Gas abstraction layer Zyfi closes $2m private funding round

ZkSync-based Zyfi received financial backing to bootstrap paymaster services across the Ethereum ecosystem.

Gas abstraction layer Zyfi raised $2 million in a private funding round to bootstrap native account abstraction on zkSync and, by extension, the larger decentralized finance (defi) landscape. 

Although blockchain and crypto adoption has advanced in recent years, tools like self-custodial wallets such as MetaMask and executing on-chain transactions remain tricky to some. 

A major roadblock to defi activities is gas, the fee users pay to miners or validators for confirming transactions. Zyfi plans to deploy capital from investors toward solving this problem by simplifying gas options across protocols and solutions. 

Zyfi’s account abstraction thesis

The zkSync-powered layer allows users to pay gas in Ethereum (ETH) or any ERC-20 token, creating a generalized answer to the gas conundrum. Zyfi achieves this by leveraging native account abstraction.

Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin has touted account abstraction as the next step for driving adoption and seamlessly onboarding more Web3 users. 

Standard wallet addresses, otherwise known as Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs), have limited functionality. As Buterin and other developers have explained, account abstraction removes this limitation, and enables EOAs to operate like smart contracts. 

The unlocked features mean users have greater flexibility and can do more with their wallets, like customizing gay payments, spending limits, and social recovery. 

According to a Dune Analytics dashboard, Zyfi has already deployed this technology for nearly one million transactions and for more than 110,000 users on zkSync. Zyfi founder Gauthier Vila said the investments will help ensure that “developers can concentrate on enhancing their products” for end-users. 

Firms like Everstake Capital, Tenzor Capital, Apvc.capital, Criterionvc, NxGen, Majinx Capital, v3ntures, and Momentum8, to name a few, participated in the private fundraiser.