TLDR:
- Gnosis and Zisk launched the EEZ at EthCC Cannes, co-funded by the Ethereum Foundation in March 2026.
- The EEZ framework enables synchronous composability between Ethereum mainnet and connected L2 rollups.
- Zisk’s real-time ZKVM can prove Ethereum blocks instantly, making cross-rollup composability technically viable.
- Founding members include Aave, Titan, Beaver Build, Centrifuge, and xStocks under a Swiss non-profit structure.
Gnosis co-founder Friederike Ernst and Zisk founder Jordi Baylina unveiled the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ) at EthCC in Cannes on Sunday.
The initiative, co-funded by the Ethereum Foundation, introduces a rollup framework enabling synchronous composability between Ethereum’s mainnet and connected Layer 2 networks.
Founding members include Aave, block builders Titan and Beaver Build, real-world asset platform Centrifuge, and tokenized equities project xStocks.
EEZ Targets Ethereum’s Growing Fragmentation Problem
The Ethereum Economic Zone is built to solve a persistent issue in the ecosystem. Each new L2 chain that launches creates its own liquidity pool and bridge, effectively walling off users and assets. Ernst addressed this directly during the announcement in Cannes.
“Ethereum doesn’t have a scaling problem. It has a fragmentation problem,” Ernst said. “Every new L2 that launches with its own liquidity pool and its own bridge is another walled garden.”
The EEZ framework allows smart contracts on connected rollups to call contracts on mainnet. These calls carry the same guarantees as if they were deployed on Ethereum itself. ETH serves as the default gas token, and no additional bridging infrastructure is required.
As reported by The Block in 2024, a new Ethereum L2 was appearing roughly every 19 days. The Block’s 2026 L2 outlook further noted that most new chains became ghost towns after incentive cycles ended. Activity concentrated around a small number of ecosystems, while fragmentation deepened.
The EEZ enters a competitive field of interoperability efforts. Optimism’s Superchain, Polygon’s AggLayer, and the Ethereum Foundation’s own Interop Layer — unveiled in November 2025 — are all pursuing similar goals. The =nil; Foundation is also working on a zkSharding-based approach to chain coordination.
Real-Time ZK Proving Powers the Technical Case
What sets the EEZ apart, according to its founders, is real-time zero-knowledge proving. Baylina created the Circom programming language and co-founded Polygon zkEVM before spinning off his team into Zisk last June. His proving stack is the core enabling technology behind the framework.
Baylina made a direct case for the technology’s maturity during the EthCC presentation. “We spent two years building a ZKVM that can prove Ethereum blocks in real time,” he said.
“Synchronous composability between rollups isn’t theoretical anymore.” This positions the EEZ as technically distinct from competing interoperability proposals.
GnosisDAO governance records from February 2026 show the community had already been debating a six-month R&D collaboration with Baylina.
The goal was to explore converting Gnosis Chain into a natively integrated Ethereum L2. The EEZ appears to be the direct product of that process.
The Ethereum Foundation’s decision to co-fund the project is notable given its recent spending cuts. The Foundation paused its open grants program in mid-2025 and trimmed its burn rate to around 5% per year.
Co-executive directors Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz K. Stańczak have named L2 interoperability as a priority, making the EEZ a natural fit. The project will be structured as a Swiss non-profit, with all software released as free and open-source.
The post Gnosis and Zisk Launch Ethereum Economic Zone to End L2 Fragmentation appeared first on Blockonomi.
Source: https://blockonomi.com/gnosis-and-zisk-launch-ethereum-economic-zone-to-end-l2-fragmentation/