In this article, Polygon's history, current situation and scalability solutions developed for future use will be discussed. The projects mentioned in this article, which is prepared as a summary, will be explained in detail in separate subsequent articles.
Polygon was known as the Matic Network until 2021. It was working on “Plasma” which was the scalability solution before rollups. Even though the idea of Plasma was attractive, it was understood that rollups were superior to Plasma and the Matic Network began working on different scalability solutions as Polygon.
One of these solutions was Polygon PoS, which is a different blockchain from Ethereum. However, this blockchain has come under a lot of criticism because it does not derive its security directly from Ethereum.
The Polygon team's defense:
“Ethereum is very expensive to use and we want to come up with a solution right now.”
So Polygon PoS was not a definitive solution, but a solution based on urgency.
Polygon PoS
Polygon PoS works as an EVM-compatible sidechain with its own set of validators. With the bridge built between Ethereum and Polygon PoS, it becomes possible for the two chains to transfer assets between each other. In addition, with the system called "checkpoint", Polygon PoS sends its own state to Ethereum.
DeFi giants such as Aave and Curve have deployed their own contracts on Polygon PoS, meaning these protocols execute on Polygon PoS. However, Polygon PoS is not technically an L2 because its security assumption is based on its own set of validators. The main goal of the Polygon team is to develop projects that take their security from Ethereum itself.
For this purpose, a fund worth $1,000,000,000 was allocated on August 13, 2021 for zero-knowledge developments and scalability solutions.
Among these solutions, there are three zk-Rollups:
Hermez
Zero
Miden
One zk cryptography that is using an Optimistic Rollup:
Nightfall
One Data Availability Layer:
Avail
One SDK:
Polygon Edge, which used to be known as Polygon SDK
Polygon Hermez
Hermez, a zkRollup that only began to allow token transfers in March 2021, was acquired by Polygon in August 2021 for $250 million. The project was renamed as a Polygon-Hermez and began development of Hermez 2.0, the byte-code level zkEVM, led by Jordi Baylina.
The previously available $HEZ was redeemed at $3.5MATIC per token.
Hermez 1.0 is currently available, while the testnet for Hermez 2.0 is expected to be announced soon.
Polygon Zero
Mir Protocol, which started zero knowledge development in 2019, was acquired by Polygon in December 2021 for $400 million. The project has been renamed Polygon Zero and continues to develop the world's fastest zkRollup.
The Plonky2 (recursive SNARK) they have developed can work much faster than other alternatives and does not require a trusted setup.
The testnet is expected to be announced in Q4 2022.
Polygon Miden
Polygon Miden is a zkRollup that uses STARKs. It uses a STARK-optimized VM called the Miden Virtual Machine (MVM), and it does not require trusted setup because the proof used is a STARK.
The testnet is expected to be announced in Q3 2022.
Polygon Nightfall
Nightfall is an Optimistic Rollup, but uses zk cryptography to enable confidential transfers. Nightfall specifically targets the supply chain structures of corporate companies.
It is currently in Mainnet Beta.
Polygon Avail
Polygon Avail is a Data Availability layer upon which transaction data can be stored and sorted. In other words, Avail is not a rollup like other solutions, instead it is a project that can be used by rollups themselves. They serve the same purpose as Celestia in this regard.
It is currently on testnet.
Polygon Edge - Supernets
Polygon Edge, formerly Polygon SDK, is a framework that makes it easy to develop Ethereum-compatible blockchains. While blockchains developed using this framework can work independently with their own validator sets, they can also be “Supernets”.
Blockchains that want to work as a Supernet are verified by validators who have become validators by staking $MATIC in Polygon PoS, these validators also win $MATIC as a reward. But these validators are not all Polygon PoS validators, they are only a portion of them, and for a Supernet to work there must be a sufficient number of validators, Polygon provides this coordination.
Also, not everyone is allowed to deploy smart contracts on Supernets, only the developers of that blockchain can deploy smart contracts. This means that Supernets work “specifically".
$MATIC
After exploring all these projects, one of the questions that especially comes to the minds of investors is, “Where is $MATIC in this?”
$MATIC is currently a token used in Polygon PoS, but the Polygon team's vision is to use this token in all projects. A redesign of $MATIC tokenomics is expected in 2022. Thus, $MATIC will be the unifying force for all of these projects.
That’s all from L2 Planet for now, hope to see you in next Polygon issues :)