February 2026)

Overview: The Ethereum Foundation awarded a research grant to security firm Certora to verify "autoprecompiles," a key optimization for zkEVMs. This work supports the foundational zero-knowledge technology that ZKsync's network relies on for scalability. What this means: This is a long-term bullish signal for the ZKsync ecosystem because it represents continued institutional investment and validation in the core ZK technology stack, which could enhance the security and performance of all related protocols. (The Daily Hodl)

Conclusion

ZKsync's narrative is split between near-term regulatory pressures in key markets and strong long-term fundamentals for its core technology. Will increased regulatory oversight ultimately legitimize the trading environment or stifle activity on major exchanges?

Deep Dive

1. @inucoinbase: Bold 2026 price prediction bullish

"Zk(#ZKsync) will shock the world! $Zk Price Prediction! #Zk Prediction 2026" – @inucoinbase (7.2K followers · 2026-02-01 11:02 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bullish for ZK because it reflects speculative hope and narrative-driven momentum, which can attract retail interest despite the token's current downtrend.

2. @Finora_EN: AI spots a potential bounce zone near $0.027 mixed

"I expect that the price after a correction to one of the demand zones (0.02762–0.02802... may continue to rise to 0.02904 and 0.03011..." – @Finora_EN (7.3K followers · 2026-02-01 11:41 UTC) View original post What this means: This is mixed for ZK, as it provides a technical roadmap for a short-term recovery but also sets a critical failure level at $0.02504, below which the bullish scenario is canceled.

3. @Adanigj: Noted as a top daily loser bearish

"ZKsync (ZK) went down 10.4 percent in the last 24 hours on Binance Futures. Note: This coin is one of the Top Looser today..." – @Adanigj (1.3K followers · 2026-01-07 07:33 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bearish for ZK as it highlights persistent selling pressure and weak momentum, reinforcing the negative short-term sentiment captured by its -41.91% 30-day change.

4. @DinoMaxZK: Long-term conviction despite the slump bullish

"My $ZK bag is ready... it is hard not to be bullish. The team keeps shipping, the tech keeps improving... Momentum is building, adoption is growing..." – @DinoMaxZK (1.6K followers · 2026-01-02 07:10 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bullish for ZK because it points to fundamental progress and developer activity as reasons for long-term confidence, which can help stabilize sentiment during market downturns.

Conclusion

The consensus on ZKsync is mixed but leans bearish in the near term, torn between technical setups for a bounce and the stark reality of recent double-digit losses. The key theme is a battle between foundational optimism and immediate price pain. Watch for a decisive break and hold above the $0.025–$0.028 demand zone discussed by analysts to gauge if buyer conviction is returning.

Deep Dive

1. Security Council Protocol Upgrade (2 August 2025)

Overview: The ZKsync Security Council executed an urgent upgrade to fix a specific protocol vulnerability. This action ensured the network's security was maintained without disrupting service.

The upgrade addressed a previously undisclosed issue in the protocol's logic. The team's "defense-in-depth" architecture contained the problem, and the Security Council's rapid response resolved it. A detailed post-mortem was promised to provide transparency.

What this means: This is bullish for ZK because it demonstrates a mature and responsive security protocol. It shows the network can handle critical issues swiftly, which builds trust for developers and institutional users who prioritize security and stability. (ZKsync)

2. Atlas Upgrade Activation (5 December 2025)

Overview: The Atlas upgrade is a foundational overhaul of ZKsync's architecture, introducing a new high-performance sequencer and the Airbender proving system to dramatically increase throughput and reduce latency.

This upgrade connects L1 and L2 liquidity natively, enabling seamless asset movement across the Elastic Network without external bridges. It targets over 15,000 transactions per second (TPS) and sub-second finality, with proving costs as low as $0.0001 per ERC-20 transfer.

