Polygon's zkEVM Enters Second Public Testnet Phase

Polygon's zkEVM has entered its second public testnet phase, marking a crucial step before its official mainnet launch.

Polygon's zkEVM Moves to Second Public Testnet

Polygon’s layer-2 solution for Ethereum has transitioned to its second public testnet, following the impressive launch of its first public testnet over two months ago.

According to the announcement, this testnet will trial a new upgrade known as recursion, which is designed to scale Ethereum exponentially. Polygon positions zkEVM as a groundbreaking scaling technology leveraging zero-knowledge proofs, aiming to usher in a new era for the Ethereum ecosystem.

Launched in July, zkEVM has rapidly gained traction as a new Ethereum scaling technology over the past year. ConsenSys, the entity behind MetaMask, also launched a private testnet for zkEVM earlier this month.

zkEVM utilizes ZK-Rollups technology and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This means projects built on zkEVM can seamlessly integrate with the Ethereum network.

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The sophisticated ZK-Rollups technology significantly improves Ethereum’s transaction costs and speeds, making it easier for developers to build applications. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called ZK-Rollups a “game-changer” that is poised to surpass Optimistic Rollups.

Polygon, known for its pioneering layer-1 Proof-of-Stake chain, continues to thrive despite the current crypto winter.

Last month, another zkEVM platform—zkSync—successfully raised $200 million in a Series C funding round. zkSync, developed by Matter Labs, is home to hundreds of projects and is also a ZK-Rollups solution on Ethereum. The project launched its testnet in February 2022 and began "Baby Alpha" testing for its mainnet 2.0 on October 29.