ZKsync Price Sees Volatile Swings Following Atlas Upgrade Launch and Vitalik Buterin Endorsement

The price of ZKsync's native token, ZK, has experienced significant volatility following the successful launch of its major Atlas upgrade and a public endorsement from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The combination of technical advancement and high-profile validation initially propelled the token's price upward by over 120% from its lows on Saturday, before a sharp correction ensued.

The Atlas upgrade, which went live recently, represents a substantial technical leap for the Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution. Key features include near one-second ZK finality, full multi-VM compatibility with EVM support, and benchmarked throughput exceeding 15,000 transactions per second. The upgrade also incorporates Airbender, a high-performance zkVM for fast verification, and a new shared-liquidity framework to improve capital efficiency between Layer 1 and Layer 2.

Vitalik Buterin's praise, posted on social media on November 1st, significantly amplified the event's visibility. He stated, "ZKsync has been doing a lot of underrated and valuable work in the ethereum ecosystem. Excited to see this come from them!" This endorsement was interpreted as strong validation from a leading industry figure.

The market reaction was swift but followed a classic "buy the rumor, sell the news" pattern. After the initial surge, the ZK token retraced roughly 26.2% within 24 hours, sharply underperforming the broader crypto market's 2.75% decline during the same period. Technical indicators showed the rally was overextended, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hitting 72.5, its highest since May. The token faced rejection near the $0.06322 resistance level (23.6% Fibonacci retracement).

Broader market dynamics contributed to the pullback, including a rotation of capital out of altcoins as Bitcoin dominance rose to 59.66% and a drop in the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to 36. Derivatives data showed a 22.7% monthly drop in ZK open interest, indicating reduced speculative leverage.

Despite the technical milestone, analysts note that zkSync's on-chain adoption metrics, such as daily active users and total value locked (TVL) on the mainnet, remain modest. However, the broader ecosystem's multi-chain TVL is in the billions. A potential growth driver is Prividium, the project's enterprise-focused solution, which is reportedly being tested by over 30 banks for zero-knowledge settlement models.

Price forecasts highlight $0.0407 as a critical support zone. A break below could lead to further declines toward $0.0320, while key resistance levels are seen at $0.0568, $0.0657, and $0.0759. The near-term outlook balances strong long-term fundamentals against fragile short-term sentiment, with the next growth phase dependent on translating technical promise into sustained real-world adoption and economic activity.