dailyhodl.com
A layer-2 scaling solution is surging after the announcement of a new feature aimed at supercharging the Ethereum (ETH) network.
In a new blog post, the team behind Polygon (MATIC) says it has achieved a major breakthrough in zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology which is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
In a zero-knowledge proof, one party is able to prove the veracity of a piece of information to a second party without revealing the information itself. Developers employ the ZK method for increased levels of security and data privacy.
Polygon says that its new zkEVM will enhance the Ethereum experience for users and developers by adding efficiency and reducing costs while taking advantage of the leading smart contract platform’s existing secure and trusted framework.
“The potential for a ZK rollup to scale Ethereum is obvious: One transaction replaces many, increasing throughput, saving on fees, reducing latency, etc. But ZK technology comes with its own challenges [such as performance and compatibility].
Polygon’s ZK teams have made major breakthroughs in performance. Working together, we’ve significantly improved proof-generation times.
You can build on Polygon zkEVM the same way you would on Ethereum. You can deploy any Ethereum smart contract. Any tooling that works with Ethereum will work on Polygon zkEVM. Do anything you would do on Ethereum, for lower cost and at greater speeds, and have it verified on the Ethereum network via a ZK validity proof. It’s Ethereum, but with ZK scalability.”
Polygon says that the new feature will be permissionless and open-source, and has made the code’s alpha version available to the public via GitHub. A public testnet will soon be operational to help enhance and improve future versions.
The project summed up the significance of its latest breakthrough by saying,
“Polygon zkEVM is the first technology of its kind.
No other scaling solution harnesses the potential of ZK proofs while achieving EVM-equivalence.”
Polygon’s native token MATIC has been rallying all week, at one point having risen 71.4% from $0.56 to $0.96. The altcoin corrected slightly and is trading for $0.88 at time of writing.
We are proud to announce a giant leap forward for Ethereum scaling and ZK innovation.
Introducing Polygon #zkEVM, the first EVM-equivalent ZK L2.
Today we’re releasing a complete implementation, fully open-source, and we’re just getting started.
[1/6] pic.twitter.com/P929DRCT1y
— Polygon – MATIC ? (@0xPolygon) July 20, 2022