zkCLOB is a non-custodial decentralized exchange (DEX) that operates on Ethereum and its compatible networks. It combines a fully on-chain Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) model with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, designed to facilitate private, MEV-resistant, and high-performance trading.^{[1] [2]}

Overview

zkCLOB was developed to merge the performance and features of traditional order book exchanges with the privacy, self-custody, and trustless settlement benefits of decentralized finance. The project states its platform was the result of over six months of research and development. Its primary focus is to address transparency-related issues in on-chain trading, such as front-running, Maximal Extractible Value (MEV) extraction, and the public leakage of trading strategies. Unlike many DEXs that use an Automated Market Maker (AMM) model, zkCLOB provides a framework for professional-grade trading with market and limit orders.^{[3] [4]}

The project's official X (formerly Twitter) account was created in July 2025. The trading platform was launched in the latter half of 2025, prior to the release of its native ecosystem token, $Z. In a public statement on December 25, 2025, the team described 2025 as the year the project's "foundation was laid," with 2026 planned as the start of an "execution era." The platform's revenue model is based on collecting trading fees, with 20% to 40% allocated to platform operations and treasury growth, while the remainder is designated for distribution to stakers of the $Z token.^{[5] [6]}

Architecture

zkCLOB's architecture is founded on several core technological components designed to provide a private and efficient trading environment. The protocol's design aims to conceal user actions from public view until a trade is finalized, thereby protecting users from common on-chain exploits.^[1]

Central Limit Order Book (CLOB)

The platform implements a fully on-chain Central Limit Order Book. This system aggregates liquidity at various price levels and allows users to place market and limit orders, a functionality common in centralized exchanges but less so in the DEX space. This model is intended to facilitate more accurate price discovery and potentially reduce the slippage associated with AMM-based exchanges. By providing a visible order book, it is designed to support more professional and precise trading strategies.^{[3] [2]}

Zero-Knowledge Privacy

zkCLOB integrates zero-knowledge proofs, specifically ZK-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge), to provide privacy at the execution level. This system encrypts order details—including price, size, and direction—before they are broadcast to the network's mempool. The orders remain encrypted and appear as randomized data to external observers, such as front-running bots, until they are matched and executed. This process is designed to shield a trader's intent from public view, reducing the platform's susceptibility to front-running and MEV extraction without compromising on-chain settlement and verifiability.^[1]

The platform's website describes this privacy mechanism as "The Cloaking Protocol," which involves four stages:

1. Identity Abstraction: A user generates a local zero-knowledge proof of their funds on their own device. This proof is used to interact with the platform’s sequencer without directly exposing the user's wallet address.
2. Mempool Cloaking: The user's order details are encrypted, making them unreadable to external observers monitoring the mempool.
3. Trustless Match: An on-chain matching engine verifies the cryptographic proofs of a corresponding buy and sell order to execute a trade. This verification occurs without decrypting the raw order data.
4. L1 Finality: Matched trades are batched together into a ZK-Rollup and settled on the Ethereum L1 mainnet. This process ensures that users retain self-custody of their assets throughout the entire trading lifecycle.^[3]

Execution and Liquidity Routing

To ensure order fulfillment and deep liquidity, zkCLOB uses a multi-layered execution and liquidity routing model. The system first attempts to match orders using the native liquidity within its own CLOB. If the native liquidity is insufficient, it can access additional liquidity from optional, integrated market makers. For certain swaps or in cases of low order book depth, the protocol functions as a DEX aggregator. In this mode, it can route trades across external decentralized exchanges to source the best available price, aiming to provide instant execution for spot, market, and convert trades while preserving user privacy at the protocol layer.^[1]

Products

zkCLOB offers a suite of trading and exchange products built upon its core architecture.^[4]

Spot Trading

The primary product is an institutional-style spot trading interface featuring a visible order book. It supports various order types, including market orders, limit orders, and stop orders, along with settings for Take Profit/Stop Loss (TP/SL). All trades are settled directly on-chain, and the execution is non-custodial, meaning users retain control of their funds at all times.^[6]

Convert Swaps

Referred to on the platform as the "Atomic Dark Pool," this feature provides a simplified interface for users to perform token swaps. These swaps are automatically routed through available liquidity sources, including other DEXs, to find the best possible execution price. The platform's documentation claims that these swaps are executed with zero slippage. All transactions conducted through the Convert feature are protected by the zkCLOB protocol's privacy layer.^[3]

P2P Crypto ↔️ Fiat Marketplace

zkCLOB includes a peer-to-peer marketplace designed for the exchange of cryptocurrency for fiat currency. The platform states this marketplace is permissionless, globally accessible, and does not have a mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement. To secure transactions between users, the marketplace utilizes an escrow system and provides end-to-end encrypted chat functionality.^[1]

Real-World Asset (RWA) Trading

The exchange infrastructure supports the spot trading of tokenized real-world assets. The platform acts as an execution venue for on-chain representations of assets such as commodities, with examples like tokenized gold (PAXG) and silver cited in its documentation. zkCLOB clarifies that it only provides the execution infrastructure for trading these assets and is not involved in their issuance, custody, or redemption.^[2]

Features

In addition to its core products, zkCLOB incorporates a reputation system that offers benefits to users based on their activity.

