WTF are ZK EVMs?
Recently, a plethora of ecosystems announced rollups with zero knowledge and EVM compatibility. So what does Ethereum mean by ZK-rollups? What do you, the user, get out of them? And how might this technology alter cryptocurrency? Let’s look at each facet of the ZK EVM world one by one.
What is a ZK-rollup?
Many people have spent the last few years trying to build “rollups” on top of the network to make it cheaper and faster because Ethereum (or any other Layer 1 network) is expensive and slow. Consider a ZK-rollup as a way to demonstrate that a complex calculation was completed successfully and accurately without displaying the entire calculation. It’s a technique for condensing a lot of data (in this case, the data from a number of transactions) into a small proof that is then posted to Ethereum.
What is the EVM?
EVM stands for Ethereum Virtual Machine. It is the software environment for the Ethereum network. The EVM is basically a mini-computer inside of Ethereum that allows developers to write smart contracts in a language called Solidity. A huge advantage of the EVM-equivalence is that it allows your protocol to be compatible with the existing Ethereum ecosystem. The compatibility brings perks like compatibility with wallets like Metamask, Easy to fork code and the availability of devs that already know Solidity.
ZK-rollups are much faster and cheaper to transact on than Layer 1 Ethereum. It is worth noting that ZK-rollups don’t necessarily have to settle back to Ethereum; they can act as their own independent Layer One network. In fact, ZK-rollups are a key part of Ethereum’s future plans to scale layer 1. ZK-rollups have been online for quite some time now. dYdX runs on a ZK Rollup, so does Argent. But we’ve been waiting for ZK-EVM tech for years now, and it is finally ready. Let’s explore some of the platforms that have ZK-EVM tech ready to use.
1. Polygon zkEVM
Hermez, a new zkEVM solution from Polygon, promises to be quick, affordable, and developer-friendly. Instead of emphasizing technological variations, Polygon is emphasizing its business development ecosystem and open-source software.
2. Scroll
Compared to Polygon’s acquire-and-ship strategy, Scroll’s is much more bootstrapped. Decentralization and governance are their main concerns “across many aspects of Scroll, including node operators, provers, and the community of developers and users.”
3. zkSync by Matter Labs
The zkSync 2.0 mainnet is expected to launch within 100 days after the testnet went live with the EVM rollup. As early adopters of the ZK movement, their users might soon get an airdrop.
The efforts of all these platforms who are working towards developing a holy grail of ZK Rollups for EVM will boil down to cheaper gas, more rollup options, and more apps on your favorite rollup. The EVM implementations still have a ways to go. Audits of these rollups and the creation of app ecosystems are still required. However, this is a significant step forward for supporters of the EVM (and associated infrastructure) who believe Ethereum may prevail in the Layer 1 wars.
