Kevin Liu is a software developer, co-founder, and product lead for Metis, an Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup platform. He is also the decentralization coordinator of the MetisDAO and the CEO and co-founder of ZKM, a general-purpose zero-knowledge proof system that is developing Metis' hybrid rollup. ^[1][5][6]

Education

Liu earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Tianjin University in 2001. He later graduated from the University of Chinese Academy of Science with an M.B.A. in 2007. ^[1]

Career

In 2003, Liu began his tech career as a brand marketing specialist for IBM, a global tech company. He then moved to Novel SuperTV and became an investment manager, where he worked until 2010. Afterward, he transitioned to senior investment manager at Analysis International, an investment banking company, and stayed there until November 2011. In 2011, Liu became VP of strategic development at StarsChina Technology Ltd., a technology production company. He worked there until 2015 and moved to Toronto to take on the VP position at the company’s Canada office. ^[1]

In 2018, he co-founded Token Economy Labs Inc., a company reporting the latest crypto and blockchain trends. A year later, he met Elena Sinelnikova and Yuan Su at a collaboration conference held by CryptoChicks, a blockchain education platform for women. Together, they co-founded Metis, an Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup platform. In January 2023, Liu co-founded and became the CEO of ZKM, a general-purpose zero-knowledge proof system, creating Metis’ hybrid rollup for Ethereum to make a universal blockchain layer. ^[1][2]

Interview

About Metis

Liu sat down with the Blocmates Podcast in November 2022 to discuss Metis. The interview began with him discussing Metis’ mission and goals: ^[3]

“It has a very clear mission and vision. We hope to onboard traditional businesses to the web 3.0. In order to do that, you will need a very solid technical infrastructure to support the high transaction volume and also at a very low cost. So that is currently what we are building, the Layer 2 smart L2 technology, to enable people to onboard onto the blockchain at high speed and also trade at a very low cost.”

He also shared how a company can’t be successful in the blockchain world without knowing traditional finance, saying: ^[3]

“There's a firm belief from us that blockchain is not just about finance. As you can see from the physical world, finance is built on top of real business operations. If you don't have this foundation, finance will be like a tree without roots. It will be just like what is currently happening, with trading or scams being very common. But for us, we believe that blockchain needs to support real business operations first, and then finance or DeFi can work as a large financial market to support all these real business operations. So, that is currently what we are building.”

Liu was later asked about the challenges Metis faced as they began developing their community and ecosystem: ^[3]

“Actually, it was quite exciting with workable infrastructure as the first step of our achievement. As we're beginning, we hope to support a lot of builders to onboard and develop in our ecosystem. So, we put a lot of resources and even more power into that. I think there are some lessons learned because we would try to help, but there are some boundaries that we might not be able to fine-tune. So, I think that leads to our new profile, which is the Community Ecosystem Governance Program launched. We hope to hear the community's voice on which projects we should support instead of our team deciding that. So, I think that's one of the lessons learned when you support projects; there should be some extent we need to leverage.”

When asked if asking real-world businesses, like Nike, to become a DAC and join the blockchain industry was a little ambitious, Liu responded: ^[3]

“It still will take time, but during our communication with those traditional companies, I can see a trend that blockchain is not something unfamiliar to them or they have no idea about. Actually, many companies are considering blockchain solutions. I think there should be some entry point for them on how they can benefit from leveraging blockchain technology or our leadership platform. So basically, the easiest way is marketing and the community, how to leverage their own users and to be more engaged with their product or platform. Yeah, I can see some solutions. But, um, I agree with you. It will take time, yeah, but we can definitely see the trend and we hope to be part of this trend.”

Liu also explained how DeFi is essential and how to build it towards the future: ^[3]

“First, DeFi is still very important to the whole ecosystem, not just the media's ecosystem. I mean the whole blockchain consists of, uh, the key is to define the role it's gonna play in the whole framework. It's, um, for now, like maybe 99 percent of the business in the blockchain space is DeFi. But for us, we believe, uh, at least, you know, 30 or 40 percent of the business should be real business, real-world use cases. With that foundation, DeFi can work as the financial market, just like the real-world business. You still need a very robust financial market to, you know, contain all these, uh, you know, trading and also, you know, lending, borrowing. But, you know, it should be built on some solid foundation, which is the true use cases building on the blockchain. So, uh, I think that's, uh, part of our understanding.”

