Web3 needs more layer 2s — Polygon co-founder

The co-founder of Polygon argues that there aren’t enough layer-2 networks despite the growing belief there are too many.

In episode 48 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, Polygon co-founder Brendan Farmer joins Elisha Owusu Akyaw to discuss the state of layer-2 networks, Polygon’s multiple releases in the last six months, including its aggregation layer, or AggLayer, and its newly introduced “Type 1 prover.”

The “Type 1 prover” is a new feature allowing any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) network to become a layer-2 network powered by zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) and connect to Polygon’s broader ecosystem to fix the fragmentation among layer 2s. 

According to Farmer, the technology, which took about a year to build, was made with the help of Toposware and unlocks the ability to generate ZK-proofs for mainnet Ethereum blocks at a low cost. The Type 1 prover allows any EVM chain to become a ZK layer-2 and join the Polygon AggLayer. Farmer highlights the need for a better user experience by stitching together the fragmented layer-2 ecosystem to make Ethereum the ecosystem of choice for the next wave of adoption:

“Think when you look at sort of the success that Solana has had over the last year, they offer a really good user experience, and that’s because they offer a single environment where you don’t have to bridge, you don’t have to make your users think about what rollup they’re on and if Ethereum is going to succeed it can’t be a fragmented L2 ecosystem.”

Despite identifying the fragmentation that plagues the layer-2 ecosystem, Farmer argues that there are not enough layer-2 networks. He explains that the Web3 space needs layer 2s to offer enough capacity for a crypto ecosystem that works at the internet scale to accommodate the highest level of adoption.

Hashing It Out host Elisha Owusu Akyaw asks Farmer how Polygon plans to compete with the growing trend of various layer-2 networks building ecosystems, such as the OP Stack by Optimisim, the ZK Stack by zkSync and the Polygon Chain Development Kit.

Farmer explains that Polygon plans to create a network effect around the AggLayer. He said if the Agg Layer is the shortest path for liquidity and users, more developers will likely build on Polygon. Farmer adds that the network will offer a superior user and developer experience without limitations like revenue sharing.

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