Announcement at Lisbon Conference
By leveraging Polygon Labs’ proficiency in ZK scaling and NEAR’s extensive understanding of WASM runtime, the zkWASM prover is set to emerge as a leading solution among WASM provers once it is launched. Both teams unveiled this collaboration during the NEARCON conference in Lisbon, NEAR’s premier annual event.
Strengthening the Web3 Ecosystem
This partnership unites two leading protocol teams with the goal of creating a more secure and interoperable Web3 ecosystem. The zkWASM prover not only enhances NEAR Protocol’s connection to Ethereum but also allows WASM-based chains to tap into Ethereum’s liquidity.
In the coming months, as part of ongoing interoperability efforts, chains will be able to share liquidity across a unified ecosystem that includes CDK-deployed chains, EVM Layer 2s, alternative Layer 1s, and WASM chains.
By incorporating the zkWASM prover, WASM chains can settle transactions efficiently, securely, and at a lower cost, unlocking the potential of zero-knowledge proofs in the multi-chain Web3 future.
“We’re excited to work with NEAR on this pioneering research initiative that will drive the advancement and adoption of ZK technology. The zkWASM prover offers unmatched customizability for developers, enabling them to choose from a range of provers while working with CDK, whether it’s for launching, migrating an EVM chain, or developing a WASM chain for better compatibility with Ethereum and liquidity access,”
– Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon.
Introducing a zkWASM prover will significantly improve NEAR’s validator process. Validators will no longer need to validate entire shards but can generate a single zero-knowledge proof, simplifying their tasks. This will result in enhanced scalability and a more decentralized NEAR Protocol.
Nieuwe horizonten verkennen
“We are excited to collaborate with Polygon Labs to bring zero-knowledge proofs not only to NEAR but to the entire Web3 ecosystem,” said Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol. “NEAR is reinforcing its integration with Ethereum by exploring new research opportunities, and the combined expertise of NEAR and Polygon will expand the ZK landscape and enhance liquidity integration across chains. The zkWASM prover will also contribute to improved scalability and decentralization of the NEAR Layer 1.”
The zkWASM prover is currently under active development and is expected to launch in the coming year.
About the NEAR Foundation
The NEAR Foundation, based in Switzerland, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling community-driven innovation to benefit people globally. One of its main priorities is the growth of the NEAR ecosystem, which provides a fully decentralized blockchain platform for developing decentralized applications (dApps).
NEAR Foundation carries out its mission by allocating resources to other entities within the NEAR ecosystem rather than directly managing operations. Unlike many similar organizations, its long-term goal is to minimize its own footprint by supporting the decentralized infrastructure necessary for the ecosystem to operate autonomously and sustainably. For more information, visit the official website.
Over Polygon Labs
Polygon Labs is the driving force behind Ethereum scaling solutions for the Polygon network. Polygon Labs works closely with other ecosystem developers to provide scalable, affordable, secure, and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. The company has built a robust suite of protocols to simplify access to major scaling solutions, including Layer 2 solutions (zero-knowledge and optimistic rollups), sidechains, hybrid chains, app-specific chains, enterprise chains, and data availability protocols.
Polygon’s scaling solutions have gained widespread adoption, supporting tens of thousands of decentralized apps (dApps), over 220.8 million unique addresses, more than 1.18 million smart contracts, and over 2.48 billion total transactions. Polygon’s network hosts some of the largest Web3 projects, including Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea, as well as major enterprises like Robinhood, Stripe, and Adobe. Polygon Labs is committed to sustainability and is currently carbon neutral with a goal of making Web3 carbon negative.
