Picture this, you want to mint a $20 NFT, but Ethereum wants $150 in gas fees. Sounds ridiculous? Welcome to Ethereum during bull runs, where transaction costs regularly hit $50-100+. For most people, DeFi became a luxury only whales could afford. The Layer 2 revolution promised salvation by bundling transactions off-chain to slash costs while maintaining security. But here's what most L2s missed: speed and low costs mean nothing if you get hacked. That's where Zircuit comes in. We're the first AI-powered Layer 2 that built security directly into our core architecture. While others treat security as an afterthought, we made it part of our core infrastructure through our Sequencer Level Security (SLS). The results speak for themselves. In less than a year, we've evolved from experimental testnet to a thriving mainnet ecosystem that has attracted billions in user assets and a growing developer community.
Building revolutionary tech requires revolutionary minds.
Our story starts with a team of web3 security veterans and PhDs in computer science, algorithms, and cryptography. The early validation came from sources that matter most in blockchain: both the Ethereum Foundation and ZCash Foundation awarded us grants, recognizing the potential of our research direction.
We launched our testnet at DevConnect Istanbul, and this wasn't your typical blockchain release. For the first time ever, we had AI actively monitoring every single transaction before it could make it into a block.
What we shipped:
Instead of the usual approach where you detect attacks after damage is done, we built something that stops problems in their tracks before they can even happen.
Great technology needs great allies. Throughout 2024, we assembled our liquidity hub and various partnerships that would prove crucial for our growth.
We launched our restaking program, which attracted over $3 billion in LRTs and LSTs and brought in over 110,000 unique users.
We needed to run a trusted setup ceremony before our mainnet launch - basically a collaborative process to create the cryptographic parameters our proving system relies on. Multiple parties contributed to generate a secure Structured Reference String (SRS) for our KZG Polynomial Commitment scheme, making sure no single entity could compromise the system. You can check out the final parameters on our GitHub if you're curious about the technical details.
When institutions like Binance Labs and angel investor founders from projects like Renzo, Etherfi, and Pendle announced a round of investment into Zircuit, it represented more than funding. It was institutional and ecosystem validation towards building security-first solution with institutional-grade protection.
August 5, 2024 marked a pivotal moment: the launch of Mainnet Phase 1.
Rather than rushing to market, we implemented a responsible phased approach:
Phase 1 (August 2024): Developer mainnet with initial restrictions
Phase 2 (August-September 2024): Asset migration and expanded functionality
Phase 3 (December 2024):
With the mainnet proving our tech worked in the wild, we rolled out the ZRC token to give our community real ownership in what we're building. ZRC holders get to earn rewards for helping to grow the network.
The launch of Garfield Testnet delivered our biggest testnet upgrade yet, packed with cutting-edge features that pushed Zircuit to the next level. We rolled out full Cancun opcode support for developers, built in Pectra-ready architecture for seamless future integration, and deployed an enhanced prover that validated blocks faster than ever. We also stress-tested our proving cluster infrastructure and prepared EIP-7702 support for launch.
We added a trustless exit mechanism that lets users withdraw their funds by submitting a Merkle proof if no new state updates happen for 30 days. ETH and ERC-20 withdrawals directly from your wallet work completely permissionlessly, and we are working towards permissionless contract withdrawals.
We developed an AI-powered trading engine that enables seamless token swaps across leading EVM-compatible blockchains. Our system manages all the technical complexities of cross-chain asset exchanges, including gasless support and selecting the best possible rate across various bridge providers. You can explore this system here.
We upgraded our Mainnet by switching to a much simpler and faster proving system. Instead of maintaining complex custom circuits, we are using zkVM provers, which lets us adopt new Ethereum features way faster and gives users quicker, cheaper proofs. This upgrade puts us on track to support future Ethereum upgrades almost immediately instead of spending months rebuilding our entire system each time.
We launched a new grants program with two tracks:
The review team is prioritizing projects that demonstrate strong feasibility and adoption potential, making this an ideal opportunity for developers to secure significant funding while contributing to the growth of the Zircuit ecosystem. You can learn more about this program here.
Our mainnet success is just the beginning. Based on our published product and ecosystem roadmap, we're positioning Zircuit to become the "Cognitive Chain" with some major focus areas for 2025 and beyond.
Our AI-powered security system has been refined through real-world testing. The system uses machine learning, program analysis, and rule-based methods to analyze transactions and achieve high accuracy in threat detection. Our next upgrade will target additional vulnerabilities and attack vectors for extra protection.
AI has been central to Zircuit since inception, long before the recent AI boom. Now we're doubling down with ambitious plans for AI-powered decentralized finance (DeFAI).
The explosion of AI agents represents a pivotal moment for crypto adoption, but DeFAI faces unique challenges. Our security-first approach through SLS has proven its value. Now we're exploring ways to extend these capabilities, especially for multichain DeFAI agents:
With over 100,000 users trusting us with over $600 million in staked assets through our Liquidity Hub, user experience remains paramount. We're expanding beyond our canonical bridge with partners like Rhino.fi, LayerZero, Hyperlane, and Everclear to make bridging faster and more cost-effective between Zircuit and the wider blockchain ecosystem. This enables us to create a one-stop-shop for the best and most secure yield opportunities across all networks.
With projects like Zuit, DODO, Ocelex, Elara, and ZeroLend already thriving on Zircuit and with the Grants Program launch, we're focused on onboarding unique and differentiated builders. Our priority is categories that take advantage of our DeFi and AI-first infrastructure, enhanced by SLS protection.
From experimental testnet to thriving mainnet ecosystem in under one year, our journey demonstrates that the future of blockchain lies in intelligent, secure, and scalable infrastructure.
But this story isn't just about us. It's about what becomes possible when security isn't an afterthought but a fundamental design principle. When developers can build ambitious applications without worrying about the next exploit. When users can interact with DeFi protocols knowing there's an AI guardian watching every transaction.
The Layer 2 landscape has evolved rapidly, with each new solution pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Optimistic rollups proved that scaling Ethereum was feasible. ZK-rollups showed that we could do it with cryptographic guarantees. Now, AI-powered security represents the next evolution: not just faster and cheaper transactions, but fundamentally safer ones.
The next chapter will be written by the developers, users, and institutions who join us in building the future of secure Web3. Whether you're launching the next breakthrough DeFi protocol, managing institutional assets, or just trying to use blockchain applications without fear, Zircuit provides the foundation you need.
For Developers: Stop worrying about security and start building the future. Apply for grants at build.zircuit.com.
For Stakers: Turn your assets into yield engines. Join our staking program at stake.zircuit.com and earn competitive returns.
For Users: Experience blockchain applications without fear. Explore our ecosystem at zircuit.com and discover what DeFi feels like when security is built-in, not bolted-on.
The journey from testnet to mainnet taught us something important: building the future requires more than just good technology. It requires obsessive focus on security, genuine community building, and never-ending innovation.
As we look toward 2025 and beyond, we're not just scaling Ethereum, we're showing the world what blockchain can be when intelligence meets infrastructure.
See you next time,
The Zircuit Team 💚
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