zkSync Era denies 921 ETH ‘stuck forever’ in smart contract

One member of the cryptocurrency subreddit pointed out that “EVM equivalent” compilers like zkSync Era does not necessarily mean it is fully “EVM compatible.”

Matter Labs, the team behind Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution zkSync, has denied that 921 Ether (ETH) worth $1.7 million will be “stuck forever” in one of its new projects.

The statement comes as one zkSync project is currently experiencing issues in transferring the funds that it accumulated during its token sale.

In a response tweet, Matter Labs confirmed that they’re working to solve the problem and will soon publish a “detailed update.”

Not stuck forever. We are working with the team to help them solve the problem and will publish a detailed update in a bit. Tune in.

— zkSync ∎ (@zksync) April 6, 2023

The issue appears to have been caused by its new zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine solution, zkSync Era, not being fully Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible.

While the zero-knowledge roll-up solution is “EVM-equivalent,” the two systems compile smart contract codes ever so slightly differently from one another, which in some cases may result in errors in the compiling process.

Several members of the CryptoCurrency subreddit expressed their frustration on the matter:

“Another example of why a chain shouldnt be rushing its mainnet launch. Always remember this guys, EVM compatible =/= EVM equivalent.”

“I’m all in for seeing Zero Knowledge tech becoming more and more relevant in the crypto space. However, these chains also have to take into consideration the fact that people’s funds are at stake,” said another.

The project is believed to be GemstoneIDO (GEMS). On the zkSync explorer page, the last four transactions requests have “failed,” while exactly 921 Ether is stored in its smart contract.

*GemstoneIDO is believed to be the project impacted on zkSync. However, Matter Labs has not confirmed this. Source: zkSync Explorer*

Matter Labs launched zkSync Era on mainnet last week, promising that decentralized exchanges Uniswap and SushiSwap would be live in a matter of days. That hasn’t happened yet, however, projects including Argent, Celer Network and MetaMask are live on the network now.

Cointelegraph reached out to Matter Labs, which reiterated that funds weren’t stuck forever and promised an update shortly.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Magazine: Ethereum is eating the world — ‘You only need one internet’