Gnosis and Zisk Launch 'Ethereum Economic Zone' Rollup Framework, Co-Funded by Ethereum Foundation

On March 29th, a group of Ethereum projects announced a new initiative aimed at addressing a growing problem within Ethereum: its ecosystem is becoming increasingly fragmented. Officially unveiled at the EthCC conference in Cannes, France, the project, named the ‘Ethereum Economic Zone’ (EEZ), aims to enable more seamless collaboration among Ethereum’s numerous scaling networks, also known as Layer 2s (L2s).

The framework was jointly developed by Gnosis, Zisk, and the Ethereum Foundation. Gnosis is a development team with a long history in Ethereum infrastructure, while Zisk focuses on zero-knowledge proof technology.

For years, Ethereum has relied on L2 networks for scaling, but these networks have often operated like “islands.” Users need to transfer assets between different networks using cross-chain bridges, a process that is typically slow, costly, and risky. Meanwhile, developers often have to rebuild the same tools on each network.

The EEZ aims to change this status quo, allowing these networks to operate as a unified system. In simple terms, it will enable applications and transactions on different Ethereum networks to interact instantly – without the need for cross-chain bridges, while still relying on Ethereum’s core security.

This launch comes at a time when discussions about Ethereum’s long-term reliance on the L2 scaling path are heating up. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently stated that the ecosystem may need to re-examine its L2-centric roadmap as fragmentation and user experience issues persist. The EEZ appears to be a direct response to such concerns, attempting to consolidate the entire network ecosystem by unifying liquidity, infrastructure, and user flows, rather than continuing to add more disconnected chains.