ZKsync Token Revamp: Focusing on Economic Utility

ZKsync Token Revamp: Focusing on Economic Utility

Alex Gluchowski, co-creator of the Ethereum scaling solution ZKsync, has proposed a major overhaul of its governance token, arguing that prioritizing “economic utility” is crucial for the network's future success.

In a forum post on Tuesday, Gluchowski explained that while the ZKsync (ZK) governance token served its purpose in the project's initial stages, where “architecture and adoption path were still forming,” the network has since experienced rapid growth. He noted that ZKsync now supports an ecosystem of interconnected zero-knowledge chains, making it vital for the ZK token to capture network value and further stimulate ecosystem adoption.

“The goal is to align usage with value, make decentralization economically sustainable, and ensure the network captures a meaningful share of the economic benefits it creates,” Gluchowski stated.

Gluchowski, who also serves as co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, the company behind ZKsync, stressed the importance of funds flowing back into the “network’s economy.” This reinvestment, he argued, would enable continuous infrastructure upgrades, security enhancements, public goods funding, and ensure “long-term independence.”

“The design goal is to establish a self-reinforcing economic loop where adoption increases network resources, and those resources in turn enhance the network for all participants,” he wrote.

New Tokenomics Tied to Revenue Streams

Gluchowski outlined a plan where the revamped ZK token would derive its value both on-chain and off-chain. On-chain value would come from protocol-native fees generated by “interoperability and other core settlement and messaging functions.” Off-chain value would be generated through licensing agreements for “enterprise software components.”

While ZKsync's stack is open-source and free to use, Gluchowski argued that when large enterprises utilize “community-built infrastructure” for complex applications like treasury integrations, agreements should be in place to return value to the ecosystem.

“When such capabilities are funded by the ecosystem, it is reasonable that their use by enterprise participants returns value to the ecosystem,” he explained.

This generated value would then flow into a “governance-controlled system” that would allocate resources to ZK market buybacks, staking rewards, token burning, and broader ecosystem funding.

“For decentralization to persist, it must be economically sustainable. The network needs a durable economic model that supports ongoing development, security, and operation by many independent participants, not by a central sponsor.”

ZKsync has been considering changes to its governance token for several months. In June, Matter Labs' Head of Business Development, Omar Azhar, shared a “ZKnomics Roadmap Vision” on the project’s forum.

“ZKnomics is designed to align ZK with the long-term health and sustainability of the protocol. It proposes a system where network usage drives protocol revenue, and that revenue is programmatically directed toward two core functions: incentivizing protocol participants and managing token supply,” Azhar wrote.

The timeline for this proposed token shift remains unclear. Gluchowski encouraged community feedback on his proposal via X (formerly Twitter), stating that more details will be shared “once there is broad support for this direction.”

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