A Brief Analysis of New Player Polyhedra Network in the ZKP Space: Why Has It Captured the Attention of Top Crypto Funds?
Polyhedra Network recently announced the completion of a $10 million financing round, led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital.Original: 《From Technology to Narrative, Does the $10 Million Funded ZKP Startup Polyhedra Have a Bright Future?》
Author: Chloe, Chain Teahouse
Polyhedra Network recently announced the completion of a $10 million funding round, led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital.
Polyhedra is a startup developing a full-stack infrastructure for Web3 based on ZKP technology, focusing on interoperability, scalability, and privacy.
In the current funding environment, Polyhedra's performance can be described as stunning, especially considering the many long-established competitors in the ZKP space.
Luke Pearson, a cryptography expert at Polychain Capital, stated, "Polyhedra is pushing the boundaries of some of the most innovative ZK infrastructure in Web3, connecting blockchain ecosystems to build the next generation of financial technology."
So, does Polyhedra have a chance to emerge as a dark horse in the ZKP space? This article interprets the limited public information available about Polyhedra…
Product Trio
1. zkBridge
zkBridge is designed to enable trustless interactions (assets and data) between Web2 and Web3 systems and can also serve as cross-chain infrastructure.
Currently, the zkBridge testnet is live, with strong airdrop expectations, and there are tutorials available online (though the experience is not very good).
2. ZK-DID
ZK-DID is a one-stop solution for decentralized identity, with the core being a verifiable credential system that can verify credentials using zero-knowledge proofs without compromising user privacy, applicable in scenarios like KYC/AML/CFT.
ZK-DID already has several competitors, with relatively mature operations including zCloak, which was previously interviewed by Chain Teahouse (《zCloak Network: A New Force Entering the Privacy Computing Space from Browser Plugins | Chain Teahouse Interview》).
3. ZK-NFT
ZK-NFT goes beyond NFTs, encapsulating various standard tokens and off-chain data (transforming read-write states into read-only states), encrypted by ZK pointers to protect the privacy of related information.
Thus, ZK-NFT can be used for integrating user data and websites in both the Web2 and Web3 worlds.
Technical Stack
For the very early-stage ZKP space, the product itself is not the competitive edge; the team's technology is fundamental, and the Polyhedra team indeed has some commendable technical aspects.
1. deVirgo
The proof system used by zkBridge is deVirgo, specifically launched by Polyhedra. Essentially, it is still ZK-SNARK, but the innovation lies in generating SNARK proofs using a distributed approach.
In simple terms, it divides the task of generating ZK-SNARK proofs off-chain among more devices; for example, the task originally assigned to one device can be distributed to 100 devices, reducing the time by a factor of 100.
2. paraPlonk
Plonk is a zk-SNARK proof system that supports trusted setups and can be understood as an upgraded version of zk-SNARK. The paraPlonk introduced by the Polyhedra team is an upgrade of the upgraded version—allowing distributed nodes to work together to generate proofs with minimal data transmission.
paraPlonk is expected to accelerate the realization of fully decentralized ZK-rollups and zkEVM.
3. High TPS?
However, there is one question: according to the official website, ZK-DID has high scalability, low cost, and high TPS, which means it can provide verification for all blockchain systems and be compatible with any Web2 application, thus "serving the next billion users."
The only issue is that the TPS of all ZK proofs is theoretically infinite, as it occurs off-chain… It feels like a pseudo-concept fabricated for PR (friends with differing opinions are welcome to discuss in the comments).
Conclusion
Polyhedra indeed shows creativity in the ZKP proof mechanism, summarizing that it generates SNARK proofs faster through a distributed approach, and then develops zk full-stack projects based on this to achieve interconnectivity between the Web2 and Web3 worlds.
There are no issues with the technical starting point, and the narrative of "serving the next billion users" is also sound. With the recent $10 million funding to develop the ecosystem and invest in ZKP research, it seems that there is a bright future ahead.
We are very optimistic about the application of ZKP in the crypto world, but we must be clear about its implementation difficulties.
First is the technical difficulty; even Starkware and zkSync have not yet achieved the smooth EVM compatibility of Optimistic Rollup.
Second is the ecological difficulty, which tests the capabilities of the business and operations teams.
In the current stage where the technical and product paths of ZKP are not yet clear, it is difficult to assess the future of Polyhedra Network. We can only say that they are heading in the right direction before dawn, respect!