What this means: This is extremely bullish for ZK because it makes the network vastly faster and cheaper for end-users. It transforms ZKsync from a single chain into a interconnected network of chains, laying the technical foundation for mass adoption and complex applications like high-frequency trading. (CoinMarketCap)

3. 2026 Roadmap: Privacy & Integration (13 January 2026)

Overview: ZKsync's 2026 strategic plan prioritizes transforming its privacy engine, Prividium, into bank-grade infrastructure and evolving the ZK Stack from independent chains into a natively collaborative system.

The roadmap details a shift where privacy becomes the default for enterprise chains, and application chains become central, integrating liquidity and shared infrastructure seamlessly. The Airbender prover will also mature from a high-speed tool into a universal standard emphasizing trust and security.

What this means: This is bullish for ZK because it directly targets institutional and enterprise adoption. By offering compliant, private chains that still settle on Ethereum, ZKsync positions itself as a leading platform for traditional finance to move onchain, which could drive significant new usage and value. (Foresight News)

4. Native Explorer Transition (7 January 2026)

Overview: Support from the third-party block explorer Etherscan for ZKsync Era ended, requiring all users and developers to migrate to ZKsync's native explorer.

This change was necessary because ZKsync's advanced features—like cross-chain transactions and native settlement via the Gateway—go beyond standard EVM rules, making them impossible for generic explorers like Etherscan to index and display accurately.

What this means: This is neutral for ZK, representing a growing pain of innovation. While it requires a one-time adjustment for developers, it ultimately gives the ecosystem deeper control and better visibility into its unique capabilities, supporting long-term growth and independence from external tools. (Coinspeaker)

Conclusion

ZKsync's development trajectory is decisively shifting from a single scaling solution to a modular, enterprise-ready network of interconnected chains. The combination of critical security upkeep, massive scalability gains, and a clear roadmap for privacy and integration signals a project maturing to capture institutional demand. How quickly will developer tooling adapt to fully leverage this new, more complex architecture?

Deep Dive

1. End Etherscan Support (7 January 2026)

Overview: ZKsync discontinued Etherscan support for its Era chain on January 7, 2026, migrating all block, transaction, and contract data to its native explorer (Coinspeaker). This move was necessary because Etherscan could not index ZKsync's advanced native features, such as inter-chain transactions and Gateway settlement. The native explorer provides a unified view of cross-chain execution and state.

What this means: This is neutral for ZKsync because it reduces external dependencies and improves protocol-level coordination, which is crucial for a multi-chain network. However, it required developers to migrate their tooling, creating short-term friction.

2. Deprecate ZKsync Lite (2026)

Overview: The team plans an orderly deprecation of ZKsync Lite (the original v1.0 rollup) sometime in 2026 (TradingView News). Launched in 2020, Lite was a proof-of-concept for payments and NFTs but lacks smart contracts. With under 200 daily transactions and about $50 million in bridged assets, maintaining it diverts resources from ZKsync Era and the ZK Stack.

What this means: This is bullish for ZKsync because it streamlines development focus onto more advanced and scalable systems like Era and the Elastic Network. The key risk is ensuring a smooth user migration to avoid reputational damage or fund loss.

3. Execute 2026 Strategic Roadmap (2026)

Overview: The 2026 roadmap, announced in January, prioritizes turning ZK technology into real-world infrastructure (CoinMarketCap). Its pillars are: evolving the Prividium privacy engine into bank-grade infrastructure, transforming the ZK Stack from isolated chains to a collaborative system, and advancing the Airbender proof system into a universal standard. The goal is to serve regulated institutions and tokenize real-world assets at scale.

What this means: This is bullish for ZKsync because it directly targets institutional adoption and massive new markets like RWAs, which could drive fundamental network usage and value. The bearish angle is execution risk, as past timelines have seen delays, and success depends on validator decentralization and competitive pressures.

Conclusion

ZKsync's path forward involves shedding legacy systems, controlling its core infrastructure, and aggressively pursuing institutional use cases with privacy and interoperability at the forefront. Will the focus on enterprise-grade infrastructure and RWA tokenization be the catalyst that reverses ZK's prolonged price decline?