Discover Resources: What is Polygon & How is Cyberpong Utilizing It?

Questions abound about Polygon:

• Why is Cyberpong deploying NFT’s on Polygon?
• How will Polygon help Ethereum’s scaling issues?
• Why does it claim to be the fulcrum of the internet of blockchains on Ethereum?
• Why is Polygon compared to Polkadot and Cosmos?

Why we are using Polygon versus competing blockchains

As of recent times, with more and more individuals joining the cryptocurrency ecosystem, we have all witnessed Ethereum gas prices (transactional fees) reach extraordinary highs. Buyers and sellers have accepted that, on a good day, they will pay between $50 to $100 USD for a single transaction. On a busy day with a congested network, these fees can skyrocket. As it is planned to have more in-game blockchain developments, which require faster and cheaper transactions taking place in real-time, the core layer of Ethereum is not a viable gateway at this point in time. The developing team opted for Polygon.

While leveraging Ethereum’s network, Polygon, a PoS (Proof of Stake) blockchain enables faster and more cost-efficient transactions that go beyond the standard second layer protocol. All of Polygon’s validator and staking logic for the PoS blockchain are deployed as smart contracts on Ethereum. This provides two key benefits: it utilizes Ethereum-based finality to the Polygon’s blockchain and it can aid in the recovery of said blockchain in the case of a Black Swan event. Secondly, it supports the Ethereum network by paying Ethereum’s gas fees in order to acquire larger blockspace and to secure contracts on-chain.

Should Ethereum cease to exist, Polygon would follow. Polygon allows its contracts to be upgraded with multisignature (multi-sig) capabilities. Multisig permissions grant essential rights to the signatories making changes to the protocol. In recent times, a development bug that prevents the fork of a business model remains a common dilemma seen throughout the DeFi industry. As of now, Polygon’s multi-sig relies on a 5 out of 8 signatory consensus, which is far from decentralized, but this announcement by the official team aims to improve this in the near future.

The History of Polygon

The MATIC token was distributed via Binance Launchpad in an April 2019 Initial Exchange Offering. The team raised $5.6 million. After approximately two-and-a-half years, their mainnet went live in mid-2020.

Polygon was started in 2017 by three founders based in India. The goal was to solve Ethereum scaling problems. The team designed two main solutions: Plasma, a layer two scaling solution based on former implementations, and a Proof of Stake side chain for Ethereum. The increasing gas fees on Ethereum helped put on display an urgent need for a robust scaling solution.

At the beginning of 2021, the Polygon team decided to expand the scope of their project. The goal of Polygon is to create a more generalized scaling solution. There are two main ways to scale a blockchain: Layer 2 scaling or a side chain. Layer Two relies on the security of the main layer (in this case, Ethereum).Optimistic roll ups and ZK roll ups are the most popular Layer 2 options. Alternatively, side chains rely on their own security models by having a separate consensus mechanism, as in the case of the Matic PoS chain.

Polygon is designing an ecosystem to connect multiple scaling solutions, from side chains with different consensus mechanisms to layer two options, like Plasma, Optimistic Roll ups, and ZK Rolls Ups.

The PoS and Plasma chains are meant to be one of many scaling solutions available on the Polygon ecosystem, which also provides a framework that makes it easy for new projects to build their own highly customizable scaling solutions.

How Does Polygon Work?

Polygon supports two types of Ethereum compatible blockchain networks: standalone network and secure chain, which are networks which leverage security as a service model. Standalone chains rely on their own security and can have their own consensus models, be that proof of stake or delegated proof of stake.

Such networks are fully sovereign, presenting them with the highest level of independence and flexibility, although making it more difficult to establish a reliable security model. A PoS system requires many reliable validators. (Such a model is suitable for enterprise blockchains and established projects with robust communities)

Secured chains employ the ‘security as a service’ model. The security can be provided by Ethereum via fraud proofs used in Plasma or by a pool of professional validators, who are present on the Polygon ecosystem. Security chains offer the highest level of security while sacrificing independence and flexibility. This model might be preferred by startups and security-focused projects. Polygon can accommodate numerous types of scaling solutions.

What Is Polygon Architecture?

Polygon’s architecture consists of four abstract and composable layers.

