Alex Gluchowski is the co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, the software program firm behind zkSync, one in every of Ethereum’s largest zero-knowledge Layer 2 networks. He has led Matter Labs since its founding in December 2018, constructing it from an early analysis venture into infrastructure now utilized by regulated banks. In 2026, he steered the corporate towards Prividium, a privacy-focused blockchain constructed for institutional adoption.
Who Is Alex Gluchowski?
Alex Gluchowski is a software program architect with greater than 15 years of engineering and startup expertise earlier than he entered crypto. He earned a Grasp of Science in laptop science from the Technische Universität Berlin, learning there from 2009 to 2011, after beginning his profession as a junior developer in Ukraine and later main engineering at Readability AG in Dangerous Homburg, Germany, from 2007 to 2009.
Earlier than Matter Labs, he co-founded Somuchmore GmbH, a life-style networking platform later acquired by Rocket Web, and PaulCamper, a camper van rental market, the place he served as CTO till 2017. In December 2018, Gluchowski, one in every of a number of builders profiled on UTB’s crypto personalities web page, co-founded Matter Labs with Alexandr Vlasov who wager that zero-knowledge proofs would show the extra sturdy technique to scale Ethereum.
Alex Gluchowski’s Profession and Contributions
Matter Labs shipped zkSync Lite in 2020 as an early proof of idea, then launched zkSync Period in March 2023, the primary EVM-compatible zk-rollup on Ethereum. In 2024 the corporate added the Elastic Chain, letting ZK-based chains transfer belongings between one another with out exterior bridges.
Gluchowski’s function has since shifted from protocol design towards steering the corporate at institutional prospects. That pivot produced Prividium, a permissioned, privacy-preserving chain for banks and controlled establishments, and Airbender, a settlement proving engine. In March 2026, Matter Labs partnered with BitGo to mix institutional custody with Prividium for banks issuing tokenized deposits, in accordance with CoinDesk.
Alex Gluchowski’s Views and Positions
Gluchowski has argued that Ethereum’s greatest institutional blocker was by no means regulation alone. Banks and asset managers, in his telling, can not expose commerce methods or consumer information on a public ledger and keep aggressive, which is why Prividium retains transaction particulars personal whereas nonetheless deciding on Ethereum.
In response to The Block‘s January 13, 2026 report on Matter Labs’ 2026 roadmap, Gluchowski wrote, “We made a deliberate resolution to construct for real-world constraints fairly than business shortcuts.” He has additionally stated he expects ZKsync’s governance so as to add worth accrual mechanisms to its token over time, fairly than leaving it governance-only, because the community’s interoperable chains mature.
For readers newer to the concepts beneath all of this, our information on how Bitcoin works is price studying alongside this, for the reason that similar trust-minimization drawback underpins the zero-knowledge proofs Gluchowski has constructed his profession round.
Alex Gluchowski within the Information
In March 2026, Matter Labs and BitGo introduced mixed institutional custody and Prividium infrastructure for banks issuing tokenized deposits, CoinDesk reported. The businesses stated the stack was already being examined with regulated monetary establishments, with broader manufacturing rollout focused for later within the yr.
Gluchowski described tokenized deposits in a press launch as how banks convey cash onchain with out leaving the regulatory system. The partnership adopted the four-pillar roadmap Gluchowski revealed in January 2026, which named privateness, deterministic management, verifiable danger administration, and native connectivity to world markets as Matter Labs’ requirements for the yr.
Steadily Requested Questions
Want a refresher on Alex Gluchowski? Listed below are the questions readers most frequently ask about him.
Who’s Alex Gluchowski?
Alex Gluchowski is the co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, the corporate behind the Ethereum Layer 2 community zkSync. He has led the corporate since its founding in December 2018.
What did Gluchowski discovered or invent?
Gluchowski co-founded Matter Labs and co-invented zkSync, an Ethereum Layer 2 community utilizing zero-knowledge rollups. He additionally constructed Prividium, a privacy-focused chain for banks, and Airbender, a settlement proving engine.
Why is Matter Labs constructing for banks as an alternative of the general public crypto market?
Gluchowski has stated public blockchains expose information banks can not afford to reveal. Prividium retains transaction particulars personal between events whereas nonetheless deciding on Ethereum, which he argues removes the principle blocker to institutional adoption.
Is Alex Gluchowski nonetheless the CEO of Matter Labs in 2026?
Sure. As of mid-2026, Gluchowski stays co-founder and CEO of Matter Labs, the place he continues to guide the corporate’s push into institutional infrastructure by Prividium.