Miden seeks to introduce excessive throughput parallelized execution to Polygon’s line-up of Ethereum scaling options.
Polygon, one of many high groups engaged on Ethereum scaling options, launched the alpha testnet deployment for Miden, its upcoming STARK-based rollup.
Introduced on Might 6, Polygon mentioned builders can experiment with executing easy sensible contracts together with asset transfers, token minting, and tap growth on the testnet.
Polygon emphasised that Miden is designed to facilitate high-throughput parallel transaction execution. In contrast to most blockchains, networks that assist parallelized execution don’t have to depend on linearly sequential transaction verification, unlocking larger throughput.
“Polygon Miden is a zero-knowledge rollup for personal, high-throughput functions,” Polygon mentioned in its documentation for Miden. “Builders can construct functions which are infeasible on different programs [including] high-throughput privacy-preserving dApps for DeFi… and on-chain video games with languages akin to Rust and TypeScript.”
Miden’s alpha testnet customers also can launch private and non-private accounts and notes — which facilitate personal parallelized execution on Miden.
Polygon’s scaling suite
Miden expands Polygon’s suite of Ethereum scaling options, which embody its PoS Chain sidechain, ZkEVM zero-knowledge rollup, and modular Chain Improvement Package.
Whereas Polygon ZkEVM presently affords the best throughput and privateness of Polygon’s mainnet options, its adoption has been sluggish in comparison with rival zkEVM networks since its deployment on March 27, 2023.
In keeping with L2beat, Polygon ZkEVM presently hosts a complete worth locked (TVL) of $159.1 million. Nevertheless, Polygon plans to unify its ZkEVM and PoS Chain — which boasts a TVL of greater than $1 billion — in a bid to mix ZkEVM’s options with PoS Chain’s sizable person base and TVL.
This positions Miden as Polygon’s answer for specialised high-throughput functions, together with on-chain order book-based exchanges, complicated web3 video games, and superior wallets leveraging account abstraction. In contrast, the ZkEVM-PoS Chain will present a large ecosystem of customers and protocols that dApp builders can plug into.
Miden’s structure
Rollups bolster the scalability of Ethereum by processing transactions on Layer 2 earlier than bundling them for batched finalization on Ethereum’s mainnet. Rollups secured by zero-knowledge proofs, also called ZK-rollups, enable transaction verification whereas revealing minimal information to the broader community.
Polygon first introduced Miden in November 2021, touting the chain’s use of zk-STARKs — which had been pioneered by StarkWare — to additional enhance transaction privateness in comparison with different ZK-rollups. On the time, Polygon mentioned zk-STARKs enable the creation of proofs that “confirm {that a} program was executed accurately, with out the necessity for re-executing this system and even figuring out what this system was.”
Elley Habiba, a web3 developer, advised The Defiant that zk-STARKs additionally provide safety advantages over competing architectures for Layer 2 networks.
“[Zk-STARKS] are particular as a result of they do not depend on a ‘trusted setup’ — a course of that… might be a safety weak point,” Habiba mentioned.
Nevertheless, Habiba famous that L2s utilizing zk-STARKs sometimes require elevated storage prices in comparison with different zk-rollups.
In its Might 6 tweet, Polygon emphasised that Miden shoppers can generate proofs regionally, decreasing the community load related to zk-STARKs.
“Miden can regionally generate proofs for their very own state transitions with out having to reveal the state to the community. and client-side proofs decrease the burden on the community,” Polygon mentioned.
The worth of Polygon’s MATIC token is up 6.9% over the previous seven days, however tumbled 4.2% in 24 hours alongside the broader crypto markets, in accordance with CoinGecko.
