Gnosis and Zisk Unveil Ethereum Economic Zone to Address L2 Fragmentation

A Unified Framework for Synchronously Composable Rollups

Gnosis and Zisk, with support from the Ethereum Foundation (EF), have introduced the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ) — a framework aimed at merging the fragmented landscape of Layer 2 networks into a single, synchronously composable environment. The initiative enables applications to share infrastructure across rollups while maintaining settlements on Ethereum's base layer.

"Welcome to the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ), a framework for synchronously composable rollups. One deployment. Shared liquidity. Single transactions across L1 & L2. Identity verified anywhere. Smart wallets connected everywhere. No additional trust…" — The Ethereum Economic Zone (@etheconomiczone), original post

According to the project description, EEZ will reduce service duplication and eliminate the need for cross-chain transfers, streamlining interactions between ecosystems. ETH serves as the default gas token within the economic zone.

Why This Matters

Ethereum's rollup-centric scaling strategy has significantly boosted throughput, but at a cost. Dozens of L2 solutions have fragmented liquidity, infrastructure, and user activity across isolated environments. Each rollup effectively operates as a separate island, complicating development and forcing users to constantly bridge assets between networks.

EEZ arrives at a pivotal moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. In February 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin acknowledged that the original L2 vision had become outdated and proposed a new model for ecosystem development. The Ethereum Foundation subsequently shared its own perspective on the division of responsibilities between the base layer and rollups, emphasizing differentiation — L2 solutions should offer unique features rather than replicate one another.

EEZ Alliance and Founding Members

Alongside the framework, an informal group called the EEZ Alliance has been formed to coordinate standards and support adoption. Founding members include lending protocol Aave, block builders Titan and Beaver Build, real-world asset platform Centrifuge, and tokenized stock project xStocks.

The Ethereum Economic Zone will be registered as a Swiss non-profit organization. All software will be released as open source. Technical specifications and performance benchmarks are expected in the coming weeks.

Ethereum Foundation Co-Funding

The Ethereum Foundation has agreed to co-fund EEZ — a notable decision given the organization's shift toward fiscal conservatism. EF paused its grants program in mid-2025, aiming to keep annual spending at 5%. The foundation later released an updated roadmap with a "proactive approach," naming mainnet scaling and L2 interoperability as key priorities. EEZ fits squarely within this focus.

Record ETH Staking by the Foundation

In parallel with backing EEZ, the Ethereum Foundation continues to ramp up its ETH staking activity. On March 30, the organization locked 22,517 ETH worth $46.2 million — a record single-day staking amount for the foundation.

"The Ethereum Foundation just staked $46.2M of ETH. This is more ETH than they have EVER staked before." — Arkham (@arkham), original post

Reports about the foundation's staking plans first emerged in late February, when EF indicated it would lock a total of 70,000 ETH in the initial phase, directing all proceeds toward ecosystem support. According to Arkham data, the foundation managed 147,471 ETH worth $301 million at the time of reporting.