Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk. In this issue: Stripe-Backed Blockchain Tempo Starts Testnet; Kalshi, Mastercard, UBS Added as Partners ZKsync Lite to Shut Down in 2026 as Matter Labs Moves On Blockstream Connects Lightning and Liquid for Faster, Private Bitcoin Payments Axelar Unveils AgentFlux to Bring AI Agents Onchain, Without Cloud Risks Unknown block type "divide ...

LATEST: ⚡ ZKsync will depreciate ZKsync Lite next year, winding down the original zero-knowledge rollup it launched on Ethereum after having served its purposes as a proof-of-concept. https://t.co/ebsgEqBPFL ...

ZKsync announced that it will deprecate ZKsync Lite (formerly ZKsync 1.0), the zero-knowledge rollup launched in 2020, in 2026. The change does not affect other ZKsync systems, and the team will provide a detailed timeline and migration guidance next year. ZKsync said Lite has completed its intended role, and about $50 million in assets remain bridged to the network, with withdrawals to L1 continuing to operate. https://t.co/74B3cEl12I ...

ZKsync to deprecate ZKsync Lite in 2026, sunsetting Ethereum's first ZK rollup https://t.co/cErqaQ9Ctx ...