This weekend saw the proliferation of unique rollups in the EVM ecosystem, with the exponential rise of DEGEN. Degen’s initial premise is interesting in and of itself, as it started as a channel on the Farcaster SocialFi dApp on Base. On the tech side of things, DEGEN is an L3 on Base, though it is built on the Arbitrum Orbit chain tech stack while using Base for settlements.
Whether SocialFi is the main driver of not, this type of desire and demand for more sovereign chains in the EVM is clearly on the rise. This gives way to what could potentially be an interesting solution to this problem; the AggLayer, by Polygon.
Polygon has added quite a few technological advancements, so much so in fact that it can be hard to keep up with. Polygon has its feet in ZK tech with its zkEVM, Some have actually spun this in a way to criticize Polygon, pointing out that the chain is injecting itself into every technical narrative that currently holds the market's attention.
This is interesting as the chain was well known for prominently having very strong business development efforts. Now market participants acknowledge that the tech behind Polygon has far expanded its initial offerings to the point that this initial partnerships/integrations talking point isn’t as relevant.
Stay alert in these markets ⬇
Background on Polygon AggLayer
Polygon’s AggLayer is a decentralized service for aggregating proof within the Polygon ecosystem. The solution places emphasis on lower latency cross-chain communication compared to Ethereum for trustless transactions. There are indeed challenges in transitioning between rollups due to time-consuming processes on Ethereum. AggLayer enables asynchronous message exchange or synchronous transaction bundles between rollups. Rollups commit to received messages, ensuring consistency and validity across interconnected chains.
A notable feature of the AggLayer is the fact that it is not restricted to the Polygon ecosystem. This allows for better mobility when navigating to and from other chain scaling solutions on other L2s, namely Orbit chains on Arbitrum and the Superchain on Optimism via the OP Stack. The AggLayer aims to aggregate liquidity across heterogeneous chains, only forcing them to follow a shared ZK proving standard.
Ite AggLayer allows for teams and developers to spin up their own L2 or L3 chains upon the existing rollup infrastructure but in a connected and interoperable way, hence the name ‘AggLayer’ (Aggregation Layer). In fact, an emphasis is placed on shared liquidity and user access as positive interactions for chains joining the ecosystem.
The only common denominator between all these chain that can be connected is shared ZK proving standard. Polygon aims for heterogeneous execution environments but must ensure security against unsound provers.
The team also acknowledges how attention has shifted from monolithic to modular chains, and proposes a new innovation, Aggregated chains. The AggLayer claims to combine the best of both worlds when it comes to modular and monolithic chains. This concept is not novel, of course, Parallelized EVM solutions and other technologies e.g. Monad, Neon, and Eclipse SVM.
Agg Layer offers cryptographic guarantees for safe interoperation at lower latency than Ethereum finality. The existing zk tech of Polygon is what allows for balance conversion across chains, enabling safe asset transfers. The Agg Layer charges a nominal fee for batches and proofs submitted by chains.
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