Polyhedra Network, the developer behind the zero-knowledge interaction protocol zkBridge, has announced plans to use the ticker symbol “ZKJ” for its upcoming listing on the HashKey Global exchange and potentially other exchanges in the future. Renaming the ticker symbol to “ZKJ” signifies “ZK Join,” reflecting a unified and open ZK community.
We’ve recently faced bullying from @zkSync. Fortunately, we have received support from many ZK professionals. We are deeply inspired by these leaders’ commitment and contribution to the ZK community.https://t.co/8knmDuYLgx
— Polyhedra Network (@PolyhedraZK) May 30, 2024
Tiancheng Xie (co-founder of Polyhedra) jointly signed a statement with high-ranking officials from Polygon and StarkWare, including Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer (co-founders of Polygon), Eli Ben-Sasson (CEO of StarkWare), and Shafi Goldwasser (StarkWare scientific advisor), urging support for “ZK as a community asset.”
The reason behind this is that, according to allegations by the parties involved, zkSync developer Matter Labs has trademarked the term “zk,” preventing other projects from using this branding for their products. The coalition of projects opposes this move, arguing that the cryptocurrency industry has a tradition of open-source principles and should not erect barriers to those wishing to advance technology. Therefore, Matter Labs’ actions are seen as an attempt to stifle competing projects rather than genuinely protecting user interests as they claim.
The Matter labs CEO @gluk64
claims “Trademarks, however, exist to protect users, not companies.”No. They exist to protect the owner of the trademark.
— Eli Ben-Sasson (@EliBenSasson) May 30, 2024
The latest move by Polyhedra Network comes after a week-long dispute with zkSync over the “ZK” ticker symbol.
Initial leaks suggested that the layer-2 token would have a total supply of 21 billion, but the ticker name has yet to be finalized. The reason is that zkSync wants to use the “ZK” ticker to assert its pioneering position in applying zk-Rollups technology to layer-2, but Polyhedra Network beat them to it.
Tensions reached a peak when cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced it would adjust Polyhedra’s ticker and list zkSync under the “ZK” ticker on its spot trading platform, even though the interoperability protocol has long been using this ticker on the exchange.
Polyhedra Network immediately took to Twitter, accusing zkSync of colluding with exchanges to reclaim the “ZK” ticker for the upcoming layer-2 project. They declared they would stand for justice against this blatant act of “bullying” and “outright theft.”
However, sadly, many users left comments under Polyhedra’s post in support of zkSync, arguing that Polyhedra doesn’t deserve to use the ZK ticker because the project’s March airdrop did not deliver the expected value to the community.
This “drama” has somewhat affected the value of Polyhedra’s ZK token. Over the past week, ZK has seen a 16% decline in value, currently trading around $1.26.
