ZKsync Lite will cease operations on May 4th, focusing on the Era and ZK Stack ecosystem

According to The Block, the Ethereum Layer 2 project ZKsync has announced that it will officially discontinue ZKsync Lite (formerly ZKsync 1) on May 4, 2026. At that time, the network will stop producing blocks and permanently freeze the final state to ensure that balances cannot be changed after the shutdown. The team stated that this move is a "orderly planned exit" and does not affect ZKsync Era or other chains built on the ZK Stack.

After Lite is shut down, the official will maintain a read-only API for at least one year to support historical data queries. Users are advised to proactively withdraw assets before the deadline for convenience, but unwithdrawn funds can still be claimed later. Data shows that there are currently about $33.9 million in assets bridged on ZKsync Lite, including approximately $24.9 million in stablecoins, $8.4 million in ETH and its derivatives, $313,000 in BTC and its derivatives, and about $231,000 in other assets.

ZKsync Lite was launched in June 2020 and is regarded as the first zero-knowledge Rollup on Ethereum, supporting token transfers, atomic swaps, and NFT minting, but it does not have smart contract functionality. In March 2023, the developer Matter Labs stopped development on Lite after launching Era, shifting its focus to supporting the zkEVM system for general smart contracts.