Polygon Labs, the company that develops the eponymous sidechain, has just announced Polygon 2.0. This set of major updates will “radically reinvent the entire protocol”: architecture, tokenomics and governance. The aim is to create the Internet’s “value layer”, enabling users to “create, exchange and program value”.
Polygon to evolve into Polygon 2.0
Announced on 12 June, Polygon 2.0 is an evolution of Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum’s (ETH) famous scalability solution. Polygon Labs’ ambition is clear: “to build the value layer of the Internet”, which would enable anyone “to create, exchange and program value”, in the same way that the Internet enabled anyone to create and share information.
1/ Our vision for Polygon is simple: to build the Value Layer of the Internet.
The Internet allows anyone to create and exchange information. The Value Layer allows anyone to create, exchange, and program value.
Enter Polygon 2.0: a blueprint to build the ultimate Value Layer. pic.twitter.com/9eYSr3H1L5
– Polygon (Labs) (@0xPolygonLabs) June 12, 2023
According to the announcement published by Polygon Labs, Polygon 2.0 is a set of updates “that radically reinvents nearly every aspect of Polygon, from protocol architecture to governance to tokenomics”. The company will shortly be publishing a roadmap for the project, including the future of the Polygon sidechain as we know it, as well as the MATIC token.
Presumably, Polygon 2.0 will be presented as a network of several interconnected blockchains powered by Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology. This is how Polygon Labs describes this new protocol:
“The network can support a virtually unlimited number of chains and interactions between chains can occur securely and instantaneously, without additional security or assumptions of trust. Unlimited scalability and unified liquidity.
What does the future hold for Polygon’s MATIC?
This announcement comes as no surprise. Since 2021, Polygon Labs has been investing heavily in research into ZKP, a fast-growing technology that allows users to prove something – in a very simplified way – without having to reveal the relevant information.
Zero Knowledge Proof processes are particularly appreciated within the community because they guarantee the confidentiality of users and the preservation of their personal data. Several projects are currently working on this type of blockchain: Scroll, StarkNet, zkSync and Polygon.
Last March, Polygon made official the deployment of Polygon zkEVM, a network based on ZK Rollups and compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). For the record, ZK Rollups combine the benefits of ZK technology with those of rollups, solutions that enable the main network’s capacities to be upgraded.
In the midst of a regulatory morass, following repeated attacks on the cryptocurrency industry, the MATIC share price has had a complicated week. Listed as a security by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Polygon’s token has fallen by 28% in the space of a week, and is now trading below the levels seen in the wake of the FTX affair.
Against this backdrop, it is conceivable that Polygon Labs is seeking to eclipse the Proof of Stake (PoS) sidechain – which is particularly targeted by US regulators – and has decided to adjust the characteristics of its MATIC token so that it is no longer in the SEC’s line of fire. The next roadmap will answer our questions
