Introducing Polygon Miden: Revolutionizing ZK-Rollups on Ethereum
Zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups have emerged as a game-changing solution for scaling Ethereum, and Polygon Miden is at the forefront of this innovation. Founded by Bobbin Threadbare, who gained recognition after Vitalik Buterin saw his work on Eth Research, Polygon Miden is making significant strides in the world of ZK-rollups.
What are ZK-Rollups?
ZK-rollups, also known as validity proof rollups, are a revolutionary approach to scaling Ethereum. Instead of performing computations on the Ethereum base layer, ZK-rollups process transactions off-chain and write a cryptographic proof back to the blockchain to verify the correctness of these transactions. This approach is faster, more efficient, and has the potential for virtually unlimited scaling.
The Journey of ZK-Rollups
ZK-rollups may seem like they appeared out of nowhere in late 2018, but from the perspective of Polygon Miden founder Bobbin Threadbare, progress may not seem fast enough. “Your internal perception is that it’s moving slowly,” says Threadbare. “People say, ‘We’re going to be doing this in a year,’ and it takes longer because people overestimate [how quickly it can be done].”
However, Threadbare acknowledges that the pace of technological development is remarkable. “If you take a step back out of your own bubble, I do think that the tech is moving at an amazing pace. A lot of the things we’re doing now did not exist 10 years ago – or even maybe like eight years ago – they were just theoretical concepts.”
Polygon Miden at StarkWare Sessions
Recently, Threadbare was interviewed at the StarkWare Sessions in Israel, which may seem like a Coca-Cola convention for the CEO of Pepsi, as Polygon Miden is a competing ZK-rollup solution to StarkWare’s technology. However, Threadbare emphasizes that on the technical side, there is a lot of collaboration among different projects. “We’re not building like Web2 walled gardens here,” he says. “We learn from each other more.”
Polygon’s Innovations in ZK-Rollups
Polygon, already known for its Ethereum scaling solution with its MATIC token becoming the eighth-most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, is now focusing on ZK-rollups. The Polygon team’s approach is to experiment with different ZK flavors and see what works best. Some of their projects include:
- zkEVM: This project has just launched on mainnet in beta and allows any Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible project to scale on Polygon’s new network.
- Zero: This project focuses on recursive scaling.
- Hermez 2.0: This EVM-compatible solution emphasizes decentralization and a proof-of-efficiency consensus.
- Nightfall: This project combines Optimistic Rollups with zero-knowledge cryptography.
Threadbare, who was recruited by Polygon while working at Facebook, acknowledges that Polygon’s approach of trying different technologies is a strategic move in the early stages of the space. “This strategy made sense to me; the space is very early,” he says. “I mean, in all honesty, they didn’t even require that I use
