Original author: Salazar.eth

Original translation: 0x11, Foresight News

 

The zkEVM is considered the holy grail of Ethereum scalability. Polygon is one of the leading explorers in this space, and its zkEVM is coming soon. Before that, here are some things you need to know about Polygon’s zkEVM technology.

Polygon zkEVM is a decentralized scalability solution that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to provide validity proofs to verify transactions and achieve finality on Ethereum. It is also an EVM-compatible scalability solution.

In this post, we will focus on these components of the Polygon zkEVM:

  • Consensus Contract

  • zk Node: synchronizer, sorter, aggregator, RPC

  • zk Prover

  • zk Bridge

 

Consensus Contract

 

Previously, Polygon Hermez 1.0 used Proof of Donation (PoD) as a consensus mechanism, a decentralized auction mechanism for coordinators to create transaction packages.

Today, the latest version of the contract PolygonZkEVM.sol adopts Proof of Efficiency (PoE), which draws on the experience of PoD and supports multiple coordinators to create transaction packages on L2 in a permissionless manner.

The contract ensures decentralization, efficiency, protection from attacks, and a balance between validation work and network value.

On-chain data availability adopts a hybrid model where data is stored off-chain and only proofs of validity are published on-chain.

PolygonZkEVM.sol (deployed on L1) is used to ensure correct state transitions. Smart contracts use zk-SNARK circuits to verify validity proofs.

To perform the above operations, the participation of the sorter and the aggregator is required.

 

zk Node

 

Sorters propose transaction packages and aggregators validate them. Smart contracts call sorters to receive transaction packages and call aggregators to validate them.

zk Node is the software required to run a zkEVM node, which manages the roles of participants in the Polygon zkEVM network. To track the state of the network, participants can be nodes, or they can participate in transaction package production as a sorter or aggregator.

The sorter preprocesses L2 transactions, submits the transaction package to the PoE smart contract, and pays the fee. The aggregator receives the transaction information, sends it to the prover, receives the zero-knowledge proof, and sends the result to the smart contract for verification.

The synchronizer synchronizes transaction packages and their validity proofs, while RPC enables integration with existing tools.

The state implements the Merkle tree and checks the integrity of the block level and some transaction-related information.

 

zk Prover

 

zkProver is an important part of the Polygon zkEVM architecture. It is responsible for generating zero-knowledge proofs to verify the correctness of the calculations performed by zkEVM.

To generate a zero-knowledge proof, the zk Prover receives input from an aggregator, which collects transaction information from the sorter. The proof is then sent back to the aggregator, which in turn sends it to the smart contract for verification.

Given its high efficiency and scalability, zk Prover can process a large number of transactions with minimal latency.

 

zk Bridge

 

zk Bridge allows users to transfer assets between LX and LY securely and decentralizedly.

It consists of two identical contracts, one deployed on the Ethereum mainnet and the other on a specific Rollup network.

In L1 contracts, assets can be transferred between Rollups; in L2 contracts, assets can be transferred between the mainnet and Rollup.

Through smart contracts, zk Bridge also supports native interoperability between different L2 networks.

 

summary

 

In summary, Polygon’s zkEVM is a promising solution to improve the scalability issues of the Ethereum network.

By leveraging zk-SNARK circuits for validity and hybrid mode for data availability, it provides decentralization, efficiency, and attack protection while maintaining EVM compatibility. Consensus contracts, zk Node, zk Prover, and zk Bridge work together to achieve secure and decentralized transaction processing.

With launch approaching, Polygon zkEVM is expected to contribute significantly to Ethereum’s growth and adoption.