When you open one after another on-chain application, do you also feel that it seems "very lively, but actually very fragmented"? Solana, Arbitrum, zkSync... assets jump across different chains, but the experience has never truly been coherent. Transferring assets across chains, opening positions, exchanging currencies, and providing liquidity are cumbersome, slow, and costly. DeFi has claimed for years to break down barriers, but the "distance between chains" has never really been bridged. What zkLink wants to do this time is something very different. In May, zkLink released a new roadmap: they are not just looking to "cross-chain," but want to create an AI-driven trading network—permissionless, zero protocol fees, peer-to-peer, allowing AI to run trades, negotiate, and move funds itself, making cross-chain no longer a "bridge" issue, but a structural reconstruction. This is not imagination. This is a plan. In 2025, complete the white paper, PoC cross-chain protocol verification, and core protocol open source; in 2026, launch global Alpha/Beta testing and build a developer ecosystem. Backing this is a collaboration of top institutions such as Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, Crypto.com, Republic Crypto, SIG, and Arrington Capital, and the platform token $ZKL is already listed on Bybit, Gate.io, Bitget, Hashkey Global, and Coinone, gradually entering the view of more users. This is not just a technical upgrade, but zkLink's redefinition of its entire platform: from spot, contracts, to Launchpad, SuperApp, all modules will operate around this set of AI x cross-chain "underlying engine". No noisy airdrops, no overheated narratives, only a solidly built task system, staking mechanism, and LP incentives that truly connect funds, users, and protocols. zkLink is not here to tell stories, but wants to use new technological logic to piece together a complete picture of the multi-chain world. Whoever can connect the nodes of liquidity can grasp the rhythm of DeFi. zkLink may still be in its early stages, but this experiment of AI intervening in DeFi is worth our attention together.
