ZKSync's New Tokenomics Proposal: Will the ZK Token Achieve a Value Closed Loop?

Author: Alex, Founder of ZKsync; Translation: @GoldenFinanceXZ

The ZK Token was initially launched solely as a governance token. As interoperability and privacy chain (Prividiums) technology move into real-world applications, this proposal adds concrete economic utility to it. The model is straightforward: when the network is used, the ecosystem should benefit. Value will be accumulated in two ways:

On-chain interoperability fees: used for transferring assets and messages between ZKsync and various privacy chains;

Off-chain enterprise licensing fees: for advanced modules used by banks and institutions.

All proceeds will flow into a governance-controlled system, used to buy back ZK tokens and distribute to staking rewards, token burns, and ecosystem funds. The goal is to tie usage to value, make the decentralized economy sustainable, and ensure the network captures a significant share of the economic benefits it creates.

1. Introduction

Over a year ago, the ZK Token was launched with a single purpose: governance of the ZKsync protocol. That release also marked ZKsync’s transition from a single chain to an elastic network—a system designed to be immutable and resilient, with security guaranteed by cryptography and Ethereum finality, rather than relying on trusted validators. At that stage, it was appropriate not to define specific economic utility for the token early on, as the architecture and adoption path were still evolving.

Since then, the network has matured significantly. Today’s elastic network includes nearly twenty chains, interoperability is imminent, and critical privacy chains have evolved from concept to real institutional applications. Early deployments laid the technical groundwork, and interoperability plus privacy chains now represent the most meaningful and economically valuable value-accumulation scenarios at the protocol layer. These systems introduce direct, sustainable economic flows and are being explored by many top global financial institutions. As they approach production, it’s essential to clearly define how value is returned to the network so that participants and institutions based on this architecture understand the underlying economic model.

Earlier this summer, we shared a preliminary framework for the evolution of ZK Token utility. This document expands on that idea, proposing a structured path for community review and discussion, aiming to initiate dialogue and help shape a new, collectively co-created token economy.

This document is a proposal for community governance consideration and makes no promises regarding potential economic outcomes. Implementation will require approval through established governance processes. This is not investment advice.

2. Fundamental Principles

Token economic systems are complex and delicate. To guide the discussion, we first propose reaching consensus around several clear principles to frame the design and ensure consistency across all token utility mechanisms:

(1) Achieve Decentralized Economic Sustainability

ZKsync aims to build an immutable financial infrastructure for the world—one that cannot depend on a single entity or a small group. True neutral trustworthiness (a core principle shared with Ethereum) requires the system to remain independent, permissionless, and resistant to capture over the long term.

To sustain decentralization, economic sustainability must be achieved. The network needs a lasting economic model supported by many independent participants (not centralized sponsors) who contribute to ongoing development, security, and operations. Therefore, the token economy must be a self-sustaining ecosystem that reinforces decentralization as the system grows, rather than gradually weakening it.

(2) Capture a Significant Share of the Value Created by the Network

The network creates value through compound effects: as more participants join, the scope of interactions, counterparties, and markets expands, increasing utility for each participant. To ensure these values strengthen the system rather than flow outward, a significant portion must be reinvested into the network economy. This supports continuous improvement, security, funding for public goods, and long-term independence. The goal is to establish a self-reinforcing economic cycle—where increased usage enhances network resources, which in turn optimize the network for all participants.

(3) Align Incentives Around a Unified Token Direction

To maintain neutrality and coherence, the token should serve as a unified economic reference point for the ecosystem. Builders, operators, users, and institutions should benefit transparently from the network’s success in a shared manner. Avoiding parallel incentive structures prevents fragmentation and ensures all participants work toward the same long-term goal: strengthening the network and advancing its mission. Incentives must be highly aligned.

3. Proposed Token Economics Framework

According to this proposal, the utility of the ZK Token will be anchored to the value created by the network through two primary economic vectors:

All value will flow into a governance-controlled economic mechanism, which will allocate proceeds to:

• Buy back ZK tokens from the market (ZK buybacks);
• Distribute ZK tokens toward:
  • Supply reduction (token burns);
  • Staking rewards for decentralized operators;
  • Protocol and ecosystem development treasury funds.

Governance will set allocation parameters and dynamically adjust them as adoption scales and demand changes.

4. On-Chain Value: Interoperability Fees

The protocol can capture value on-chain through various mechanisms, but most introduce friction or distort incentives. Over the past year, we identified the most economically meaningful and cryptographically aligned mechanism: interoperability fees.

Currently, transferring digital assets across systems is costly and inefficient: users rely on trust-dependent custodial bridges, capital-intensive third-party bridges, or traditional finance routes with multi-day settlement and high capital costs.

The upcoming native interoperability protocol for ZKsync will enable secure, near-instant transfer of assets and messages between public chains and private Prividiums. Eliminating custodial risk and capital requirements can substantially reduce costs and improve certainty. In this context, moderate protocol fees will not add friction—in fact, they will be significantly lower than existing solutions while providing stronger guarantees and faster settlement.

From a scale perspective, interbank messaging systems handle staggering volumes: SWIFT processes over 50 million messages daily, totaling hundreds of billions annually. If private chains become as widespread as enterprise banking infrastructure, interoperability settlement and messaging will become a continuous, foundational need. In this scenario, protocol-level interoperability fees—charged based on value, use case, basis points, cents, or dollars—will create a direct, transparent, and sustainable revenue stream for the network. Even if only a small portion of global activity migrates to cryptographically enabled Ethereum anchoring, it will establish a significant and lasting economic foundation for ZKsync.

5. Off-Chain Value: Enterprise Licensing

Since inception, ZK Stack has been open source and will remain so—this is core to ZKsync’s ethos. The protocol, provers, and interoperability layer are public goods accessible to all, ensuring transparency, verifiability, and cryptographic trustworthiness. This commitment is vital for building an indelible financial infrastructure that can serve as a global digital economy backbone.

However, history shows that when large enterprises adopt community-built infrastructure without giving back, the developer ecosystem can weaken. Certain advanced components—related to finance/ERP integration, compliance reporting, auditing, and operational controls—can generate significant value in private environments, especially for regulated financial institutions and large corporations. When these features are funded by the ecosystem, enterprise participants should contribute value back into the ecosystem.

According to this proposal, the value generated by such enterprise components will flow into the same governance-controlled mechanisms as on-chain value. Practically, this means establishing a licensing revenue stream that feeds back into the network’s buyback and distribution pathways, maintaining a unified economic cycle. Achieving this requires careful legal design and compliance structures to ensure real-world value flows can transparently and enforceably return to the decentralized ecosystem—work that is already underway.

Major financial institutions spend hundreds of thousands to millions annually on critical infrastructure and compliance systems. With thousands of banks worldwide, even partial adoption of ecosystem-aligned enterprise modules could generate a substantial, sustainable economic base.

6. Next Steps

This proposal clarifies the high-level direction for ZK Token utility. We will gather community feedback through the X platform and ZK Nation forum, encouraging all ecosystem participants to review, comment, and discuss.

Once the direction gains broad support, we will submit detailed proposals covering interoperability fee mechanisms, value routing, governance controls, and reporting structures. The goal is to establish clear, implementable models through governance processes and continuously optimize as the network expands.

Originally, ZK Token was a governance tool. Now, through governance, it has the potential to become the heartbeat of an indelible economic system. We share a historic opportunity to define a truly self-sustaining, community-owned financial network.