“It seems that we have one of the most powerful technical and ideological battles in the industry on the table. Players such as Polygon Labs, ConsenSys and Matter Labs have the clear conviction that the scalability of Ethereum will be in the ZK Rollup compatible with EVMs, so their focus and effort is now on positioning their developments in this area”
zkEVM, from the lab to the battlefield
The zkEVM (Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine) is a technology that seeks to improve the performance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), with the aim of making a huge technological leap, which will result in greater speed and security in operations. The most important difference between the EVM and the zkEVM may be in the quality of the execution environment against external agents. For this to become a reality, zkEVM developments are focused on offering a new Layer 2 with high transaction speed, low fees and a privacy fee.
ZkEVM uses the same encryption language (Solidity) as ethereum, so it is fully compatible with the existing network. In addition, zkEVM uses side chains to move transactions to a second layer where they are processed at high speed and then returned to the main chain. The transactions are then batched and transmitted all at the same time to the central protocol, “rolled up” and submitted for validation, ensuring in the internal process itself the validity of all transactions within the batch, therefore reducing the cost paid by the network user.
Rollup
Zero-knowledge rollups are a form of side chains that move transactions to a second layer where they are processed at high speed and then returned to the main chain, so the zkEVM uses a zero-knowledge proof, which is a standard cryptographic innovation that has been around since the 1980s, to transmit knowledge without revealing the details or content of that knowledge. Its application now seeks to improve the performance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine, not only in increased speed of operation, but also in added security. In short, a Rollup is a set of protocols that combines Merkel trees + cryptography + a smart contract deployed in a blockchain network, divided into two types: Optimistic Rollups (simpler and cheaper) and ZK Rollups (more complex and expensive) both providing a scalability solution that improves efficiency and reduces the load on the network.
Pro’s and con’s of zkEVM technology.
Pros:
- Improves the scalability of ethereum.
2. Enables smart contracts to be executed in a standardised rollup manner.
3. Reducing network activity, improving network efficiency.
4. Increases the privacy and security of transactions.
5. It is compatible with existing Ethereum tools, which facilitates their integration.
6. Enables faster transaction speeds, which is beneficial for users and developers.
Cons:
1. The generation of zero-knowledge proofs is not verifiable by third parties.
2. There is a lack of transparency in this initial phase.
3. Very cutting-edge technology at a very early stage, danger of failures in the execution of SCs.
4. Many projects will use this trend as pure marketing, without any content behind it.
As a final point of this article, I allow myself to pay a small tribute to a person very close to our community, and with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing a gathering, the great Jordi Baylina. Last Friday, together with #Vitalik #Buterin the first transaction on the #Polygon #zkEVM in #Mainnet #Beta phase was executed. CONGRATULATIONS from the entire BELOBABA team and community.
“Polygon zkEVM is built to be a zkEVM Type-2, which means that its functionality is almost equivalent to the Ethereum EVM. Thanks to this infrastructure, we can publicly verify and at any time the transitions generated in L2 in order to know with cryptographic certainty that our operations have been carried out and are within the zkEVM network”