Organization Name – Zircuit
Category –
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Zircuit is an EVM‑compatible zero‑knowledge rollup (zkEVM) that combines cutting‑edge Layer 2 scalability technology with AI‑powered security to make Ethereum dApps faster, cheaper, and safe…r. Built on a hybrid architecture that fuses the battle‑tested OP Stack (Optimism Bedrock) with zero‑knowledge proofs, Zircuit decomposes circuits and parallelizes proof generation, processing large batches at high speed and minimal cost. A defining innovation is Sequencer Level Security (SLS), where AI monitors the transaction mempool in real time to detect and quarantine malicious activity before it’s committed—preventing up to 99.5 % of risks such as hacks, phishing, frontrunning, and oracle manipulation. Zircuit also provides a secure native bridge that connects Ethereum and over 120 chains, protected by SLS, enabling seamless asset transfer. Developers can port Ethereum dApps directly using MetaMask, Hardhat, Foundry or other familiar tools without code rewrites, accelerating onboarding. Zircuit earned multiple Ethereum Foundation L2 research grants, and publishes peer-reviewed papers in cryptography, AI, and rollup compression; the team includes 13 PhDs and extensive publication credentials. Its public testnet launched in November 2023 during Devconnect, attracting early ecosystem partners like Blocto, Galxe, API3, Hashflow and Rarible. In February 2025, Zircuit released the “Garfield” upgrade testnet, implementing EIP‑7702 and Cancun opcodes like TLOAD, TSTORE and MCOPY; the legacy testnet was deprecated in its favor. Native staking of ETH, liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) is live on the Liquidity Hub, allowing participants to earn yields and reward points. The protocol token ZRC (total supply 10 billion) is allocated across community airdrops, governance, ecosystem grants, team and investors; early snapshots in July and November 2024 distributed 7 % and 3 % respectively to qualified participants. Zircuit’s native DEX, Circuit, was built during the testnet phase and drew over 600k users, receiving both technical and marketing support from Zircuit core team. Circuit is now the prominent liquidity hub on-chain, benefiting from AI‑driven capital efficiencies. Although still evolving toward full decentralization, Zircuit plans to roll out on‑chain governance enabling ZRC holders to vote on security policies, upgrades, bridge rules and protocol parameters; decentralized sequencing is under research. As of mid‑2025, Zircuit is positioning itself as the most secure and performant Ethereum Layer 2: offering sub‑2‑second block times, very low fees, gas abstraction (ERC‑4337), cross‑chain interoperability, institutional‑grade composability, AI‑backed security, and modular architecture. Its mix of developer familiarity, scalability, and proactive protection makes it attractive for DeFi protocols, institutional users, staking services, and high‑value smart contracts. Ecosystem growth continues via Build‑to‑Earn programs, liquidity fairs, staking incentives, and integrations with LayerZero, Axelar, and Nansen for portfolio tracking. While competition from zkSync, Scroll and Starknet is intense, Zircuit distinguishes itself through real‑time mempool filtering and its hybrid model, which bypasses the fraud‑proof delay typical in optimistic systems. Challenges remain, including scaling prover infrastructure, broadening adoption, and executing its decentralization roadmap without weakening AI‑enabled safeguards. Nonetheless, with strong investor backing (Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, Dragonfly, Maelstrom, Mirana, Nomad Capital), grants, and a growing developer base, Zircuit aims to reshape Ethereum Layer 2 security and accessibility. Read More