The =nil; Foundation is a organization focused on advancing zero-knowledge technology and scalable blockchain infrastructure. Established in 2018, the foundation aims to integrate best practices from database management systems with applied cryptography to develop trustless and efficient blockchain solutions. One of its key innovations is zkSharding, a sharded Layer 2 (L2) solution for Ethereum that enables horizontal and vertical scaling without compromising decentralization. This architecture enhances Ethereum's throughput by allowing multiple shards to process transactions in parallel while maintaining a unified global state​.The foundation also developed the Proof Market, a decentralized marketplace for zero-knowledge proofs, which facilitates the generation and monetization of zkProofs. This platform offers developers a streamlined process for creating secure, scalable, and private DApps by leveraging zkLLVM, a compiler for converting high-level programming languages into zkProof-compatible formats​​.