Polygon invests $5M in ‘VPU’ chips that could lower zero-knowledge proof costs

Mila September 10, 2024

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Key Takeaways

Polygon Labs invests $5M in servers with custom zero-knowledge cryptography chips.
The new technology could reduce the adoption timeline of zero-knowledge proofs from years to months.

Polygon Labs, a major Ethereum layer-2 developer, has announced plans to purchase $5 million worth of server systems optimized for zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography processing from hardware maker Fabric.

The acquisition is part of a partnership aimed at accelerating the development of Polygon’s AggLayer, an interoperability solution designed to enable seamless token transfers between affiliated blockchain networks. Fabric is producing custom zero-knowledge chips, called verifiable processing units (VPUs), specifically for the AggLayer project.

Polygon’s ZK team has been collaborating with Fabric to create VPUs tailored for its prover libraries, Plonky2 and Plonky3. These provers are crucial components in blockchain systems built around zero-knowledge cryptography, which has emerged as a key focus for Polygon and a hot topic in the crypto industry.

“Implementing this tech will massively accelerate the development of the AggLayer, bringing real-time, affordable proofs […] and much lower proving costs than previously thought possible in the medium-term,” Bjelic said.

Boosting zero-knowledge tech for lower costs and faster transactions

The partnership follows Fabric’s recent $33 million Series A funding round, in which Polygon Labs participated. Fabric’s VPUs are custom chips designed to optimize cryptography and blockchain processes. According to Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic, these specialized chips may significantly accelerate the timeline for wider adoption of zero-knowledge technology, cutting out the time required for development and research.

“Fabric’s VPUs can accelerate the timeline for wider adoption of zero-knowledge technology from three to five years to six to 12 months,” Bjelic claims. He added that implementing this technology would “massively accelerate the development of the AggLayer, bringing real-time, affordable proofs that nobody thought would come for years.”

Sapphire

By developing hardware specifically optimized for ZK-proof generation, the partnership aims to overcome current limitations and pave the way for more efficient and scalable blockchain solutions. In related news, Polygon has begun migrating its MATIC tokens to POL, working toward a new ‘hyperproductive’ phase for the token’s utility.