Polygon has finally launched its Polygon Hermes, a layer-2 zkEVM network that aims to offer fast, affordable, and secure transactions for decentralized applications (dapps) developed on the Ethereum (ETH) network.
The network uses a version of the Ethereum Virtual Machine called the zkEVM that leverages zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) to make smart contract computation over a layer-2 network private and secure. This reduces pressure on the Ethereum mainnet, leading to faster transaction processing and lower prices, as transactions are executed off-chain on the Polygon Hermes network.
The launch event was attended by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, who conducted the first transaction on the new zkEVM.
The unveiling of the Polygon Hermes network occurred a few days after the public release of Matter Labs’ zkSync Era on the Ethereum mainnet, coinciding with the introduction of zkEVM. Although most of the code that makes up the Polygon zkEVM is open-source, it is licensed under AGPL v3, similar to what is offered by zkSync.
Polygon’s zkEVM launch provides a significant boost for the Ethereum ecosystem, addressing scalability issues by facilitating faster and cheaper transactions. With more dapps on the Ethereum network, demand for zkEVM is likely to increase, potentially leading to further improvements and enhancements to the technology.
