2024-07-17
Polygon Plonky is a zero-knowledge
proof system developed by the Polygon team and engineers.
It is designed to be fast, efficient,
and suitable for deployment in decentralized environments in the blockchain
networks.
Plonky leverages zero-knowledge proofs, which allow
one party to prove to another that they know a value without revealing the
actual value.
This is particularly useful in
blockchain technology for enhancing privacy and security.
Scalability
Plonky is designed to address
scalability issues in blockchain networks. By using efficient proof systems, it
helps in reducing the computational load and increasing transaction throughput.
Efficiency
One of the main advantages of Plonky is
its efficiency in generating and verifying proofs. This makes it suitable for
applications where quick verification times are essential.
Integration with Polygon: As part of
the Polygon ecosystem, Plonky is integrated into their suite of solutions to
provide scalable and secure infrastructure for decentralized applications
(dApps) and blockchain projects.
Applications
Plonky can be used in various
applications, including privacy-preserving transactions, decentralized finance
(DeFi) protocols, and other blockchain use cases that require efficient and
secure proof systems.
Polygon Labs has released Plonky 3 on
July 16, 2024, the latest version of its zero-knowledge proving system.
Polygon Plonky3 is different from Plonky
2, Plonky 3 is a modular toolkit for building zkVMs and zkEVMs that are
use-case specific.
The properties of Plonky2 were fixed to
accelerate certain kinds of common blockchain operations.
In Plonky 3 instead of a single proving
system optimized for certain operations, developers can extend the
cryptographic security provided by ZK by building use-case specific zkVMs and
zkEVMs.
Plonky 3 is designed to be more
flexible than its predecessor, Plonky 2, and is available as open-source
software under the MIT and Apache licenses.
This new proving system is crucial for
creating proofs that summarize off-chain transactions, which can then be fed
back to a base blockchain like Ethereum.
Plonky3 aims to improve the speed and
efficiency of recursive zero-knowledge proofs and contains optimizations for
newer CPU specifications.
It implements polynomial IOPs, such as
PLONK and STARKS, and commitment schemes such as Brakedown.
The release of Plonky3 is part of
Polygon’s ongoing efforts to advance zero-knowledge technology, which is
considered one of the hottest trends in blockchain.
For developers interested in building
their own virtual machines based on ZK cryptography, Plonky3 offers a toolkit
that empowers them to do so. This development is expected to accelerate the
creation of zero-knowledge systems within the Polygon network.
Overall, Polygon Plonky represents a
significant advancement in the use of zero-knowledge proofs within the
blockchain space, contributing to the development of more scalable and secure
decentralized networks.
