37. Polygon Zk Rollups ZKP – what should you know about it?

Polygon, formerly Matic Network, is a solution for scaling Ethereum. The company’s main product is the sidechain Polygon, which is a popular alternative to Ethereum due to its low transaction fees and much faster transactions. Today, however, we will discuss Polygon Zk Rollups – what are and what benefits do they offer?

Polygon is in the process of developing a suite of Zero Knowledge Rollups (Zk Rollups).  With them, it aims to increase throughput on Ethereum while maintaining full decentralization and security. Zk Rollups process the transaction off the main chain and reduce layered computation. All to achieve greater scalability.

Polygon Zk Rollups – definition

Polygon zero knowledge rollup, is a scaling solution that turns multiple off-chain transactions, into a single on-chain transaction. Zk Rollups eliminate the need for miners to verify individual transactions on the main Ethereum network. How. They generate proof of validity or proof of zero knowledge for each rollup.

This is how Ethereum can fearlessly verify the authenticity of bulk transactions. All because validity proofs are nothing more than mathematical logic that can be easily proven.  This improves the security of the rollups at the same time.

Polygon Zk Rollups also enable immediate confirmation of a given transaction on the main chain. Therefore, network users can easily transfer their funds between the rollup and the main blockchain (Ethereum) without any delay.

The Polygon network is highly committed to improving the scalability of Ethereum. The ecosystem plans to invest more than $1 million in zero-knowledge technology. Already, several Polygon products are based on zero-knowledge technology. They include Zero, Hermez, Miden and Nightfall.

What is Polygon Zero?

This is also a Zk Rollup solution, but designed to reduce computational costs in generating validity proofs. While indeed zero-knowledge proofs can improve scalability, their functionality is limited due to the expensive proof generation process.

The task of Polygon Zero is to solve this problem, by using so-called recursive proofs. These have faster prover systems. Polygon Zero generates proofs simultaneously for each transaction in a batch. The whole machine then aggregates multiple transaction proofs at once into a single proof on the Ethereum network.

This mechanism significantly reduces the time and cost required to generate the necessary and reliable validity proofs for transaction rollups.  Of course, Polygon Zero has been designed to be compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine we mentioned here [LINK-WHAT IS THE ETHEREUM VIRTUAL MACHINE AND HOW IT WORKS-THE MASTER LEVEL].

Polygon Hermez and Polygon Hermez 2.0

Polygon Hermez is also a Zk Rollup, whose main task is decentralization. It is said to be the only decentralized rollup operating on top of Ethereum.

Hermez uses providence of efficiency (PoE) in its operation. Thus, it provides full decentralization and security of the network. The entire network consists of Sequencers and Aggregators, which together provide rollup functionality. Sequencers accept transactions and Aggregators generate Zk proofs, which are then transferred to Ethereum.

What is very intriguing and should be noted is that in the PoE consensus mechanism, anyone can become a Sequencer or Aggregator. This protects the entire Polygon Hermez from centralization problems.

In the case of the Hermez  protocol, attention should also be paid to its throughput. It achieves it thanks to zero-knowledge technology. It can contain 2000 transactions in one batch!

Hermez 2.0

Polygon Hermez was activated in 2021, but its biggest drawback is its incompatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. As a result, most of its functions are limited and closed to simple token transfers and exchanges.

Hermez 2.0 is a development plan for Polygon Hermez. It is to be compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine. Moreover, it will introduce zero-knowledge EVM (zkEVM). We will not elaborate on this topic. If anyone is curious about how zkEVMs work, we invite you to our lesson, where we focused on this topic.

With Hermez 2.0, Polygon will be able to scale Ethereum, through the use of ZK rollups.

Polygon Miden

This is a Zk rollup, designed for general use. It is based on STARK with EVM compatibility. STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge), is a cryptographic proof.

Polygon Miden is quite unique. It is based on the Miden virtual machine. It executes arbitrary logic and runs smart contracts. Therefore, programmers can easily compile given code written in Solidity or Vyper.

Polygon Miden can process 5,000 transactions in a single block. Polygon Miden is a prototype for now, but will increase Ethereum’s network throughput to more than 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) when it launches.

Polygon Nightfall

It is an enterprise rollup solution. The protocol is meant to facilitate private transactions for companies, which launched on Ethereum Mainnet on May 17 last year.

Polygon Nightfal rollups use Optimistic Rollups and Zero-knowledge cryptography. Optimistic rollups reduce costs, and Zk proofs ensure transaction privacy.

For large organizations looking for scaling and private transactions, Polygon Nightfall is what they are looking for. Nightfall still under development, although Polygon has announced that its beta version will be launched on Ethereum Mainnet.

What is the difference between Polygon Zk Rollups and other rollups with zero knowledge?

They definitely differ in speed, cost, and ability to support calculations that are compatible with EVM.

Let’s look at StarkNet, or zkSync. These are traditional rollups, the disadvantage being the high computational cost of the evidence generated. Polygon Zk Rollups are incomparably cheaper.

What’s more, Polygon Zk solutions are designed to reduce the computational cost of the evidence created as much as possible. One Polygon Rollup can generate a proof in about 170 milliseconds.

Another feature of them is that Polygon Zk offer us smaller proof sizes than classic mechanisms. Their size can reach only 45 kb. This eliminates hardware centralization and reduces the cost burden.

Finally, let’s further emphasize that Polygon Zk Rollups are compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Polygon Zk Rollups – four, key features.

1. Scalability.

Zero-knowledge rollups are irreplaceable if we are talking about improving the scalability of Ethereum. At the same time, they maintain full decentralization and security. Polygon Zero and Polygon Hermez are capable of increasing throughput to thousands of transactions per second.

2. Low transaction fees.

That is, what we have already mentioned. Gas fees have often been impossible to pass for some developers. By taking most transactions off the main chain and flipping them to Polygon, rollups can dramatically reduce transaction fees on the Ethereum network.

3. Safety.

Polygon Zk Rollup are based on stable and robust cryptography. Compared to other proofs of knowledge, they have a much higher security threshold than other designs.

4. Innovation.

Ethereum, in its limitation of scalability, can at the same time limit developers. With Polygon Zk Rollups, developers gain new opportunities and tools. They will move their work and activities to other areas.

Summary

You can see how complex the subject of Polygon Zk Rollups is. However, with Polygon’s commitment to integrating Zk Rollups with Ethereum, it enhances its capabilities.  Rollups by Polygon have great potential. We look forward to developing these zero-knowledge proofs.