A new protocol from Ethereum-scaling solutions developer Polygon Labs promises to unite what it calls the “divided blockchain landscape” into a web of networks that “feels like a single chain.”
In a Jan. 24 blog post, Polygon said its AggLayer solution, which is set to launch in February, aims to aggregate zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) from multiple blockchains and allow developers to connect layer 1 and 2 blockchains to merge them into a single network.
For end users, Polygon Labs claims the user experience will be “like the internet,” and users won’t have to undertake “cumbersome and frequent bridging” to use other chains.
Polygon Labs’ AggLayer use case example involved a user on Ethereum layer-2 chain X1 holding Dai (DAI) and buying a nonfungible token on Polygon’s zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) without first bridging DAI to the zkEVM.
“From the end-user perspective, this will feel like using a single chain,” it wrote. “Users can interact with [decentralized applications] without needing to know that they are accessing another chain.”
Polygon Labs’ reason for making AggLayer stems from its belief that blockchains should be a “unified, highly scalable network” similar to the internet but are currently “siloed and lacking interoperability,” with users facing poor user experience and scaling limitations.
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It claimed AggLayer will improve the now widely used monolithic and modular blockchain architectures.
Monolithic blockchains — like Bitcoin — have functions such as transactions, settlements and data availability on a single layer. Modular chains — like post-Merge Ethereum — distribute these functions across layers, aiming to enhance efficiency.
“Aggregation synthesizes the benefits of both integrated (monolithic) and modular architectures using ZK technology,” Polygon Labs wrote.
The first version is slated for launch in February, with a second version pinned for later in the year, which Polygon Labs said will support asynchronous cross-chain transactions.
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