Ethereum L2 protocol =nil; launches public testnet

=nil; The first public testnet for An Ethereum layer-2 protocol using zero-knowledge sharing is now live.

=zero; Foundation announced testnet v1 on October 30, noting that the launch is another milestone as the Ethereum (ETH) L2 protocol moves closer to its mainnet.

The testnet is a follow-up to the earlier devnet version of the platform, which allowed developers to stress test the project’s proof of concept. With the introduction of =nil; to the public; Testnet v1 aims to collect valuable feedback from a wider group of zkRollup users.

In this release, the focus is on putting development experience improvements into user testing.

As developers test zkSharding, an expanded ecosystem of decentralized applications is now accessible. Testnet v1 offers the public the opportunity to help identify potential bugs as various applications undergo stress testing. Developers will also use the testnet to work on tools.

=nil; The Foundation introduced Ethereum zkRollup in November 2023 with L2, aiming to scale the Ethereum network to more than 60,000 transactions per second via zkSharding.

zkSharding enables parallel transaction processing by combining zero-knowledge Gathering with sharding. This works while the network maintains a shared state; This means it is possible to scale Ethereum without the typical trade-offs that developers experience with modularity.

Issues that =nil;’s zkSharding solution helps address include liquidity and security fragmentation, composability with Ethereum’s mainnet, and data transparency and verifiability.

The testnet brings the layer-2 protocol closer to its roadmap goal of launching the mainnet in Q4 2025.

After testnet v1 =nil; The v2 and v3 phases will begin in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2025, respectively. zkEVM, performance testing, stability and user experience are the main objectives before the launch of the mainnet.