Aave Protocol Goes Live on Era

Gravity (grvt.io) and Aave have launched an integrated platform on ZKsync that eliminates idle capital through a unified balance system. **Key Features:** - Single balance that simultaneously earns yield and enables instant trading - Continuous yield generation without requiring users to move funds - Built on ZKsync's Layer 2 infrastructure for efficiency **The Innovation:** The partnership addresses traditional DeFi's capital inefficiency where users must choose between earning yield or having liquidity available for trading. This integration allows power users to maximize capital efficiency while maintaining Aave's established risk framework. The solution represents a shift from legacy designs where capital sits idle, toward next-generation platforms where every dollar works continuously.

Banks are exploring tokenized deposits as a competitive strategy in the digital assets economy, according to industry analysis. **Key Points:** - Tokenized deposits identified as potentially fastest-growing onchain asset class - Banks viewing this technology as solution to remain competitive - Industry experts predict rapid adoption throughout 2026 Tokenized deposits represent traditional bank deposits converted into blockchain-based tokens, allowing for programmability and integration with decentralized finance infrastructure while maintaining regulatory compliance. The banking sector faces pressure to adapt as digital assets gain mainstream traction. Tokenized deposits offer a bridge between traditional finance and blockchain technology without requiring complete operational overhauls. **Why This Matters:** This development signals growing institutional acceptance of onchain financial products and could accelerate the integration of traditional banking with blockchain infrastructure.

**ZKsync reaffirms its commitment to enterprise privacy on Ethereum** The Layer 2 protocol announced its support for developing industry-wide privacy standards for enterprise use cases. Privacy has been a core component of ZKsync's architecture since its inception. **Key points:** - ZKsync welcomes industry collaboration on Enterprise Privacy for Ethereum - The team plans to contribute to establishing clear industry standards - Privacy-first enterprise applications are part of ZKsync's 2026 roadmap - The protocol aims to make private applications feel natural for enterprise development teams This announcement signals ZKsync's ongoing focus on making privacy accessible and practical for businesses building on Ethereum's Layer 2 infrastructure.

**ZKsync's staking pilot program continues gaining momentum**, with the target APR increasing from 4% to 5% as of February 24th. **Key metrics:** - ~180M $ZK now delegated and staked - Season 1 capped at 400M $ZK (45% filled) - Total active voting power: 1.03B $ZK - 1,000+ unique stakers participating **How it works:** The Delegate-to-Stake mechanism requires users to delegate their staked $ZK to active governance delegates to earn rewards. No lockup periods—users can stake or unstake anytime. APR adjusts dynamically based on participation levels (more stake = lower APR, less stake = higher APR), with a maximum of 10%. **Why it matters:** The program strengthens ZKsync's governance by tying rewards to active delegation, increasing voting power and protocol resilience for critical decisions like upgrades and emergency responses. [Stake $ZK](https://vote.zknation.io/dao/stake/direct)

ZKsync has announced the **Atlas upgrade** for its ZK Stacks infrastructure. This technical update represents a significant development in the project's Layer 2 scaling solution. **Key Points:** - The upgrade focuses on enhancing ZKsync's zero-knowledge rollup technology - Atlas builds on previous developments, including ZKsync Connect announced in January - ZKsync Connect introduced L1 interoperability features aimed at scaling Ethereum's liquidity The Atlas upgrade continues ZKsync's work on improving Ethereum's scalability through zero-knowledge proof technology. Full technical details are available in the official blog post.