Polygon Labs has recently made a major announcement that is set to impact the Ethereum network’s future positively. The protocol has launched Polygon zero-knowledge proof Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) on mainnet Beta, a permissionless and public network allowing users to transact and build. 

According to the announcement, to further support the protocol’s development, Polygon zkEVM is now completely open-source. With this launch, Polygon is allegedly helping to pave the way for the next chapter of Ethereum’s development and offering developers and users a new tool for building decentralized applications. 

What Are The Benefits Of Polygons’s New zkEVM?

The Polygon zkEVM is a zero-knowledge proof (ZPK) scaling solution developed by the same protocol, designed to enable faster and cheaper transactions on Ethereum’s network. The public testnets for zkEVM have established it as a leader among Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) equivalent ZK scaling solutions. 

One of the key benefits of zkEVM is its use of zero-knowledge proofs, which ensures security and reduces gas fees. Another win for users is that zero-knowledge proofs enable transaction verifications without revealing sensitive information, making them highly secure. 

Furthermore, Polygon’s zkEVM is designed to be fully compatible with the EVM, so developers can easily deploy existing Ethereum smart contracts on the network, facilitating developers to migrate their existing applications to zkEVM. 

Additionally, the zkEVM is designed to improve the scalability of Ethereum, allowing faster and more efficient transactions with lower fees for developers and users of the protocol’s new feature. 

Polygon Takes Precautions Against Potential Risks of zkEVM Mainnet Beta Launch

According to the announcement, the protocol refers to the risks of using zkEVM Mainnet Beta. While the launch of the mainnet is a significant development for the protocol, undetected bugs can always disrupt the network’s stability. 

To address these potential risks, Polygon Labs has outlined “stringent” security measures, which will include the establishment of a temporary security council, which will be responsible for overseeing the network’s security and addressing any issues-

The security council will comprise various companies and organizations in the blockchain industry. Moreover, Polygon will implement a bug bounty program, which is intended to incentivize researchers and developers to identify and report any bugs or vulnerabilities that they discover in the Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta. 

With the risks and potential vulnerabilities, the established bug bounty program will have rewards of up to $1,000,000 being offered for documenting critical vulnerabilities, according to the protocol. 

Despite the positive development of the new Polygon feature, the protocol’s native token, MATIC, has not responded positively to the announcement. Currently, MATIC is trading at $1.0462, indicating a decline of over 5% in the last 24 hours.

However, the launch of these new developments has been met with positive reception from the cryptocurrency community, which could have a positive impact on MATIC’s price in the long term.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView.com