- Ethereum Layer

The Polygon PoS chain can use Ethereum as a base layer so as to leverage Ethereum’s high security. This layer is implemented as a collection of smart contracts on Ethereum, and can be used for functions such as finality, checkpointing, staking, dispute resolution, and messaging between Ethereum and Polygon chains. The PoS chain stores its contracts on Ethereum and covers the gas fees, indirectly supporting Ethereum. Another advantage is that if Polygon encounters a catastrophic event, it could safely be recovered using the Ethereum main net. Wildly enough, should Ethereum cease to exist, so would Polygon.

- Security Layer

The next layer is the security layer, an option layer that can provide a validator as a service function. This function allows Polygon chains to make use of a set of validators that periodically check the validity of any Polygon chain. This layer is usually implemented as a meta-blockchain that runs in parallel to Ethereum. It is responsible for validator management, registering, deregistering, rewards, shuffling, and Polygon chain validation.

Fully abstract, the security layer can feature multiple implementations each with its own characteristics. The layer can be implemented directly on Ethereum so as to leverage Ethereum’s miners as validators.

- Polygon Networks Layer

This mandatory layer in the Polygon architecture consists of sovereign blockchain networks, where each network can maintain functions, such as transactional collation, local consensus, and block production.

- Execution Layer

This layer is responsible for interpreting and executing transactions included on the Polygon chains. It consists of the execution environment and execution logic sublayers.

The Polygon architecture is deliberately generic and abstract so that other applications looking to scale can choose the solution which fits their specific needs. Different applications might seek to optimize for different needs, such as security, transaction speed or cost or serenity.

Which Layer Is Right For My DeFi Platform?

A DeFi protocol aiming to store billions of dollars locked in smart contracts likely wants to optimize for security and might be happy with sacrificing sovereignty, a protocol like this would most likely use the Ethereum layer.

Another project, like an NFT marketplace, may want to optimize for ultra-low transaction costs and would then be ok with making a sacrifice by lowering the security from extremely high to high enough. A project might not use the Ethereum layer, instead of relying on the security layer with a set of shared validators.

A blockchain-based game might choose to rely on its own consensus mechanism with ultra-fast block times. In this case, they skip both Ethereum and the security layer while focusing on the Polygon network layer.

Polygon provides multiple options and the teams behind different applications can decide to pick the one that fits their use case. Polygon also strives to make it easier to migrate from one scaling solution to another. This might be needed if the circumstances behind the project change or if a better scaling solution hits the market.

The Polygon architecture allows for multiple different Polygon-based scaling solutions to communicate with each other, preventing siloed systems from forming. The only scaling solution available in the Polygon ecosystem is the Matic PoS chain and the Matic Plasma Chain Solution.

What Projects Are On Polygon?

Certain projects that have either migrated to Polygon PoS chain launched directly on Polygon are in the process of migrating, including

• QuickSwap, a fork of Uniswap
• Aaveogtchi,
• Poly Market
• PolkaMarket
• SuperFirm.
• … many, many other notable projects.

Infrastructure projects like The Graph and channeling are also expanding to Polygon. Polygon has a partnership with Atari.

Matic plasma chain is Ethereum layer 2 predicate-based plasma implementation. Plasma is a framework for building decentralized apps. Offload transactions from the main chain into side chains to enable fast transitions. One drawback is the long waiting period for users.

Why Might Projects Choose Polygon?

Polygon offers sufficient decentralization, economic security, and EVM compatibility. Projects can migrate easily to Polygon from Ethereum. Furthermore, some claim the user experience is better on Polygon than Ethereum. The Polygon developer experience is easier than on Ethereum.

Polygon’s MATIC Token

The MATIC token is a Proof of Stake token used by validators to stake and earn the rights to validate transactions, which have the same gas model as Ethereum. If you are a validator, and you have staked your token, you’ve earned the right to validate those transactions and earn transaction fees. Validators can also participate by putting a checkpoint on Ethereum for the PoS and Plasma chains.

Large amount of adoption and network generates hundreds of millions in transaction fees and you are a validator in the network you get a return, network generating 100 million per year, 1 billion worth of tokens can be staked and are out of supply. The token’s role on Polygon plays a similar role as the ATOM token on the COSMOS network.

