In a significant development heralding a new era of blockchain technology, Polygon Labs, famous for its MATIC token, joins hands with the NEAR Foundation, a community-driven platform. This joint venture aims to cultivate a Zero-knowledge (ZK) prover for the WebAssembly (Wasm) blockchain.
This far-reaching collaboration is set to bridge the divide between Wasm-based chains and the Ethereum ecosystem, thus appealing to developers with the potential for personalization when creating with the Polygon Chain Development Kit or CDK.
According to the announcement released by Polygon Labs, the introduction of a zkWasm prover will offer developers the option to select from a wide range of provers during the crafting of their projects. These provers can be utilized in a variety of contexts, such as launching an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain, aligning a Wasm chain closely with Ethereum, or accessing liquidity.
This evolution involves the implementation of the zkWasm prover as a novel runtime, responsible for creating zero-knowledge proofs that authenticate native Wasm runtime execution accuracy. This significant advancement aims to boost scalability and decentralization, fostering a closer relationship between the NEAR protocol and Ethereum.
Amid this cooperation, the NEAR Foundation has committed to play a vital role as a core contributor to the Polygon CDK, thus enriching the toolkit for developers. Polygon co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, extolled the benefits of this partnership, emphasizing the provision of increased customization options for developers through the zkWasm prover.
WebAssembly, a framework known for operating complex programs in web browsers, offers performance on par with native computer applications. This assembly proves essential in the realm of Web3, providing the Wasm Virtual Machine that powers blockchains like NEAR and Polkadot, diverging from the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Per the revelations, an interop layer currently under development will offer chains the option to unify as an ecosystem of Layer 2 solutions, delivered through Polygon CDK. This ecosystem will feature alternative layer-1 chains, EVM layer-2 solutions, and Wasm chains, thus facilitating interoperability and liquidity defragmentation across different chains.
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of the NEAR Protocol, conveyed his enthusiasm for this collaboration, acknowledging the considerable potential it brings to the entire Web3 ecosystem.
This partnership between Polygon Labs and the NEAR Foundation carries substantial implications for both protocols. The integration of the zkWasm prover into Polygon CDK will extend its capabilities, offering developers wider options for creating “custom blockchains.”
Furthermore, this innovation will draw the NEAR Protocol closer to Ethereum, augmenting its interoperability and liquidity possibilities. Currently, MATIC, Polygon’s native token, is flirting with the $0.800 price point, showcasing a commendable upward trend and an impressive 11% uptrend recorded over the past day.
