Matter Labs, the developer behind zkSync, has sparked controversy within the crypto community by filing trademark applications for the term "zero-knowledge" (ZK) in nine countries, which many believe goes against the industry’s cooperative nature.
Matter Labs has also previously attempted to register a token under the symbol "ZK" on several crypto exchanges.
ZK technology is vital in cryptographic protocols, as it allows one to prove that a piece of data is true without having to reveal it.
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Critics argue that Matter Labs' actions constitute an overreach of intellectual property rights. Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, has been vocal in his disapproval, stating:
It’s as absurd as an individual baker trying to impose a blanket patent on bread.
In a public statement from leading ZK projects, Turing award winner and co-inventor of ZK proofs Shafi Goldwasser, StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson, Polygon co-founders Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, Polyhedra Network co-founder Tiancheng Xie, and Kakarot co-founder Elias Tazartes called for the withdrawal of the trademark application. They stated:
We believe that ZK is a public good that belongs to everyone. A company exploiting the legal system to annex a public good violates the crypto ethos, the Ethereum ethos, and the academic ethos. It even goes against Matter Labs’ own ethos, which states: 'We can make this world better by increasing people's freedoms.'
Alex Gluchowski, founder and CEO of Matter Labs, responded by rejecting the notion of intellectual property in this context, arguing that trademarks exist to protect users rather than companies.
StarkWare's Ben-Sasson has noted ZK technology's vast potential beyond blockchain, with current blockchain applications paving the way for wider adoption. As this technology's importance grows, the debate over its ownership and accessibility is likely to intensify, highlighting the tension between private enterprise and public good.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted an innovative use case for ZK technology, proposing its application for "likes" on Farcaster, a decentralized social media protocol.
