Persistent elevated gas fees, and low throughput coupled with considerable latency in transactions on the Ethereum network have spurred a demand for scaling solutions. Polygon which is a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum Blockchain stands out as one such solution in this context.

Along with improved throughput and minimized cost, Polygon offers modular and flexible solutions and supports the building of diverse applications tailored for use cases such as Permission less public based Polygon POS, Zero-knowledge proofs incorporated Polygon zkEVM, Permissioned application-specific Polygon Supernets, and Bridging solutions to achieve interoperability among the decentralized applications.

Polygon POS

Polygon POS is one of the most used scaling solutions for Ethereum with Proof of Stake Consensus. It utilizes a three-layer architecture to create and validate transactions, which includes

·       Staking smart contracts on Ethereum

·       Heimdall Nodes (Proof of Stake Validator Layer)

·       BOR (Block Producer layer)

POS uses a checkpoint mechanism to represent the Polygon chain state to Ethereum. The current checkpoint period is ~20-30 minutes. As per our recent experimentation, we have found that Polygon POS can handle 65,000 Transactions per second (TPS), and a new block gets created every 2.2 Seconds. This scaling solution allows decentralized projects to scale by processing more transactions with reduced gas fees.

Polygon Supernets

Supernets are application-specific EVM-compatible chains (customizable blockchain networks that can be tailored to meet specific enterprise or application use cases that allow you to define your throughput, gas currency, etc.) that operate on the Polygon Edge consensus client with PolyBFT consensus. It will enable clients to build and spin up their app chains where enterprise-specific contracts are deployed.  It leverages a native bridge mechanism to connect with an associated rootchain namely, Polygon POS mainnet, enabling them to inherit its security and capabilities. It supports cross-chain interoperability through its native bridge to support seamless asset transfers between different blockchains and facilitates increased collaboration. And it extends the block space available on the rootchain by having a dedicated use-case/application-specific blockspace which also ensures transactions are not affected by high traffic on rootchain and provides better performance and dedicated throughput.

Polygon zkEVM

Polygon zkEVM is also a Layer 2 scalability solution but it uses cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs to offer validity and quick finality to off-chain transaction computation known as a ZK-Rollup. Since Ethereum is subject to the DLT trilemma, it cannot scale beyond its transaction threshold without sacrificing decentralization or security. Polygon zkEVM comes to mitigate this issue by becoming a virtual machine designed and developed by recreating all existing EVM opcodes for transparent deployment of existing Ethereum smart contracts and validates using Zero-knowledge proofs.  ZK-Rollups which run on top of Ethereum exponentially improve the scalability and transactions per second (TPS). The benefit of zkEVM lies in its EVM compatibility, Ethereum security, and its ZKP-powered scalability.

Polygon Bridge

Polygon bridging is a trustless cross-chain asset bridging and transaction channel between Polygon and Ethereum without incurring third-party risks and market liquidity limitation which can be of greater use for Decentralized finance, NFTs, and gaming where it makes it easier for developers to create cross-chain DeFi Applications. All Polygon Bridges utilize a set of specific intelligent contracts that operate on both the Ethereum and Polygon networks to facilitate asset transfers between them. These smart contracts act as intermediaries between the two networks, enabling users to deposit and withdraw assets from either network. The Polygon Network offers two types of bridges – the PoS or Proof of Stake Bridge and the Polygon zkEVM bridge.

Polygon POS Bridge: Polygon has implemented a POS bridge that uses a state-sync mechanism for token bridging from Ethereum to Polygon POS and also offers custom fx-tunnel functionality to pave the way for custom token bridging for greater efficiency and decentralization. As per the recent research implementation, it is proved that the custom tunnel functionality can be improvised to bridge the Polygon-minted custom tokens to Ethereum.

Polygon zkEVM bridge: The zkEVM Bridge is a component that enables communication and asset migration between the Polygon zkEVM network and other networks, Ethereum Mainnet, or any L2 scaling networks built on top of Ethereum. In addition to transferring tokens without changing their original value, the zkEVM bridge supports cross-chain messaging between the networks.

The solutions of Polygon addressing specific use cases have shown considerable success in solving the blockchain scalability issues. Furthermore, its bridging ability to connect different networks creates a more connected and decentralized application environment, paving the way for continued innovation in the industry.