Polygon and Solving Scalability
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Polygon, formerly known as Matic, was founded by three developers active in India’s blockchain community that decided to tackle Ethereum's major issues. To understand the value of Polygon you must first understand these major issues with Ethereum. Ethereum offers security and decentralization but has difficulty with scaling. This difficulty scaling causes Ethereum to operate slowly and have high transaction fees, especially during peak activity times. Polygon is a layer 2 scaling solution that enables instant, low-cost, and secure transactions on the Ethereum network. They accomplish this by giving Ethereum apps a variety of sidechains to use.
Layer 1 vs. Layer 2
If you have been in the blockchain world long enough, you have most likely heard of “layer 1” and “layer 2”. Layer 1 is used to describe the underlying architecture of the main blockchain. Layer 2, conveniently enough, is an overlaying network that lies on top of the main blockchain. The goal of a layer 2 solution is to improve scalability by reducing the load on the main chain.
Internet of Blockchains
The Matic main-net went live in mid-2020 and quickly began attracting attention. This was compounded by the sharp increase in Ethereum gas fees which made the need for robust scaling solutions evident. Instead of providing one or two scaling solutions, Polygon aims to create an ecosystem that makes it easy to connect multiple scaling solutions.
The Four Layers
Polygon’s architecture is divided into four layers that projects using Polygon can interact with depending on their needs:
Ethereum Layer
Security
Consensus
Security Layer
Handles Polygon’s security as a service product
This product allows users to leverage Polygon’s core validators for consensus if they don’t want to use the Ethereum blockchain
Polygon Network Layer
Handles interoperability between all blockchains using Polygon
Execution Layer
Hosts on-chain and cross-chain smart contracts
Both the Etherereum and Security layers are optional.
Zoom Out
Polygon’s internet of blockchains gives developers the ability to choose how they wish to approach the Scalability Trilemma.
As the graphic shows, to achieve scalability developers must choose to sacrifice either security or decentralization. Ethereum is both secure and decentralized but lacks scalability. Polygon’s layer 2 solution gives developers the ability to bypass Ethereum’s security or decentralization in favor of scalability while still giving them the option to lean on Ethereum if their use case necessitates it.
With so many decentralized applications being developed every day this optionality regarding scalability vs decentralization/security leads to Polygon’s superb potential.