MNFST LABS
3 min readMar 30, 2023

WHAT IS THE BUZZ ABOUT POLYGON ZKEVM ?

Polygon’s zkEVM network launched its mainnet on March 27th after raising $450M in funding for its development in mid 2022.

The core developers of the sidechain invited @VitalikButerin, the creator of Ethereum, to commemorate the day by sending out the very first transaction.

He accepted the invitation and completed a symbolic first-ever transaction, cementing his status as a true man of culture :

The quote suggests that although there may be initial constraints in implementing zk-rollups, but the potential benefits of scaling blockchain technology could be significant and have a positive impact on society as a whole.

For the rookies, here is a breakdown of some of the complex terms before things become too complicated.

ZK(Zero Knowledge): Is a cryptographic technique that allows one party to prove to another party that a particular statement is true without revealing additional informations beyond the truth of the statement itself .

EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) : is a runtime environment that executes smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

Polygon zkEVM — is a decentralized Ethereum Layer 2 scalability solution that uses cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs to offer validity and quick finality to off-chain transaction computation, also known as a ZK-Rollup.

The Polygon traditional chain (POS) is quite distinct from its newly launched zkEVM chain. As a result , projects initially deployed on the POS chain will have to redeploy on the zkEVM chain to take advantage of its unique features.

Polygon zkEVM is not the only network of its kind, as other similar networks are in development. For instance, rival zkSync launched its own mainnet last week, preceding Polygon’s previously-announced move.

Gas fee transactions on the POS chain require the use of MATIC tokens, whereas gas fees on the zkEVM are paid using Ether.

This difference is important to keep in mind while transacting on the network.

⚕️TEAM

The zkEVM team is fairly distinct from the global Polygon team and comprises a group of experienced experts, led by :

▪️@davidsrz : Co-founder of @0xpolygon ZkEVM and has experience as a CTO and web 3 developer.

▪️@jbaylina :Co- founder @0xpolygon zkEVM. He’s also a developer and blockchain OG with years of experience in the field.

▪️@dlubarov: Co-founder at Mir Protocol and works behind the scenes as the cryptographer for zkEVM.

▪️@_bfarmer : Co-founder at Mir Protocol (now Polygon Zero) and also works at @0xpolygon zkEVM.

Polygon zkEVM offers three very important features, which include:

▪️Scalability.

▪️Security.

▪️EVM Equivalency.

All three are equally important, but despite that, this lines written on Decrypt is worth taking note of:

Credit: Decrypt.

It’s a popular notion that when a new blockchain with substantial funding from various investors emerges, there is a likelihood of an airdrop for active users.

However, in the case of Polygon’s zkEVM, which is not a completely new blockchain, this may not necessarily be the case.

But in a space like ours, where the majority of attention is driven by financial opportunities, it’s hard to predict what marketing strategies the team might resort to in the future to beat their competitors.

Therefore, you can consider spending time utilizing the amazing features of the chain .