$ZKSVM is the token of the zkSVM protocol. It ties the people who hold it to the thing the protocol is for: a shielded pool that more people use, for longer, earns more — and $ZKSVM is how that comes back to them.
At a glance
| Ticker | $ZKSVM |
| Supply | 1,000,000,000 at issue, falling with every burn |
| Fees | Part of the protocol's fees buys $ZKSVM back and burns it |
| Staking | Earns a higher rate than the pool's base yield |
Supply
One billion $ZKSVM are issued. From there the number only moves one way: every buyback ends in a burn, and burned tokens are gone.
The yield on a shielded balance is never paid in $ZKSVM — that yield is jitoSOL appreciating, and it needs no token to exist — so the supply is not something the protocol spends to attract deposits.
Buyback and burn
The pool earns. Every earning balance inside it is staked, and the protocol takes a fee on that activity. Part of that fee is used to buy $ZKSVM on the open market, and what is bought is burned.
shielded balances earn ──► protocol fee
│
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
▼ ▼
buys $ZKSVM back the rest
│
▼
burned ──► supply falls
Nothing about this is discretionary in spirit: the input is use of the pool. More value shielded, for longer, means more fees, more bought back and more burned — and it is also exactly what makes the pool more private for everyone in it. The token's incentive and the pool's privacy point the same way.
Burns happen on-chain, so anyone can total them.
Staking $ZKSVM
Staking $ZKSVM earns a higher rate than the pool's base yield.
- The base yield is what any earning balance receives: Jito's staking and MEV rewards, through jitoSOL. See Earn while shielded.
- Stakers earn above it. The rate, and what it is paid in, are part of the staking terms.
Staking is a public action on a public token. It does not touch your shielded balance, and nothing about your shielded balance is revealed by it. You can hold a private balance in the pool and a staked position in $ZKSVM, and the chain cannot connect the two.
What is published before launch
The fee schedule, the share of fees that goes to buybacks, the staking terms and the token's allocation are published together, ahead of launch, along with the token's mint address.
Questions
Is the pool's yield paid in $ZKSVM?
No. A shielded balance earns because jitoSOL appreciates against SOL. That works with or without the token.
Do I need $ZKSVM to use the pool?
No. Shielding, sending, claiming, proving and unshielding need SOL for network fees and nothing else.
What does the protocol fee apply to?
Earning balances: value the protocol has staked on a user's behalf. Private transfers inside the pool are not what it is charged on. The exact schedule is part of what is published before launch; the program as it stands today takes no fee at all. See Fees and costs.
Can burned tokens come back?
No. A burn destroys the tokens; it is not a transfer to a wallet someone controls.