The Ethereum ecosystem is likely to welcome a variety of new Layer 2 (L2) protocols built on Polygon’s newly released open-source codebase, the Chain Development Kit, which utilizes zero-knowledge proof (ZK-proof) technology for security and fast Finalize.
Polygon Hermez zkEVM technical lead Jordi Baylina gave Cointelegraph an exclusive introduction to the new toolset, which is publicly available on the GitHub repository:
“The motivation is simple: developers should be able to easily and seamlessly launch a ZK-powered layer 2 on Ethereum, tailored to their project’s requirements.”
A key aspect, according to Baylina, is Polygon CDK’s ability to automatically access liquidity across all Polygon chains, as well as the wider ethereum ecosystem, providing “on-demand scaling without fragmenting liquidity.”
The ethereum developer noted that many different projects have built CDK-powered chains in a variety of use cases, including payment-specific L2, decentralized finance, gaming, social-specific platforms, and creator or non-fungible token platform.
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Baylina also emphasized the customizability of CDK for different application chains, including customization of rollup or validium mode, zkEVM or other ZK-supported execution environments, various data availability solutions, customization of native tokens and Gas tokens, centralized or Decentralized orderer model and permissioned network with fine-grained permission list.
The importance of ZK proof technology was another factor highlighted by Baylina, emphasizing Polygon Labs’ belief that zero-knowledge is the future of scaling Ethereum. As the Hermez zkEVM lead explained, chains launched using the Polygon CDK are automatically connected to a shared ZK bridge and plugged into an “interoperability layer,” a cross-chain communication protocol.
“Assume there are thousands of chains in the Polygon ecosystem. It would be inefficient for everyone to submit proofs directly to Ethereum. Instead, the interoperability layer would receive proofs from the chains and submit a single ZK proof to prove the proofs of all Polygon chains.” state.”
According to Baylina, the technology unlocks sub-minute cross-chain transactions and creates the perception of a single-chain environment.
Cointelegraph also asked about key differences between CDK and other Ethereum ecosystem programming languages such as ZK-proof pioneer StarkWare’s Cairo codebase.
The difference in the architecture unlocked by Polygon CDK, Baylina explained, is that it enables automatic access to shared liquidity through ZK bridges and the interoperability layer of the L2 ecosystem secured by proof-of-work ZK.
Finally, he reiterated his belief in ZK proofs as the future of Ethereum scalability due to their fast finality and withdrawal times compared to the week-long delays of fraud proofs in Optimistic Rollup L2 solutions.
“ZK not only makes better bridges, but also secures the chain through rigorous mathematics without the socioeconomic components required for fraud proofs.”
Cointelegraph previously explored the Ethereum layer 2 ecosystem, unpacking the basics of Ethereum rollups and the different approaches to scaling smart contract blockchains.
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