Thank you for your thoughtful questions and engagement with the ZK staking proposal.
On Delegate Activity Requirements and Scoring
The primary focus on on-chain actions for qualifying delegates as “active” is indeed intentional for this pilot phase ZKnomics Roadmap Vision. We’ve deliberately scoped delegate activity metrics to require continuous on-chain voting rather than implementing scoring systems based on offchain activity volume, and this is drawn from lessons learned from other ecosystems like Arbitrum and Obol as you pointed out.
At the end of the day, ZK is set to be a protocol utility token.
For ZK Staking’s initial implementation, keeping the activity threshold focused on verifiable on-chain actions serves multiple purposes:
- Objectivity: On-chain voting is binary and verifiable, eliminating subjective interpretation
- Simplicity: Reduces operational complexity and administrative overhead during the pilot
- Gaming resistance: Harder to manipulate than low-quality forum posts or artificial engagement metrics
- Progressive enhancement: Allows us to establish baseline participation before layering in more sophisticated metrics
This approach aligns with ZKnomics’ principle of “Gradual Implementation,” where each stage is dependent on successful delivery and governance approval ZKnomics Roadmap Vision. Once we validate the core staking mechanism works effectively, we can iterate eligibility to align with protocol utility requirements, and review any changes regarding protocol security and upgrade reliability requirements.
On the Differentiation from Arbitrum’s Staking Proposal
While the structural implementation shares similarities with Arbitrum’s approach, the strategic intent and long-term vision differ significantly.
Arbitrum’s staking proposal focuses primarily on governance security and participation, stopping short of distributing fees to tokenholders. The proposal addresses challenges including limited demand driven primarily by governance participation, declining voter participation, and potential governance attacks on their treasury.
ZKsync, however, has progressively increased governance participation, as measured by active voting power – which will also be boosted by the initial eligibility requirements. In contrast to Arbitrum, staking supports the broader ZKnomics vision of a ZK token integrated into protocol-wide sustainable economics. Over time, the aim is to uncover the best design where network usage drives protocol revenue, and that revenue is programmatically directed toward protocol participants which strengthen the protocol security and growth, while managing token supply.
The key differentiators of the ZKnomics vision include:
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Protocol Revenue Integration: ZKnomics opens up the opportunity for ZKsync governance to collect fees autonomously at the protocol level via Gateway, the Shared Bridge, and other core contracts. This creates a flywheel between network activity, security, governance sustainability, and token value accrual.
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Programmatic Distribution Framework: Once staking infrastructure is tested and in place, ZKsync Governance could enable an autonomous mechanic where fees are split between a burn function to manage supply, and rewards to support decentralized liveness, creating a comprehensive tokenomics loop rather than just governance incentives.
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Continuous Ecosystem Alignment: This staking mechanism is explicitly designed as part of a long-term vision for how ZK can secure the network, reward meaningful participation and drive the growth of the ecosystem. This works particularly well as technical infrastructure like Gateway, Airbender, and ZKsync OS come online – and new token programs create investment flows into product development and ecosystem growth incentives.
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Progressive Utility Expansion: The roadmap includes authorizing permissionless staking, upgrading the token contract with a public burn mechanism, enabling sequencer and interop fee switches, and finalizing allocation rules—all through transparent governance. More so, the opportunity is to expand what staking enables: new utility and rewards without sacrificing governance liveness.
In essence, while Arbitrum’s staking focuses on solving immediate governance participation challenges without yet turning on fee distribution, ZK staking is architected as the foundational layer for a comprehensive protocol economy that aligns network usage with token value, a critical distinction towards sustainable, usage-driven tokenomics.
Looking forward to continued discussion as we refine these mechanisms together.