ZKsync Phases Out Ignite Rewards Program Due To Bear Market

No new incentives are scheduled to be distributed after that time. All contracts with service providers will be settled by March 30.

Under Ignite, it was planned to distribute 300M ZK to stimulate liquidity. Of the nine months of the program, which started in January, two have passed.

The steering committee of the DeFi project cited three reasons for the initiative's premature end:

1. Focus on Elastic Chain. The team intends to focus resources on implementing the protocol. Ignite has provided Era with the liquidity to operate as its hub for DeFi following the launch of the interoperability mechanism. Contributing additional funds to a program with a focus on a single network ”is no longer consistent with this broad objective.”
2. Own interoperability time. Seamless internal interoperability in Elastic Chain - is a priority, but the technology required to implement it is taking longer than expected. Adding more TVL now will result in a lower return on cost.
3. Market Realities. The team has recognized the onset of a bear market. The developers decided to take a more conservative approach to costs in the short and medium term.

In 2021 and 2022, ZKsync raised $450 million in investment. 

In September 2024, the CEO of the company behind the protocol, Matter Labs, Alex Gluchowski announced a 16% staff reduction.

In June, the project conducted airdrop of 3.6 million ZK tokens. After the large-scale distribution, the key indicators significantly decreased.