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Polygon Labs, the creator of the Polygon Network (MATIC), has proposed an architecture for its upcoming “Polygon 2.0” project. In a June 29 blog post, the team suggested that the new project should be made up of four different “layers” that would come together to create a network of networks, eventually connected to each other via Ethereum. If approved by the validators, Polygon 2.0 will also have an aggregator that makes intermediate transactions “almost instantaneous and atomic,” the team says.
1/ Today, we are excited to propose the Polygon 2.0 architecture, designed to provide unlimited scalability and unified liquidity, thus transforming Polygon into the Value Layer of the Internet!
Read the blog or keep scrolling https://t.co/sShy6R1E6R pic.twitter.com/BTdwkri4nI
— Polygon (Labs) (@0xPolygonLabs) June 29, 2023
The team first announced Polygon 2.0 on June 12, stating that the new project will set the “value level” of the Internet. But details were scarce at the time. On June 20, co-founder Mihailo Bjelic proposed upgrading Polygon’s current network to use the zero-knowledge proofs he said were needed to make the old network compatible with Vision 2.0.
The June 30 post goes into more detail about what Polygon 2.0 will look like. The basis of the project will be the “rate level” that currently exists. It consists of an Ethereum “validator manager” contract plus an additional “chain manager” contract for each individual Polygon chain. In the future, new Polygon chains will be able to be formed by launching new chain management contracts on Ethereum.
Connecting to this base staking layer will be an “interoperability layer” that contains bridges connecting each polygon chain to each other via Ethereum. This layer will be secured with zero-knowledge proofs to verify all transfers.
Later, an aggregator will also be used for interaction, which combines individual ZK proofs from each bridge into one proof before sending it to Ethereum. This will provide “seamless” bridge transactions and “significantly [уменьшит] consumption of Ethereum gas to verify evidence,” the team said.
The third layer of Polygon 2.0 will be the current execution layer that relies on the Erigon Ethereum client, and the fourth layer will be the “verification layer” that standardizes the ZK proof process across all Polygon chains.
The team has announced that more details on each layer will be provided at a later date.
Polygon is not the only network trying to evolve into a multi-chain ecosystem. zkSync Era has announced its intention to create a “hyperchain” network, which it hopes to launch in a testnet phase by the end of the year. Optimism is also trying to create a “Superchain” in collaboration with the core network Coinbase, and it recently implemented the “Bedrock” update to pave the way for this transformation.