Anonymous Reputation Layers

The platform features a tiered system that provides trading fee discounts based on a user's cumulative trading volume or their staking of the $Z token. The system is designed to be anonymous, linking rewards to cryptographic proofs rather than public wallet addresses. The tiers are:

• Bronze: 0% discount, the default for new accounts.
• Silver: 25% discount, granted to users with over $10,000 in trading volume.
• Gold: 50% discount, granted to users with over $50,000 in trading volume.
• Platinum: 70% discount, granted to users who stake the $Z token.^[3]

Use Cases

The zkCLOB platform is designed to support a range of on-chain trading activities.

• Executing private on-chain spot trades with encrypted order details to prevent front-running and strategy leakage.
• Engaging in professional-grade trading using limit, market, and stop orders on a decentralized, on-chain order book.
• Exchanging cryptocurrency for fiat currency via a permissionless, escrow-secured peer-to-peer marketplace without mandatory KYC.
• Trading tokenized real-world assets, such as commodities, through a spot trading interface.
• Earning a share of platform revenue in ETH or USDC through the staking of the native $Z token.^{[1] [6]}

$Z Tokenomics

The zkCLOB ecosystem is powered by its native utility and governance token, $Z. It is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network and is designed with no transaction tax.^[1]

Utilities

The $Z token is integrated into the platform's economic model with several key functions:

• Staking: Holders can stake $Z tokens to earn a percentage of the platform's trading fee revenue.
• Fee Discounts: The token can be used to unlock trading fee discounts, including access to the Platinum tier which offers a 70% reduction.
• Governance: The token is intended to grant holders the right to participate in protocol governance via the future zkCLOB DAO.
• Economic Mechanisms: Token holders may be able to propose and vote on community-led initiatives, such as token buyback or burn mechanisms.^[2]

Token Allocation

The total supply of the $Z token is 100 million. According to the project's official website, the allocation is as follows:

• Uniswap Liquidity: 40%
• Burn Address: 20%
• Airdrop: 15%
• Partners & Liquidity: 15%
• Team & Advisors: 10%

The allocation for the team and advisors is subject to a vesting schedule of one to two years.^[3]

Governance

zkCLOB plans to transition its governance model to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Once established, the DAO will allow $Z token holders to propose and vote on key protocol parameters and ecosystem initiatives. This includes decisions on fee schedules, the integration of new features, and the direction of future development.^[1]

Ecosystem

zkCLOB is designed with a multi-chain vision and fosters ecosystem growth through a collaborative listing strategy.

Supported Networks

The platform is operational on Ethereum Mainnet and the Base Layer 2 network, supporting deposits, withdrawals, and the trading of Base-native ecosystem tokens. On December 23, 2025, the project announced plans to expand support to include BNB Chain and Solana in the future.^{[5] [4]}

Partnerships

zkCLOB's partnership strategy primarily involves collaborating with other projects and tokens through listings and joint marketing efforts. The project states that it typically offers these token listings on its exchange without imposing listing fees or mandatory liquidity provision requirements from the partner project.

• CertiK: The project's smart contracts have been audited by the blockchain security firm CertiK.^[6]
• ATLAS ($ATLAS): The token was officially listed for spot trading on the platform on December 26, 2025.^[5]

Security

The zkCLOB protocol's smart contracts and its $Z token contract have undergone a security audit by CertiK. While multiple sources state no critical vulnerabilities were reported, the public audit dashboard provides more specific details. The audit, last updated on December 15, 2025, identified two "Critical" and six "Major" findings, all of which were subsequently marked as "Resolved" by the zkCLOB project team. An additional finding related to a "Centralization" risk from privileged roles was noted as "Acknowledged" by the team.^[7]

Key security metrics from the CertiK report as of late 2025 include:

• CertiK Skynet Score: 76.49
• Token Scan Score: 97.00
• Token Contract Owner: The owner of the Ethereum contract 0x1c13522ca36e5e13c591c0803083d5bb9282fe48 is the null address (0x000...000), indicating that contract ownership has been renounced.
• Team Verification: The project team had not completed CertiK's optional KYC verification process at the time of the audit report.
• Bug Bounty: The project did not have an active bug bounty program registered with CertiK.^[7]

Roadmap and Future Developments

The project has outlined several future developments on its roadmap:

• Expanded support for additional Layer 2 networks.
• The launch of advanced charting and analytics tools for the trading interface.
• The introduction of a demo or simulation trading mode for users.
• The first distribution of revenue-share rewards to $Z token stakers.
• The formal launch of the zkCLOB DAO to enable community governance.
• The integration of fiat on-ramp services.
• The release of an API and SDK for third-party developer integrations.
• The implementation of a P2P reputation and "TrustScore" system for the marketplace.^{[2] [1]}