About ZKM

On June 6th, 2024, Tech Times interviewed Liu about the genesis of ZKM and discussed the project's mission and goals in the blockchain industry, starting with its history: ^[4]

"Coming from a technical background, I realized the power of blockchain technology early on. However, it wasn't until the bear market of 2018 that I made a meaningful contribution to the sector by co-founding Token Economy Labs to study tokenomics. But it was the beginning of a deeper dive into the crypto space. As I gained a better understanding of the space, its vast potential, and what is limiting the industry from going forward, I co-founded the Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup platform Metis. Ethereum has been critical to blockchain adoption by enabling the world to gain better access to financial services. While fundamentally important to the entire blockchain industry, the platform has issues that need to be tackled, which led to the creation of Metis and, later, ZKM in early 2023. 
At ZKM, we have designed an interoperability network to unify the fragmented liquidity across blockchains based on our zero-knowledge virtual machine and decentralized sequencers. Our initial focus was on the development of what we term a 'Hybrid Rollup,' which is an upgrade of Metis and other Optimistic Rollups to a hybrid OP+ZK model. But we soon realized the potential of our zkVM, zkMIPS, extends far beyond that."

He also explained how the project expanded beyond Ethereum and into other L2s: ^[4]

"While Ethereum has previously been central to our efforts, our vision extends far beyond it. We believe in a multi-chain future and aim to create a universal settlement network, using our zkVM and associated tech stack to provide a single, VM-agnostic solution to streamline interoperability and unite the fragmented blockchain world. Existing interoperability solutions have only added complexity and insecurity for users. Traditionally, connecting different blockchain networks requires third-party 'bridges' to mediate transactions, creating potential risks in security, as demonstrated by numerous bridge hacks. We pioneered an interoperability design, termed 'Entangled Rollups,' which removes these risks by establishing direct connections between blockchains in a decentralized manner, allowing secure and direct exchanges without the use of intermediaries. In short, our focus now encompasses all blockchains; on connecting them seamlessly and with a level of security that is unparalleled. Our ultimate goal is to unify the fragmented liquidity across multiple blockchain ecosystems completely."

When asked about ZKM on Bitcoin, Liu responded: ^[4]

"Realizing the need for a scaling solution that inherits the native security of Layer 1, we naturally decided to develop a uniquely innovative Bitcoin L2 as the first implementation of our Entangled Rollup design. After all, our goal is to position ZKM as the Universal Settlement Network for all blockchains, and what better place to start than Bitcoin? This Bitcoin L2 will be supported with the entire Entangled Rollup framework and from the zkVM level, so both native security and sustainable yield will be its key features. This means that BTC holders can support the decentralized sequencer nodes on the main Bitcoin blockchain to secure and batch the transactions on the Bitcoin L2, potentially earning transaction revenue and mining rewards. Furthermore, interconnection with Entangled Rollups can endow Bitcoin with a level of interoperability that was previously deemed unachievable, enabling BTC assets to move smoothly and securely to and from other ecosystems like Ethereum, Cosmos, Ton, and many more."

He then shared his vision for ZKM's future and adoption: ^[4]

"To achieve widespread adoption, ZKM must leverage both its technological strengths and strategic business development. Our goal is to create network effects where the value of our zkVM increases with its demonstration as more developers begin to understand its enormous potential. Initially, we're focusing on key partnerships and integrations to optimize our tech stack, and in the future, this focus will shift more towards collaborations that help drive adoption. Looking forward, our strategy includes building a major use case to showcase the capabilities of our tech stack. This approach mirrors the success of Optimism's L2, which drove the adoption of the OP Stack through practical demonstration of its value."