ZKsync Ignite Program Boosts Total Value Locked

ZKsync has experienced a significant surge in total value locked (TVL) on its Layer 2 network, coinciding with the launch of its Ignite program. The initiative allocates 300 million ZK tokens (valued at $60 million) over a span of nine months, aimed at providing liquidity incentives.

Ignite Program Structure

The Ignite program is divided into several seasons. Season 1 will run from January 6 to March 31, distributing up to 100 million ZK tokens (equivalent to $20 million) to DeFi users who supply liquidity across select decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending platforms, and derivatives trading platforms on the ZKsync Era network. The remaining 200 million tokens will be allocated in the subsequent seasons.

Included DEXs are SyncSwap, Uniswap, and PancakeSwap, while perpetual platforms include Holdstation, and lending platforms encompass Aave.

Impact of Incentive Program

The incentive program has seemingly sparked a dramatic increase in ZKsync’s total value locked, which surged by nearly 90% — rising from $97 million to $184 million in the first week of January, according to data from DeFiLlama.

Background on ZKsync

ZKsync functions as a Layer 2 scaling solution to enhance Ethereum-based decentralized applications (dapps) by boosting transaction throughput and decreasing associated costs. It employs ZK rollups, a method that aggregates multiple transactions and processes them off-chain.

After a token airdrop in June, where 3.6 billion tokens were distributed to eligible wallets, ZKsync encountered a sharp decline in both user activity and total value locked. Although the airdrop was highly anticipated, it prompted many users to withdraw, resulting in a drop in daily transactions from its peak.

The 7-day moving average of active addresses plummeted from over 200,000 in July 2024 to just 30,000 by the end of December. Other ZK rollup chains, including Linea, Scroll,, and Starknet, faced similar downturns.

Data from The Block’s dashboard indicates that Linea currently has the highest number of active user addresses among the ZK rollups.