As an active node provider supporting the Polygon network, the recent announcement that the core Polygon zkEVM team has left to form a new independent project — ZisK — didn’t go unnoticed. The move marks a significant shift in the direction of one of Ethereum’s most ambitious L2 experiments and raises important questions for the broader ecosystem.

What happened?

On June 18, it was confirmed that Jordi Baylina, co-founder of Polygon and technical lead behind zkEVM, along with a team of seven core developers, departed to launch ZisK. This decision followed major leadership changes at Polygon, where co-founder Sandeep Nailwal assumed full control of the Polygon Foundation as its first official CEO.

Under the new leadership, the strategic focus has shifted firmly toward Polygon PoS and the upcoming AggLayer. As a result, Polygon announced that zkEVM will be officially phased out by 2026.

All intellectual property tied to Polygon zkEVM — originally Hermez Network before its $250M acquisition in 2021 — has now been transferred to Baylina’s new entity, SilentSig Switzerland GmbH.

Enter ZisK: What is it?

According to Baylina, ZisK represents “a new era” for zero-knowledge technology. Built from the same high-performance zkVM stack developed at Polygon, ZisK is now a fully open-source, modular proof system designed for flexibility — either as a standalone software library or a foundation for custom zk integrations.

From a technical standpoint, ZisK is built around a universal zkProver framework, signaling continued innovation even outside the Polygon brand.

The state of Polygon today

This isn’t the first warning sign. Back in December 2024, Lido, the largest liquid staking protocol, ended support for Polygon PoS. And now with zkEVM winding down, it's clear that Polygon is doubling down on its scalable, more commercially viable offerings.

That may make sense from a business standpoint, but for node operators and infrastructure providers, it means recalibrating expectations — and staying alert to where innovation is truly happening.

Final thoughts

We continue to support the Polygon network — as we have for years — and we remain committed to providing reliable infrastructure for its users. But moments like these remind us that decentralization is as much about resilience and adaptation as it is about technology.

ZisK may be the end of one chapter, but it’s also the beginning of another — one that will likely shape the next phase of zero-knowledge tech in Ethereum and beyond.