=nil; Foundation Marches Towards Mainnet with Launch of Testnet v1

[PRESS RELEASE – New York, United States / New York, October 30th, 2024]

=nil; Foundation is launching a general-purpose Ethereum L2 powered by zkSharding that blends the scalability of appchains with the composability of a monolithic chain

=nil; Foundation, the tenured team behind =nil;, an Ethereum L2 powered by zkSharding, today announces the launch of Testnet v1. Following the successful Devnet launch in July, Testnet v1 is a key milestone on the =nil; product roadmap. This release includes several protocol upgrades, DevEx improvements, and concrete examples of using the network, including porting and integrating Uniswap V2 code to show how DEXs can work in sharded environments. Developers can learn about all the upgrades here and get involved by joining Testnet v1 here.

=nil; is a general-purpose Ethereum L2 powered by zkSharding, an architecture inspired by Ethereum’s original vision for sharding, revitalized by zero-knowledge technology. Through zkSharding, =nil; enables application developers to access the scale of appchains with the composability of a monolithic chain. The team behind =nil; has been in the crypto ecosystem for almost a decade researching zero knowledge technology and are behind native tools such as Proof Market, zkLLVM, and Placeholder.

This news follows the recent announcement of Avi Zurlo stepping up as the new =nil; Foundation CEO. Avi previously served as the Foundation’s CPO for nearly a year before becoming CEO and formerly led investments at Delphi Digital for 25+ early-stage crypto projects. =nil; Foundation is currently backed by key investors including Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, IOSG Ventures, and others.

“Fragmentation in Ethereum’s L2 ecosystem is holding back the network’s potential. With =nil;, we’re cutting through that complexity,” said =nil; Foundation CEO Avi Zurlo. “Ethereum’s future is clear, and =nil; is committed to ensuring it thrives through zkSharding. By enabling both scalability and composability, zkSharding is a viable path forward for future generations seeking more equitable technology.”

Testnet v2 and Testnet v3 are planned to launch in Q2 and Q3 next year.

“Since the early days of =nil; Foundation, our goal has been to overcome the trade-off between scalability and composability on Ethereum,” said Konstantin Lomashuk, Co-Founder of =nil; Foundation. “After years of research and development, zkSharding is the solution we envisioned. =nil; is the result of that work, empowering developers to build applications that scale without losing the seamless interaction Ethereum was meant to deliver.”

Users can join the Testnet v1 and follow =nil; Foundation on X or on Telegram to get the latest news, leading ZK research, and chances to join the team in building the future of scalable, trustless systems.

About =nil; Foundation

Founded in 2018, =nil; Foundation is the tenured team behind =nil;, a general-purpose Ethereum L2. =nil; is powered by zkSharding, an architecture inspired by Ethereum’s original vision for sharding, revitalized by zero knowledge technology. =nil; enables application developers to access the scale of appchains with the composability of a monolithic chain.