- Polygon has unveiled the alpha version testnet of its latest zero-knowledge rollup (ZK-rollup) solution.
- Polygon adds the Miden scaling solution to the list of others in the Ethereum family, such as PoS Chain and ZkEVM scalability and modularity.
Polygon, a prominent player in the Ethereum scaling ecosystem, has unveiled the alpha version testnet of its latest zero-knowledge rollup (ZK-rollup) solution, Miden. This happens during the intense Ethereum scaling arena competition, and blockchain enthusiasts desperately seek solutions for the network’s scalability issues. It is worth noting that Miden is strategically developed to boost the capacities of Ethereum while eliminating its natural scalability limitations.
babe, wake up, it’s here: the Polygon Miden Alpha Testnet is live—a zk self-sovereign focused chain ready for pioneers who want to cook.
join the 👉🏽 brand new 👈🏽 alpha telegram to start the Miden journey rn: https://t.co/ZWOI7MQOWp
soo what can you do on this testnet anyway? 👀 pic.twitter.com/xwgg0pMTys
— Polygon | Aggregated (@0xPolygon) May 6, 2024
Polygon adds Miden scaling solutions to others in the Ethereum family, like PoS Chain, ZkEVM scalability, and modularity. Although a slow adaptation of Polygon ZkEVM is challenging, plans have been made to unite ZkEVM and PoS Chain to endow each solution with strengths to meet different user needs.
Miden guarantees a higher level of privacy and safety of transactions. Contrary to the roll-up types that depend on trusted setup, zk-STARKs exclude it, thereby increasing network sustainability. But the case is there that the zk-STARKs storage expenses are bigger than they are for the classical implementations of zk-rollups. The developers of the Polygon platform prioritize enabling clients to generate proofs on-site, which seeks to eliminate the network congestion that ZK-STARKs entail.
Key Features of Miden
Miden harnesses the power of zero-knowledge cryptography, allowing data verification without divulging sensitive information to the wider network. Notably, Miden introduces client-side proving, empowering users to generate proofs for their state transitions locally, thus alleviating network strain and enhancing privacy and scalability.
Miden facilitates private accounts for confidential transactions and implements parallel transaction execution, enabling significantly higher throughput compared to the Ethereum mainnet. Additionally, Miden offers customizable smart contracts and node scripts, empowering users to craft tailored solutions using the Miden virtual machine (VM) and programming languages such as Rust.
Keom Research, a project specializing in zero-knowledge solutions for DeFi, has already begun testing various use cases on Polygon’s Miden. This highlights the growing interest and adoption of zero-knowledge rollup solutions within the Ethereum community. With its potential to significantly improve scalability and privacy, Miden could emerge as a preferred choice for developers and users.
Roadmap and Future Prospects
According to the Miden roadmap, a builders testnet is slated for release in September, marking another significant milestone in Polygon’s journey toward Ethereum scalability solutions. While the mainnet launch timeframe remains undisclosed, the steady progress in development signals promising prospects for Miden’s future.
The Ethereum ecosystem has witnessed a surge in adopting Layer 2 scaling solutions, including rollups like Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, zkSync, Scroll, and Linea. These solutions aim to alleviate Ethereum’s scalability constraints by processing transactions off-chain while securely anchoring data on the Layer 1 chain. Miden’s entry into the arena has intensified competition to scale Ethereum, promising a more efficient and scalable network.
Despite the announcement of the Miden Alpha Testnet, Polygon’s native token, MATIC, exhibited a slight decline, falling by 4.7%, trading at $0.067.
