Contributors in the zero-knowledge (ZK) field, including StarkWare and Polygon, publicly condemn the attempt by Ethereum Layer 2 network zkSync to register “ZK” as a trademark, stating that this is a threat to the crypto community and demanding the withdrawal of the application.
The controversy arises from the token code dispute between cross-chain protocol Polyhedra Network and zkSync. Polyhedra issued the “ZK” token as early as March this year. However, Bybit Exchange’s announcement last week stated that it would list zkSync’s token, ZK, which immediately sparked dissatisfaction from Polyhedra.
Polyhedra later explicitly stated on X platform that zkSync intended to seize their token code and claimed that zkSync had never contacted Polyhedra and constantly spread rumors among different entities.
On May 30th, Polyhedra Network received public support from several leaders in the ZK field. In a statement, projects including StarkWare and Polygon condemned the actions of zkSync developer Matter Labs, claiming that Matter Labs attempted to register the ZK trademark and use it for their own token, which goes against the fundamental spirit of the crypto and Ethereum community.
The statement emphasized that zero-knowledge technology is a public good and should remain open to everyone, calling on Matter Labs to withdraw their trademark application. The signatories of the statement include Turing Award winner and co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs, Shafi Goldwasser, Algorand founder Silvio Micali, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, Polygon co-founders Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, Polyhedra Network co-founder Tiancheng Xie, and zkEVM project founder Elias Tazartes.
Linea, an L2 network developed by ConsenSys, also published a post today supporting the statement and urging Matter Labs to uphold its mission and withdraw the trademark application.
In addition, Taiko, a recently launched Layer 2 network on the Ethereum mainnet, stated that “in light of the recent discussions regarding token codes, we want fairness for everyone.” Due to other projects already using $TKO as their code, Taiko decided to change its token code from $TKO to $TAIKO. In response to the conflict with zkSync, Polyhedra also announced that the token code to be used when listed on the HashKey Exchange would be changed to “ZKJ.”
In response to criticism from several industry figures, Matter Labs posted on X platform earlier today, stating that “ZK technology belongs to the community, and that’s where it ends.” They claimed that their intention in applying for ZK-related trademarks was to ensure that the term “ZK” can be freely used in contexts such as “ZK Sync” and “ZK Stack,” stating that “whether you like it or not, trademarks are the only legal tool available today.”
Matter Labs continued to say that their CEO, Alex Gluchowski, clarified that trademarks exist to protect users, not the company. All trademarks registered by Matter Labs are defensive, including those related to ZK, with the purpose of preventing dishonest actors from misleading customers and confusing their products and services with those provided by Matter Labs.
Alex G also stated that the company had previously contacted the legal team of the Ethereum Foundation, expressing their willingness to cooperate in creating a legal framework for the use of “ZK” and similar important technical terms in the public domain.
