In what the company termed as “a major leap forward” in the world of zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, Polygon announced Polygon zkEVM. The announcement was made at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) held in Paris. According to Polygon’s press release, Polygon zkEVM would be the first scaling solution equivalent to Ethereum that can work seamlessly with all existing smart contracts, wallets, and developer tools. It shall make use of advanced cryptography known as zero-knowledge proofs.
Need for Polygon zkEVM
As compared to its competitors Solana and Tezos, Ethereum has a lower transaction capacity. Moreover, Ethereum has high gas fees and is perceived as relatively expensive by many. Given these circumstances, rollups like the Polygon zkEVM are a way for Ethereum to boost its network’s capabilities. Such rollups allow quicker transactions and users do not have to spend exorbitant amounts to avail of the essential security guarantees of the network.
ZK rollups
Optimistic and zero-knowledge are the two main types of rollups. Of the two, zero-knowledge is considered to be the one of superior technology. However, the engineering complexity of zero-knowledge rollups caused it to lag behind. Until recently, a fully featured ZK rollup like the Polygon zkEVM was considered a distant dream.
Sandeep Naliwal, a co-founder of Polygon, remarked that although users thought such a rollup was at least 12 to 18 months away, they were ready to launch Polygon zkEVM. Polygon is ready to make the test net live. The mainnet launch is expected sometime around early 2023.
