=nil; Public Roadmap: Road to Mainnet

=nil; Foundation is proud to share our public product roadmap taking us to Mainnet in Q4 2025.

Last November, we announced =nil; — an Ethereum L2 powered by zkSharding. 

The =nil; Devnet was launched in July 2024 as the first major step towards reaching our end goal of unlocking horizontal scaling for Ethereum. We’re incredibly proud of our team and thankful for the continued support of our community, partners, and investors.

Our first open Testnet v1 launched in October 2024 with DevEx and protocol upgrades. Read more here and join the Testnet.

We’re committed to building in public and ensuring that =nil; fits the needs of the community. By using our Testnet v1, you get to shape what =nil; becomes as we get one step closer to Mainnet. 

From Devnet to Mainnet: The Timeline

July 2024: The =nil; Devnet (V0)

The first proof of concept for zkSharding was a chance for a select group of developers to join our core team to identify and address bugs, build support for various tooling, and stress test the system.

What we did with the first Devnet:

• Deploy contracts
• Interact with contracts
• Retrieve contract state
• Demonstrate both sync and async contract calls for several scenarios

The Devnet program was laser focused on getting feedback from developers by building the first =nil; dApps and deploying the first contracts. Check out some of the things our devs built in this time.  

October 2024: Testnet v1

Testnet v1 is open to a wider community and it’s the first step towards building a thriving ecosystem on =nil;. The goal of this phase is to start developing hyper-scalable applications and test updates after the Devnet.

We’re rolling out:

• Several key protocol and network updates
• DevEx improvements and adjustments from Devnet
• Additional developer tooling and dependency support

If you think of the Devnet as a closed simulation of our architecture, Testnet v1 is a version with real sharding, open to all. 

Q2 and Q3 2025: Testnets V2 and V3

We want to refine =nil; as much as we can before launching Mainnet. In 2025, we plan to tinker with two testnets to roll out the first version of the zkEVM, prioritize improvements to DevEx and UX, and introduce support for major developer tooling. 

With the Testnet V3, we’re going to focus on stability and performance by stress testing the cluster. And then, by the end of the year… 

Q4 2025: The Mainnet Alpha

The Mainnet Alpha will be open to all. At this point, after four testnets, we expect =nil; to get as close to its final form as possible. 

As we head towards the Mainnent Alpha, we’re going to be working on:

• zkEVM+ (V1)
• Placeholder Proof System upgrades for performance
  • Exploring new algorithms and techniques: Lasso, Nova & folding, alternative fields, etc.
• Canonical bridge
• Proof generation speed and cost optimizations
• Full end-to-end system audits
• Extensive developer documentation 

What Comes Next?

Next, we build. We’re developing something new and expect to see this roadmap change as we encounter and solve different challenges. We’re committed to working with our developers to get it right and will keep you updated as we go.

We believe =nil; has the potential to change the game for Ethereum scaling. zkSharding will enable =nil; to securely process an increasing number of transactions, with the ability to scale horizontally as needed. 

In its final form, =nil; solves state and liquidity fragmentation and ensures universal access to a decentralized and fair global economy. 

We’re going from alpha to full decentralization–the time to jump in is now.