- Polygon (MATIC) developers and community members are considering an intermediate step to becoming a zkEVM validium.
- The move will leverage Succinct Labs’ SP1 solution.
- Find out all the critical details in this article.
Over the past year, Polygon Labs has espoused a new vision for their blockchain. Instead of a single PoS sidechain scaling Ethereum, Polygon (MATIC) is set to become an ecosystem of zero-knowledge-powered Layer 2 chains that share liquidity with and infinitely scale Ethereum.
As part of this new vision, the team has rolled out several tools to allow projects to spin off ZK Layer 2 chains and connect to the Polygon ecosystem. At the same time, the network has announced plans to transition the PoS to a zkEVM validium.
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While work on the PoS chain’s complete transition continues, developers have proposed an intermediate move that promises to allow Polygon-powered or connected chains to immediately reap the benefits of the PoS chain’s deep liquidity and large user base.
Polygon zkPoS Phase 1: What You Need to Know
On Wednesday, June 12, Polygon Labs CTO Paul O’Leary and Succinct Labs CEO Uma Roy submitted a proposal that would see Polygon PoS plug into the AggLayer, the interoperability protocol of the network’s Layer 2 ecosystem, to share liquidity with connected chains.
Dubbed zkPoS Phase 1, the plan would see the blockchain use Succinct Labs’ SP1, a zkVM solution powered by Polygon’s Plonky 3 prover, to generate proof of its consensus mechanism to allow settlement to the AggLayer and pessimistic proof of the network’s deposits to allow safe bridging of assets.
According to the team, the move will not require changes to the network’s consensus mechanism, the role of validators, or the network clients. Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic also asserted that the move would not affect network fees.
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"PoS + AggLayer preserves the mature, stable network devs love, while core engineers continue development of the spec for upgrading the network to a zkEVM validium," Polygon Labs asserted.
While the zkPoS Phase 1 step does not appear to require significant changes to Polygon’s existing infrastructure, the proposal draft notes that it creates a new role in the network that will be responsible for communicating the network’s bridge state and proof of consensus with the AggLayer. Developers noted that they had yet to decide if this role would be permissionless from the start or initially carried out by an allowlisted wallet.
A Boon for the Multichain Polygon Ecosystem?
At the time of writing, Polygon PoS boasts over 400 million unique addresses and over $2 billion in assets bridged from Ethereum. By plugging into the AggLayer, these users and assets could trustlessly and seamlessly cross over to the other blockchains connected to the unified bridge, potentially serving as a boon to projects building on them.
Chains currently plugged into the AggLayer include Polygon zkEVM, Astar zkEVM, and OKX’s X Layer.
If the Polygon community accepts the proposal, developers posit that the PoS chain could move to zkPoS Phase 1 before the end of 2024. Judging by Polygon forum comments, most community members appear to be behind the move at the time of writing.
On the Flipside
- The current proposal is only a discussion draft. After production-ready pessimistic proofs are completed, a formal Polygon Improvement Proposal (PIP) is expected in the fall.
- How Polygon PoS plugging into the AggLayer will affect other connected chains remains to be seen.
Why This Matters
Polygon is the largest Ethereum scaling solution based on market capitalization. The proposed zkPoS Phase 1 move to connect the chain to the AggLayer using Succinct’s Type 1 prover while core developers continue to work on the comprehensive zkEVM validium upgrade promises to allow connected chains to enjoy significant network benefits sooner rather than later.
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