Ethereum Price Surges 10% to $3,000 on zkEVM Roadmap Release

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has recently unveiled its zkEVM roadmap, aiming to integrate real-time zero-knowledge proof verification into Layer 1 within the next year. This development coincides with a significant surge in Ethereum’s price, which has risen above $3,000, reflecting renewed market interest and developer momentum.

The roadmap, shared on July 10, 2025, outlines the steps necessary to implement zero-knowledge execution on Ethereum’s leading network. The initiative is led by Ethereum researcher Sophia Gold, with contributions from several core developers. The rollout will begin by enabling validators to run clients that verify, rather than re-execute, Ethereum blocks. These clients will check multiple execution proofs generated by different zk virtual machines using separate EVM implementations, providing redundancy and defending against potential bugs or faults in any one system.

Each proof must meet specific criteria, including a maximum size of 300 kilobytes, at least 128-bit cryptographic security, and the avoidance of trusted setups. Proof systems delivering 100-bit security will be accepted in the early stages, with upgrades expected as the rollout progresses. To support this setup, Ethereum’s protocol will require pipelining improvements to allow extra proving time during block creation. These changes are anticipated to be introduced in the upcoming “Glamsterdam” upgrade.

Early adoption of zkEVM is expected to be limited, but the Foundation plans to support uptake through audits, formal specifications, and bug bounties. Once a majority of validators are using zk clients, the gas limit may be raised, and all validators will be required to verify execution proofs. These proofs could also be reused by zk-rollups using a new precompile in the protocol.

In related news, Polygon, a leading scaling project on Ethereum, completed a key update on its Proof-of-Stake chain with the Heimdall v2 upgrade. This upgrade includes PIP-43, PIP-44, and PIP-62, and the network remained live and finalizing blocks during the upgrade. The Polygon staking app and portal were under maintenance but expected to return shortly. Service providers were advised to update their infrastructure without delay. Although not directly tied to Ethereum’s zkEVM plan, the upgrade demonstrates Polygon’s continued focus on protocol-level improvements.

These developments show growing momentum across the Ethereum ecosystem to adopt more efficient and scalable infrastructure. The release of the zkEVM roadmap has sparked fresh optimism among investors, who are closely watching as zero-knowledge features become a more central part of Ethereum’s long-term design. The price of Ethereum climbed past $3,000 on July 10, its first time above the level in five months, driven by a wave of buying pressure following the roadmap release and market interest in ZK technology. However, at the time of reporting, the price had dropped to $2,950.92, marking a 0.8% decline in 24 hours. Its market capitalization is now pegged at $356 billion.