Polygon Labs and Near announce integration of ZK with WASM

A “zkWASM” prover will be included in the Polygon CDK soon, allowing Web Assembly networks to interface with the larger Polygon ecosystem. According to a joint release on Nov. 8, the developers of the Near and Polygon networks are collaborating to construct a zero-knowledge (ZK) prover for Web Assembly (WASM) blockchains. The new prover, dubbed “zkWASM,” will allow WASM-based networks to join the Polygon ecosystem for the first time.

WASM is a binary instruction format designed for usage in browsers. It is also used as a compute engine in some blockchain networks instead of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Near, Stellar, Polkadot, and Internet Computers, for example, all use WASM instead of EVM. The new zkWASM prover, according to the statement, is “in active development and should be available next year.” When finished, it will be integrated into Polygon’s chain development kit (CDK), which enables developers to spin up unique blockchain networks depending on the basic specifications they specify. Developers will be able to utilize the CDK to create WASM networks and integrate them with the larger Polygon ecosystem, including the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet.

The zkWASM prover, according to Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of Near, would allow the network to connect further with Ethereum, enhancing liquidity for users: “NEAR is integrating more with Ethereum(ETH) by innovating in new research frontiers, and the shared expertise of NEAR and Polygon will expand the ZK landscape and defragment liquidity across chains.”

According to the release, zkWASM will be utilized to increase validator efficiency on the Near network, as the zero-knowledge proof procedure will reduce computational overhead when compared to the existing effort of verifying a shard. This means that the Near network will have “better scalability and increased decentralization,” according to the announcement. Polygon is seeking to create a multichain environment dubbed “Polygon 2.0.” Bridges will be used in the new system to transfer assets from one chain to the other, using zero-knowledge proofs. The developer revealed intentions in September to replace the Polygon network’s current native coin, MATIC, with a new one called POL.

Buy and sell crypto in minutes with 0.20% trading fees at Bitdenex Exchange.