If you stake tokens as a validator, you are eligible to earn fees. Presently, the chain denominates fees in tokens. In the future, Polygon might use ETH for gas fees, which would increase the user experience. Therefore, people can have a simple mental model: that on Ethereum, an operation costs a certain amount of gas, whereas on Polygon, it costs a different amount. In the future, Polygon wants to be as non-opinionated as general, so a validator can accept DAI or ETH.

The current PoS chain and other Plasma chain fees are denominated in MATIC tokens. The model is very similar to Ethereum with gas fees. When demand for the platform increases, and there are a large number of transactions, the validators choose higher gas fees. The scalability of the current chain is approximately 7200 TPS, according to the team.

What’s On The Polygon Roadmap?

Polygon has yet to publish a fully detailed roadmap. Polygon released the Polygon SDK, the equivalent of Polkadot’s Substrate. It is used on that chain to launch chains, such as Parachains. Same on Polygon.

Conclusion

One premise of Polygon is that there is no such thing as strong global consistency. On a global scale, in traditional systems, like financial systems or web systems, you have intertwined systems that can fail independently. Global consistent systems cannot scale. Polygon is aiming to aggregate or offer a multitude of layer two solutions all in one. For that reason, the Polygon multichain schematic doesn’t entail global consistency.

Polygon tries to be as non-opinionated and as flexible as possible. Every project on Polygon can decide for themselves what level of security suits them. If security’s absolutely critical for a project, they might consider using ZK Roll Ups, if possible, because they provide a high level of security because transactions of that implementation are validated on Ethereum directly.

Enterprise, for example, might not require as strong of security as offered by Ethereum, but they require other features. They might decide to pick a standalone chain for their enterprise network for interactivity. Everything on Polygon converges around Ethereum. For communication between two enterprise chains, where both chains are run by an enterprise, but they communicate with each other, they would use a checkpoint. There would exist a cryptographic proof on the Ethereum engine. Polygon envisages Ethereum as the nexus for the “internet of chains,” that many participants in the crypto industry imagine for the future.

The team is also building other solutions like ZK rollups, optimistic rollups, enterprise chains, and other side chains. Presently, projects launching on Polygon start with the Matic PoS and Matic plasma chains, which are on the Ethereum layer.Plasma represents a framework for building scalable decentralized applications, allowing for offloading transactions from the main chain into child chains, enabling fast and cheap transactions.

One disadvantage of Plasma is a long waiting period for users wanting to withdraw funds from layer two. Plasma cannot be used to scale general purpose smart contracts. Matic PoS chain is permissionless sidechain running in parallel to the Ethereum chain. The chain is secured by the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism with its own validators. Although the Matic PoS chain has its own consensus mechanism, it relies on Ethereum’s security when it comes to validator staking and checkpoints.

The Polygon PoS chain is EVM compatible so that Ethereum based projects can migrate smart contracts. Polygon PoS and Plasma chains have onboarded dozens of apps, processing over 5 million transactions and securing more than $200 million in user funds.

The goal for Polygon is that developers have web2 experience. If you talk to UX engineers, in order to disrupt an app, industry, or system, the user experience has to be the same if not better than what people are currently using. Polygon exists to remove barriers to entry to Ethereum.

Polygon has been built to facilitate connections between different scaling solutions, with a focus on Optimistic Roll Ups and ZK Roll Ups. The Polygon white paper compares itself to other Layer One blockchains, such as PolkaDot and Cosmos, and Avalanche focuses on interoperability between different blockchains.

Polygon’s focus is on the Ethereum ecosystem and blockchain, which comes with advantages like Solidity programming language, the popular Ethereum Virtual Machine, and Ethereum’s history of being a reliable chain handling trillions of dollars worth of economic activities.

About Polygon

Polygon is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building and connecting Secured Chains like Plasma, Optimistic Rollups, zkRollups, Validium, etc, and Standalone Chains like Polygon POS, designed for flexibility and independence. Polygon’s scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with 450+ Dapps, ~350M txns, and ~13.5M+ unique users.

If you’re an Ethereum Developer, you’re already a Polygon developer! Leverage Polygon’s fast and secure txns for your Dapp, get started here.

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