Zircuit (ZRC)

Zircuit is an Ethereum ZK rollup and L2 network with an AI-powered security layer at the sequencer level, which combines the best practices of infrastructure and design from both Optimistic and Zero-Knowledge scaling technologies. 

It was built by a team of highly experienced security auditors and blockchain developers who previously worked at Quantstamp. Additionally, one of the co-founders of Zircuit was a host of Ethereum Vancouver, representing the Ethereum Foundation from 2017 to 2019.

For their achievements in researching Ethereum scaling solutions and best practices, the Zircuit team won multiple grants from the Ethereum Foundation. The same research led Zircuit L2 team to establish a revolutionary blockchain L2 infrastructure offering multiple benefits to users and developers, including:

• Increased scalability: By implementing its unique approach to the transactions’ batches processing and being a ZK-powered L2 network, Zircuit ETH L2 offers users cheap and fast transactions within its chain. 
• Full EVM compatibility: Although Zircuit is a ZK L2 network, it was built on Optimism Bedrock, an open-source development stack that powers Optimism. This enables developers to seamlessly integrate the Zircuit chain network into their dApps and allows users to pay gas fees in ETH.
• Secure native bridge: Backed by pioneering research, the platform implemented best practices for developing native bridge infrastructure, making it both efficient and secure.
• Additional layer of security: To extend the platform's level of security, the network integrated an additional layer of security at the sequencer level;
• Zircuit Pre-deposits: Although Zircuit is still in the testnet phase, it has opened a Zircuit staking campaign, supporting pre-deposits on the platform and accepting LRTs from all major liquid restaking protocols. This includes Renzo’s ezETH, Swell’s rswETH, EtherFi’s weETH and many more. 

Read more about the network’s features in the Zircuit docs.

🪙Zircuit token: Recently, Zircuit announced the release and airdrop of its native $ZRC token; however, it didn’t disclose the token's utility. We assume it will play a major role in rewarding active users through airdrop campaigns and powering the governance layer of the platform.

The platform just completed the first season of the “Zircuit Staking” campaign, where users earned points for pre-depositing Ethereum LRTs. These Zircuit points were, and remain, the main criteria for receiving the platform's governance token.

Considering this information, our team conducted comprehensive research on the project and found some major pros and cons of the project:

✅Zircuit pros:

• Great concept and design of the product, which aligns with current “Liquid Restaking” trends;
• An impressive TVL of over $3.4B, achieved in less than a year;
• Zircuit hosted multiple security assessments from tier 2 auditors;
• Top-tier funds including Pantera and Dragonfly Capital invested in the project;
• Presence of top-tier partners that support the project;
• Leadership team with work experience in tier 1 security auditor - Quantstamp;
• Some of the team members received multiple grants from the Ethereum Foundation for their contributions to research on Ethereum scaling solutions;
• High PR, SEO, SMM and Growth marketing performance;
• Above the average Marketing Infrastructure score. 

❗️Zircuit cons: 

• Lack of transparency in funding: There’s no publicly available information regarding the amount of funds raised privately;
• Lack of transparency in the tokenomics: There has released token allocation model, however, there is no info on FDV, Initial MC, and token release schedule;
• Below the average Influencer Marketing performance;
• The project is still in the testnet phase, so the real network performance we will be able to see later.