zkLink

zkLink began as a cross-chain decentralized exchange built on zero-knowledge rollups. In October 2021 it was on testnet, offering token swaps across Ethereum, Binance Smart ChainBNB ChainBNB Chain is a multichain blockchain ecosystem with BNB as its native asset. Its core includes the Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible BNB Smart Chain, the opBNB layer-2 network and the decentralized storage network BNB Greenfield; its history traces to Binance Chain, launched in 2019.Open the full entry, Polygon and Huobi Eco Chain. That month it raised $8.5 million in a seed round through a simple agreement for future tokens, led by Republic Crypto; Vincent Yang is one of its co-founders.⁠[1]

In May 2023 zkLink raised $10 million in a strategic round with participation from CoinbaseCoinbaseCoinbase is a U.S. operator of crypto asset trading platforms, founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, whose listed parent is Coinbase Global, Inc.; it went public through a direct listing on Nasdaq (ticker COIN) in April 2021 and joined the S&P 500 in May 2025. It provides crypto trading, custody, staking, and stablecoin-related services, launched USDC with Circle, develops the Ethereum layer-2 network Base, and acquired the crypto options exchange Deribit in 2025; its venture investing operates as Coinbase Ventures.Open the full entry’s venture arm and others, bringing its total funding to $18.5 million. At the time it was trading infrastructure that used zero-knowledge rollups to connect Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, and planned a mainnet launch in the third quarter of 2023.⁠[2]

zkLink Nova’s mainnet went live on March 12, 2024, as an aggregated Layer 3 zkEVM network connecting Ethereum and its Layer 2 rollups. zkLink ran an Aggregation Parade deposit campaign from March 14 and said Nova had attracted more than $330 million by the end of March.⁠[3]

Secure3 and ABDK delivered audits of zkLink Nova on March 8 and March 27, 2024, respectively.⁠[4]

An upgrade of zkLink Nova’s Arbitrator contract was designed to cut the cost of syncing batch root hashes to secondary chains; Secure3 and ABDK completed audits of the upgrade on April 8 and June 28, 2024, respectively.⁠[4]

zkLink Nova is a Layer 3 zkEVM Validium built with ZK Stack on Linea as its host chain, relying on a data availability committee. Its operator is centralized: two permissioned validator addresses can commit, prove and execute blocks and relay messages on a fast path that bypasses the chains’ canonical bridges, and contract upgrades have no delay. On November 1, 2026, its total value secured was about $2.24 million.⁠[5]