Polygon, a protocol and framework for building and bridging Ethereum-compatible networks, has announced its integration with Mina Protocol, a blockchain firm working on privacy-preserving technology.
The integration will bring Mina Protocol’s zero-knowledge proofs (specifically, zkSNARKs, or non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs) to the inter-operable Polygon blockchain, providing privacy-preserving technology to the blockchain’s aggregating and scalable network for a multi-chain Ethereum ecosystem.
Zero-knowledge proofs are an essential feature for providing blockchains with the ability to conceal features and sensitive transaction data or aggregated information from selected parties or external observers, guaranteeing privacy for users on a blockchain that is enabled with this feature.
“Building a bridge between Polygon and Mina is an important step towards achieving our shared vision of a fully decentralized ecosystem of dapps that keeps users in control of their data,” shared Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
The Mina Protocol is known in the crypto space as the industry’s “smallest blockchain” in terms of network size, operating on just a few kilobytes of data (22kb, to be precise). Compared to the Ethereum protocol’s over a quarter of a terabyte blockchain, the Mina Protocol’s lightweight blockchain serves users and node operators alike by providing faster sync speeds and easier setup, easing demand on otherwise expensive hardware for maintenance.
The Mina Protocol’s integration with the Polygon blockchain would mean that developers and firms creating dApps (decentralized applications) on Polygon may now make use of Mina Protocol’s recursive functions for their applications built on top of its zero-knowledge protocol. dApps made on Mina Protocol are aptly named “Snapps.” With Mina Protocol’s zero-knowledge proofs, it effectively condenses its network while also securing privacy features for its users.
This is not Polygon’s first foray into obtaining privacy features for its blockchain. Earlier in August, Polygon acquired Hermez, a firm developing Layer 2 scalability solutions for the blockchain that likewise uses zero-knowledge rollups (zk-rollups). The acquisition was made for 250 million MATIC tokens.
Zero-knowledge rollups are used to condense hundreds of transfers into a single transaction record, marking a smart contract to deconstruct and verify all of these transactions into one. With zk-rollups, the effective computing scale and required storage resources to validate a block is drastically reduced by minimizing the amount of data held within a transaction’s blockchain record.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
