Polygon makes new sidechain developer stack opensource, supporting ZK-powered Layer 2s on Ethereum

The Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem could invited a assortment of caller layer 2 (L2) protocols built connected Polygon’s recently unfastened sourced codebase Chain Development Kit, which harnesses zero-knowledge impervious (ZK-proof) exertion to guarantee information and accelerated finality.

Jordi Baylina, method pb of Polygon Hermez zkEVM, spoke to Cointelegraph exclusively astir the caller instrumentality acceptable which is publically disposable connected a Github repository:

“The motivating thought is simple: it should beryllium casual and seamless for developers to motorboat a ZK-powered Layer 2 connected Ethereum, tailored to the requirements of their project.”

Baylina added that a cardinal facet is that Polygon CDK enables automatic entree to liquidity crossed each of Polygon’s chains arsenic good arsenic the wider Ethereum ecosystem, providing “on-demand scale, without fragmenting liquidity".

The Ethereum developer pointed to a fig of antithetic projects gathering CDK-powered chains crossed a assortment of usage cases, including from payment-specific L2s, DeFi, gaming, social-specific platforms, and creator oregon NFT platforms.

Related: Are ZK-proofs the reply to Bitcoin’s Ordinal and BRC-20 problem?

Baylina besides highlighted the customizability of CDK for antithetic appchains, featuring customizations for rollup oregon validium mode, zkEVM oregon different ZK-powered execution environment, assorted information availability solutions, autochthonal token and state token customization, centralized oregon decentralized sequencer mode arsenic good arsenic permissioned networks with granular allowlists.

The value of ZK-proof exertion is different origin that Baylina stressed, highlighting Polygon Labs’ content that zero-knowledge is the aboriginal of scaling Ethereum. As the Hermez zkEVM pb explains, chains launched with Polygon CDK are automatically connected to a shared ZK span and plugged into an “interop layer,” which is simply a cross-chain connection protocol.

“Suppose determination are 1000s of chains successful the Polygon ecosystem. It’s inefficient for each of these to taxable their proofs straight to Ethereum. Instead, the interop furniture volition person proofs from chains and taxable a azygous ZK impervious that proves the authorities of each Polygon chains.”

Baylina said the exertion unlocks sub-minute cross-chain transactions and creates the cognition of a azygous concatenation environment.

Cointelegraph besides queried the cardinal differences betwixt CDK and different Ethereum ecosystem programming languages similar Zk-proof pioneers StarkWare’s Cairo codebase.

Baylina explains that the architecture unlocked by Polygon CDK is antithetic successful that it enables automatic entree to shared liquidity done a ZK span and interop furniture of an L2 ecosystem secured by moving ZK-proofs.

He finished by reaffirming the content successful ZK-proofs arsenic the aboriginal of Ethereum scalability fixed its accelerated finality and withdrawal times, erstwhile compared to week-long hold by fraud proofs that diagnostic successful Optimistic rollup L2 solutions.

“ZK makes amended bridges, but besides secures chains by rigorous math, without a request for social-economic components required by fraud proofs.”

Cointelegraph previously explored the Ethereum furniture 2 ecosystem, unpacking the basics of Ethereum rollups and the antithetic approaches to scaling the astute declaration blockchain.

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