ZKsync Cuts Etherscan to Push Native Infrastructure, Eyes Token Utility in 2026

ZKsync will end Etherscan support for the ZKsync Era on January 7, 2026. Block, transaction, and contract data will move fully to the ZKsync native explorer. Developers relying on Etherscan APIs must migrate before that date.

According to a GitHub post, ZKsync no longer fits standard EVM assumptions. Interop transactions, cross-chain bundles, Gateway settlement, and new compilers like solx require an explorer that understands the protocol at a native level. Etherscan cannot index these features correctly.

Dropping Etherscan Support

ZKsync has evolved into a network of interconnected chains. Transactions can now span multiple ZKsync chains and settle through flexible paths that may include the ZKsync Gateway or Ethereum directly. This structure breaks the single-chain model most explorers rely on.

Native awareness of Interop (communication layer) and settlement paths allows the ZKsync explorer to show execution context, settlement flow, and cross-chain state in one view.

It is important to note that this decision represents where ZKsync is headed in 2026, towards fewer external dependencies, more protocol-level coordination.

Token Utility Moves from Theory to Design

ZKsync leadership spent 2025 laying groundwork for ZK token utility beyond governance, according to Alex Gluchowski, the co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, the firm behind ZKsync

Proposals released this year were focused on interoperability and off-chain licensing as value sources tied directly to network usage.

The logic is simple. As private and public ZKsync chains coordinate, fees emerge at the protocol layer. Governance proposals create the buy-and-allocate paths where fees and licensing revenue could support burns, staking rewards, and ecosystem funding.

Token value is now linked to how much coordination the network handles, not just how many votes the token controls.

Utility through Enterprise Upgrades

ZKsync spent 2025 pushing privacy into production. Prividium is a result of those efforts and allows institutions to run private chains.

As per a Messari research analyst, Prividium “keeps execution and state private while still producing validity proofs that are settled on Ethereum, providing public verifiability.”

On the other hand, the Atlas upgrade tightened execution, proving, and Ethereum verification into a faster pipeline, Gluchowski noted in his 2025 recap. The target is over 15,000 transactions per second, near one-second finality, and extremely low proving costs, revealed the analyst’s report.

Airbender is also live. It reduces hardware needs and provisioning time. Gluchowski added that banks, asset managers, consumer apps, and regional chains have launched production deployments throughout the year.

As ZKsync enters 2026 with Prividium, Interop, and Atlas, the ZK token has crashed more than 90% from its all-time high seen over two years ago at $0.3285. At press time, the altcoin was trading at $0.027 but the new changes could form a bottom for ZK’s falling prices.

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