ConsenSys, a leading software firm that works on the Ethereum blockchain, has announced the launch of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) public test net on March 28, 2023. In response, top crypto companies are vying to be the first to fully embrace the rapidly emerging technology. 

In December of last year, ConsenSys already had its private beta zkEVM testnet up and running. Since then, more than 350,000 transactions have been completed on the private testnet. Cryptography is used by zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to speed up transactions and lower gas costs on blockchains.

A team of developers from Infura, Truffle, MetaMask, as well as Besu, and Gnark worked together to develop the ConsenSys zkEVM. This rollup improves security and speeds up onboarding for developers.

ConsenSys intends to keep zkEVM running after launch. According to Nicolas Liochon, ConsenSys' Head of Research and Development, the public beta testnet is aimed at testing the congestion on the mainnet. 

The firm is now in talks with up-and-coming participants in the Ethereum ecosystem to deploy and integrate with its zkEVM testnet in order to guarantee the widespread adoption of its scaling rollup EVM-equivalent. In order to scale the network, Liochon asserts that it is essential to make it simple for DApps and tools to move to the zkEVM. 

The battle to introduce the first ZK rollup has recently become more competitive. Polygon plans to release the zkEVM mainnet beta. Also, ZK rollups will be introduced by Scroll and Matter Labs, however, no launch dates have been specified.