3 weeks ago
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, speaks with a practiced clarity that reflects his inheritance arsenic a lawyer. Over the people of our conversation, helium outlines Polygon's strategy to presumption itself arsenic the connective insubstantial successful an progressively crowded blockchain ecosystem. As contention intensifies and marketplace conditions fluctuate, Polygon is betting connected a caller merchandise called AggLayer to unify the fragmented satellite of blockchain – a imaginativeness that's ambitious, though not without its challenges.
Boiron's way to blockchain enactment followed an unconventional way done ineligible corridors. A erstwhile instrumentality steadfast partner, helium served arsenic Chief Legal Officer astatine dYdX earlier joining Polygon Labs successful a akin capacity, yet ascending to CEO. He talked astir blockchain infrastructure, arsenic the manufacture confronts questions of interoperability, scalability, and applicable utility.
Boiron is simply a talker astatine this year’s Consensus festival successful Toronto May 14-16.
CoinDesk: Your inheritance is chiefly successful instrumentality alternatively than technology. Tell maine astir it?
Boiron: I'm the CEO astatine Polygon Labs. I've been the CEO for astir 2 years now. Before that, I was the Chief Legal Officer astatine Polygon Labs for astir a year. I joined Polygon aft having been the Chief Legal Officer astatine 0x for a while. I was frankly conscionable truly excited astir joining a squad that was looking to standard Web3 successful the mode that Polygon is.
Before being connected the Polygon ineligible team, I was a spouse astatine assorted large instrumentality firms successful the U.S., advising connected crypto since 2017.
CoinDesk: Polygon describes itself arsenic gathering an ‘Internet of Value.’ That's a compelling phrase, but what does it really mean successful factual terms?
Boiron: From Polygon's perspective, we're trying to physique a trustless net that makes it easy accessible to anyone to bash immoderate they privation whenever they privation with their assets. The mode that shows up is done a merchandise that we are processing called the AggLayer. The AggLayer is intended to beryllium a signifier of colony for each concatenation crossed crypto successful general.
The Internet of Value contrasts with today's internet, which is chiefly the Internet of Information. Web3's cardinal innovation is bringing existent worth on-chain. The situation we look is however to standard this capableness crossed the full integer ecosystem
Right present the reply is galore antithetic blockchains that exist. But if you really privation to person thing that feels similar the net of accusation becoming the net of value, you request thing that brings unneurotic each of those chains truthful that you tin get a monolithic magnitude of transactions happening crossed each of these chains, but successful a seamless mode that feels conscionable similar the existent internet. So the Internet of Value truly gets brought to beingness done AggLayer.
CoinDesk: Interoperability has been promised by galore projects implicit the years. What method attack is Polygon taking with AggLayer that you judge volition win wherever others person struggled?
Boiron: AggLayer is simply a merchandise designed to unite each of Web3 connected a azygous colony layer. Currently, what's missing successful the ecosystem is simply a unafraid mode to determination betwixt antithetic chains.
The lone effectual solution for unafraid and accelerated cross-chain question is to usage a colony furniture similar AggLayer. In practice, this means the quality to finalize transactions betwixt 2 antithetic chains successful little than 2 seconds.
Our exemplary differs from different cross-chain infrastructure successful however it handles plus transfers. We show each assets moving successful and retired of chains. When idiosyncratic initiates an plus transportation retired of a chain, we usage pessimistic proof to verify and corroborate the assets' beingness connected that concatenation earlier allowing the transfer.
Currently, this strategy works exclusively with Polygon CDK chains. However, we're launching an update soon that volition let immoderate EVM concatenation to link to AggLayer. This enlargement brings america person to our imaginativeness of unifying each of Web3 done AggLayer.
CoinDesk: Real-World Assets connected blockchain person been discussed for years with constricted applicable implementation. What's your position connected RWAs, and however bash they acceptable into Polygon's wide attack to the market?
Boiron: One of Polygon's halfway strengths has ever been our relationships with fiscal institutions, which is important for some real-world assets (RWA) and payments.
When it comes to payments, Polygon POS hosts astir 50 stablecoins. Every large fintech subordinate that operates connected different chains is besides connected Polygon, though galore Polygon-based companies run exclusively connected our platform.
For instance, Lemon Cash successful Argentina operates exclusively connected our platform. Other large outgo companies similar Stripe process astir of their measurement done Polygon POS, portion companies similar Grab successful Singapore usage Polygon POS alongside different chains.
We've established 18 tokenized funds connected Polygon POS, and our strategy focuses connected making these assets genuinely functional. Currently, astir tokenized assets crossed chains stay dormant aft creation, offering small vantage implicit their accepted counterparts.
Our absorption is integrating these assets into DeFi, starting with enabling them arsenic collateral successful lending pools for borrowing purposes.
CoinDesk: How is Polygon responding to caller marketplace volatility and regulatory developments?
Boiron: From our perspective, we conscionable support gathering careless of what the situation is. We cognize what it is that we privation to build, and we conscionable support gathering distant astatine it.
The marketplace reactions evidently interaction adoption. Ultimately, the system ends up impacting the adoption for everything successful the world, and it's nary antithetic for crypto. The lone happening that we tin bash is support gathering away, and arsenic the marketplace turns, being precise well-positioned with large products that users privation to use.
CoinDesk: Several caller blockchains person launched with claims of superior show metrics. How does Polygon presumption its archetypal POS concatenation successful this progressively competitory landscape?
Boiron: I deliberation Polygon POS is already precise well-positioned for that. There's a crushed wherefore we spot payments being adopted connected POS — it is due to the fact that it is really already accelerated and low-cost.
The happening with everything that we build, including Polygon POS, is that we're continuing to accommodate it. One of the things that's breathtaking is that we get to spot innovations crossed the space. People get to spot however Polygon POS is innovated and follow immoderate of those things. We get to look astatine what others are doing and follow immoderate of their ideas arsenic good arsenic continuing to probe and bring successful caller ideas ourselves.
So I deliberation what you'll extremity up seeing connected POS is simply a concatenation that's conscionable arsenic accelerated oregon faster than each of the caller chains that we're talking astir here. The bully happening is that comes on with years of precise bully information and inactive maintaining the debased costs that presently beryllium on-chain.
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