The Next Chapter for Polygon PoS: Upgrading to ZK-Powered Layer 2

Polygon, as a blockchain, has emerged as one of the most preferred and trusted partners in the market. It has carved a niche among developers and users who look to leverage solutions at the most economical cost. Suffice it to say, it extends to the convenience of network technology and the strength of the community—ultimately building the ecosystem to the best of its capability. Polygon PoS houses more than 400 million unique addresses and assets worth more than $2 billion that are bridged from Ethereum. The availability of tens of thousands of dApps is another fundamental feature.

What comes as a major development in the ecosystem is the next chapter of polygon PoS. It will soon be upgraded to a ZK-powered L2 solution in partnership with AggLayer. The objective is to unify user and interface activities, in addition to integrating thousands of decentralized applications into different chains. It is subject to the community’s approval. If approved, it will build on the proposal of Polygon Labs and Succinct Labs.

The upgrade brings two core benefits to the table: greater network effects and an upgraded bridge experience.

Users and developers are the primary focus of the greater network effects. The aggregation of liquidity, users, and states through the use of AggLayer is the source of the increased  network effects. The upgraded bridge experience majorly entails permissionless token transfers to the advantage of users and developers alike. This next chapter is essential to chase the long-term goal of making Polygon PoS a zkEVM Validium. While the Type 1 zkEVM prover is doing its fair share in this direction, the upgrade introduces the element of scalability. Transforming Polygon PoS into a ZK L2 requires a Type 1 zkEVM prover, which can prove existing Ethereum blocks at low costs. 

Technical specifications around the upgrade include Proof of Consensus, Bridge Implementation, PoS Portal, and Network role.

PoC would see the implementation of a new consensus verification contract on Ethereum to verify that the Polygon PoS has achieved consensus. Furthermore, it would check to see if withdrawals, if any, met pre-set criteria. Bridge Implementation would see the deployment of Unified Bridge contracts on Polygon PoS.

PoS Portal and Network Role would get improvements like adding the ability to use Unified Bridge and ownership, as well as settling AggLayer via PoC design in which an entity must submit the necessary information.

Unless and until told otherwise, clients are not required to make any significant changes. Future optimization could see a move to Heimdall v2, but it is not required at the initial point of contact. StateSync also does not require any chances. It basically powers the FxPortal, or Plasma Bridge.

PIP will only comply if the discussion on its official forum channel is favorable. The same response would lead to the completion of connecting PoS to AggLayer at the latest by the end of this year. Practical concerns are related to signature-based Proof of Consensus and Network role of communicating with AggLayer.

That said, MATIC, the native token of Polygon, is up by 2.42% in the last 24 hours – exchanging hands at $0.4168 while the article is being drafted.