The leading Ethereum scaling network Polygon launches its Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine: Polygon zkEVM, a new Ethereum-equivalent scaling solution based on Zero Knowledge (ZK) proofs.
Before sending the data to the Ethereum blockchain as a single transaction request, the ZK proof technology groups transactions together. The participants then divide the gas cost for a single transaction, bringing the transaction fee down to an absolute minimum.
“It’s difficult to provide performance comparisons for zkEVM at this stage, but we are working towards increasing [throughput] to approximately 2,000 transactions per second (TPS),” noted Mihailo Bjelic, co-founder of Polygon.
Polygon asserts that its zkEVM solution is the first Ethereum-equivalent scaling solution that uses ZK proofs to increase scalability and reduce costs without compromising security.
Since the Polygon zkEVM and the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) are fundamentally equivalent, they can be used with ethereum smart contracts, wallets, and developer tools without requiring any changes to the source code.
Decentralized applications (dApps) built on chains compatible with the EVM can now easily migrate to the Polygon zkEVM. The project added that existing Polygon dApps could transition to the zkEVM without difficulty.
Blockchain programmers who use tool sets like MetaMask and Hardhat as well as programming languages like Solidity can easily migrate their applications by changing nodes.
Additional throughput improvements are planned for upcoming iterations of zkEVM, noting that Ethereum currently achieves a maximum throughput of about 30 TPS.
The Polygon team claims that the mainnet launch for zkEVM is scheduled for early 2023, with the public testnet deployment taking place later this summer.
