On September 3, 2024, Matter Labs, the creator of the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution ZKsync, announced a company restructuring that included laying off 16% of its workforce. The decision was driven by the company's evolving role within the increasingly decentralized ZKsync ecosystem, particularly following the launch of the Elastic Chain and ZK Nation. CEO Alex Gluchowski stated that the restructuring aims to align the team with the needs of a rapidly changing market, emphasizing that Matter Labs has historically thrived with a leaner structure. All affected employees were offered severance packages. This move comes after the company faced industry backlash earlier in the year for attempting to trademark the term "zero-knowledge," which it later withdrew.
