Polygon ZK-Rollup Ethereum Balance Meets Midden Testnet
Ethereum layer-2 developer Polygon has launched the testnet of the latest Zero Knowledge (ZK) alpha version.
In a May 6 X post, Polygon said the Polygon Miden Alpha TestNet is live for zero-knowledge developers to start testing. Miden is a ZK-rollup designed to extend the capabilities of the Ethereum blockchain.
Polygon's latest solution – like other ZK-rollups – uses a form of encryption where data is authenticated or “verified” without revealing to the rest of the network what the data contains.
Midden also has client-side authentication, where users can “generate their own state transition authentication locally without revealing the state to the network,” according to Polygon. This aims to reduce the load on the network and improve privacy and scalability.
Midden enables additional functionality such as private tokens and transactions where the hash of the account is only stored on-chain.
Midden also uses parallel transaction execution – where transactions can be executed simultaneously – allowing it to achieve much higher throughput compared to the Ethereum mainnet and reduce blockchain node state bloat.
Other planned key features include customizable smart contracts and custom node buffers where users can write their own in-memory scripts using the Midden virtual machine (VM) and programming languages like Rust.
According to Midden's roadmap, a builder testnet is scheduled for September. There is no mention of a mainnet launch time.
Related: Vitalik Buterin breaks ‘Binius' to accelerate zero-knowledge proofs
Midden has entered the market in direct competition with StarkWare's Layer-2 scaling network and rollup tech stack, StarkNet, and other alternatives such as Matter Labs' zkSync Era.
Polygon will also build zkEVM, a blockchain solution equivalent to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which will allow most existing smart contracts, devices and wallets to run seamlessly.
Blockchain-native token Polygon (MATIC) did not react as the testnet startup fell 3.7% on the day to trade at $0.704 at the time of writing.
Magazine: ZK-rollups are the ‘endgame' scaling blockchains: Polygon Miden Founder
