Deniz 
Using a technology termed “ZK Compression,” Solana-based developers Light Protocol and Helius Labs have introduced a new approach for apps on Solana to scale, the two companies said.
How ZK Compression Works
By means of a method called state compression, ZK Compression enables developers to store some kinds of data utilizing Solana’s cheaper ledger space instead of its more costly account space. Using “sparse state trees,” ZK Compression’s documentation states that off-chain data is saved on-chain for verification under a “hash,” or fingerprint.
Light Protocol states that ZK Compression will enable developers to store 100 compressed token accounts for roughly 4 hundred-thousandths of one sol, instead of a normal cost of roughly.2 sol, a 5000x discount in price. The manual states that a compressed PDA account can be up to 160 times less expensive.
The technique guarantees the integrity of the compressed state by using modest zero-knowledge proofs, also known as validity proofs. “Take an airdrop to 1,000,000 users; this today would cost over $260,000 for state only; now, it’s $50—5,200x cheaper,” Helius Labs founder Mert Mumtaz on X commented.
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Critics of the new primitive included ZKsync inventor Alex Gluchowski, who wrote on X: “The whole monolithic Solana thesis is gone at once.” Outstanding. ZKsync has been silently developing an asynchronously composably ZK future for Ethereum. Great reveal this coming week.
Calling the release “unethical BS” in an X post, Ethereum investor Ryan Berckmans criticized it for not characterizing the new method as a Layer 2 network. “Their forthcoming offering is really L2. L2s are a winning paradigm,” Berckman said.
Solana fellow Anatoly Yakovenko said, “Sure. Users of this L2 do not need to change chain IDs; a governance token, an external sequencer, and solana validators still earn all the transaction fees; it is an L2 without a security council multisignature. It’s basically an L2 devoid of all the stuff people grip about L2s.”
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