Jordi Baylina’s new enterprise, Zisk, will carry the zkVM torch ahead following the Polygon Basis’s resolution to decommission the expensive chain. Baylina retains a founder’s title, however his group and codebase at the moment are totally unbiased.
On June 18, Polygon co-founder Jordi Baylina took to X to announce that he and the core zkEVM growth group have spun out to type Zisk, an unbiased challenge targeted on advancing low-latency, open-source zero-knowledge digital machine expertise.
All mental property tied to the hassle, together with codebases developed underneath Polygon’s umbrella, has been transferred to SilentSig GmbH, a Swiss entity wholly owned by Baylina. In response to Zisk’s web site, the group had been incubating the challenge inside Polygon since Could 2024, earlier than formalizing the carve-out on June 13.
The Zisk gambit: how Polygon’s zkEVM exodus might reshape zero-knowledge tech
Baylina’s spinout comes only a week after a serious management shakeup at Polygon, with co-founder Sandeep Nailwal taking direct management of the Polygon Basis. Following his appointment, Nailwal rapidly launched a brand new roadmap that sidelined the zero-knowledge EVM in favor of Polygon PoS and its AggLayer interoperability protocol.
The choice successfully shuttered a challenge that had been burning over $1 million yearly. Blockchain researcher Lorenz Lehmann famous on X that Polygon had “quietly deserted” growth, regardless of investing 9 figures into the initiative.
For Baylina and his group, the writing was on the wall. Slightly than resist the shift, they opted to forge a brand new path. With Zisk, Baylina goals to get rid of the overhead of legacy structure and give attention to delivering the core promise of what zkEVM aspired to be however by no means totally achieved.
Whereas present zkVMs like Polygon zkEVM emphasize EVM compatibility, Zisk’s structure prioritizes low-latency proofs, a important requirement for real-world use circumstances reminiscent of decentralized exchanges and gaming. Early benchmarks counsel Zisk’s method might cut back verification instances by 40–60% in comparison with incumbent options, although unbiased audits might be required to confirm these claims.
The spinout additionally inherits Polygon zkEVM’s open-source legacy, with Baylina pledging to maintain Zisk’s codebase permissionless.
