Polygon [Matic] has launched zkEVM touted to be a massive leap for Ethereum scaling and Zero-knowledge or ZK innovation.
According to the announcement, the new scaling product is the first EVM-equivalent ZK L2 that comes with the security of Ethereum while increasing throughput and radically reducing fees.
But what does EVM- equivalent mean?
EVM-equivalence means that one can deploy any smart contract, dev tool, or DApp on Polygon zkEVM. “It’s just like using Ethereum, but with the groundbreaking scaling power of ZK tech,” the tweet claimed.
“Like any ZK L2, Polygon zkEVM “rolls up” a batch of transactions and uses a ZKP to validate those transactions on Ethereum. Unlike any other ZK L2, Polygon zkEVM leverages the fastest ZK tech with plonky2, while giving users and devs the convenience of EVM equivalence,” the team added.
According to the blog post, ZK proofs have always been perceived as a promising technology, but they too come with certain limitations, they tend to be slow and expensive to generate. In addition to that, there’s also the challenge of compatibility.
Polygon zkEVM Is Open-Source And Permissionless
The ZK teams have worked on these issues and made some major breakthroughs in performance. “Working together, we’ve significantly improved proof-generation times. This makes Polygon zkEVM ready for primetime. Users will see dramatically reduced costs and improved speed.”
Besides being an in-house project, the team explained that Polygon zkEVM is open-source i.e made for everyone who wants a cheaper, faster way to use Ethereum without sacrificing security or decentralization. It is also permissionless meaning anyone can use it.
Further, the publication dubbed EVM-equivalence as the Secret Sauce that would empower both devs and users, the team informed that the testnet is slated to go live soon, in which devs and the community can explore possibilities and make necessary improvements as required.
Today we are open-sourcing the code for Polygon zkEVM. Soon we’ll have a public testnet, which will be an opportunity to test our work, and to find areas where it needs to be improved.