As with many aspects of the internet and technology, the blockchain space has undoubtedly had a series of both awesome and disappointing events that have contributed significantly to its growth over the years. Today, I'd like to focus on one of the aforementioned events, or more precisely, one of the solutions. Please keep in mind that this topic contains several technicalities; while I have tried to simplify as much as possible, prior knowledge of the blockchain space is still highly recommended. However, if you believe you can understand its contents regardless, please continue reading; I am confident you will find it enlightening.

The Blockchain Trilemma

Why not identify and describe the underlying problem first since the topic of interest today is better described as a solution? The three distinct problems that each decentralized network presents have been together dubbed the "Blockchain Trilemma." It is claimed that no blockchain network can have Scalability, Security, and Decentralization all at once. To fully operate as a blockchain system, one of the three must be sacrificed. This has been demonstrated to be true in several networks, including Bitcoin, which forgoes scalability in favor of more security and decentralization, and the Binance Smart chain, which forgoes decentralization in favor of greater scalability and greater security. There are several networks out there that have sacrificed one thing to improve on the others, but our focus today is on the Ethereum network, the second-ever built blockchain. With the introduction of smart contracts, the Ethereum network has a strong foundation in the web 3 space, but it still has scalability issues, which makes it highly expensive to build upon. For Ethereum, the current transaction rate per second is between 15 and 20 tps. We can all see how low that is because the platform is being used by many developers, which drives up operating costs to as much as $20 per transaction. Contrary to common misconceptions and claims, the Ethereum merge that took place in the past does not make the network's scalability problems any better. For more information on the Ethereum merger, be sure to click here.

What is Polygon?

To give the Ethereum network better scalability alternatives, which inevitably leads to lower transaction fees, Polygon is a layer 2 scaling solution. Are you lost? Grab my hand. To address the blockchain trilemma's problems and increase the speed and efficiency of the underlying blockchain, layer 2 scaling solutions are best described as networks or technologies that are constructed on top of an existing blockchain protocol. That wasn't that difficult. The Polygon network is a stack of protocols or a group of sidechains created to address the scalability problems of Ethereum. Its main objective is to clear up congestion on the Ethereum network so that more people may stake, conduct transactions, develop, and interact with other decentralized apps. It connects to the Ethereum network using the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and the Plasma Bridging technology.

Little bit of History

Three Indian developers—Jaynti Kanani, who is currently Polygon's CEO, Sandeep Nailwal, a co-founder and chief operating officer, and Anurag Arjun, a co-founder, and chief product officer—created the Polygon network, formerly known as the Matic network, in 2017. The network presently works at an astounding speed of over 7000 tps, which is a huge improvement above that of the Ethereum network. As previously said, the platform was developed as an ecosystem to host numerous sidechains that would successfully communicate with one another. There isn't much to say, thus moving on to the next.

How does Polygon Work?

To help you better comprehend the beauty of the Polygon network, I'll try to further deconstruct the ideas in this part. We already discussed the Ethereum network's scalability difficulties and how they might result in substantially higher transaction fees. This frequently occurs whenever the network is busy, which also slows down the blockchain. Next, there is the idea of a sidechain, which is a different blockchain that coexists with an already-established primary chain. And to top it all off, there are what are known as plasma chains, which resemble sidechains but are lighter and more secure. Yes, you guessed correctly: Polygon increases speed and security by using a network of plasma chains. Now, keep in mind that the Ethereum network can only process about 15 - 20 transactions per second. The Polygon network then provides a scaling solution by processing transactions of the Ethereum network, bundling them all together as one transaction, and then pushing that single bundle back onto the Ethereum chain. That was pretty straightforward, wasn't it? Naturally, it was. The fact that the Polygon ecosystem currently creates several scaling solutions, offering various possibilities depending on what each builder needs, is what makes it such a fantastic environment.

Examples of Polygon’s Solutions

Yes, the Polygon network has experienced tremendous growth and currently includes several scaling solutions that are all intended to give consumers the greatest possible blockchain experience. Let's examine a few of them.

• The Polygon PoS scaling method is arguably the most well-known one in the ecosystem. It is, as you would have guessed, a Layer 2 scaling solution that makes use of the Plasma Bridging Framework and the Proof of Stake consensus algorithm to increase transaction speed.
• The Polygon Supernets is a fantastic one. An EVM-compatible service was developed to make it easier for developers to design and run their blockchains without having to deal with the hassle of complexity.
• Polygon Nightfall is a service (properly called Optimistic Rollup) that was created to reduce the cost of privately transferring ERC20, ERC721, and ERC1155 tokens. Did you notice the keyword there? On the blockchain, transactions can be private, but we're not talking about that right now.
• Another layer 2 scaling solution is Polygon Zero. Because of the power of Plonky2, a groundbreaking prover system also created by Polygon, it is a Zero Knowledge (ZK) Rollup that has proven to be the fastest ZK scaling solution. It appears that I will have to stop there, as the technicality of these topics has greatly narrowed the target audience for this write-up. Other solutions are still in the works, such as Polygon Avail, Polygon Miden, and so on. The ecosystem also includes the Polygon edge framework and the Polygon ID privacy solution. To be honest, the Polygon realm is constantly expanding and breaking all boundaries.

Summary

According to the "Blockchain Trilemma," no blockchain can excel in all three areas of decentralization, scalability, and security; one of these three must always be sacrificed for the other two. Layer 2 scaling solutions, such as Polygon, are intended to improve the conditions of the primary chain. Polygon is a platform comprised of various sidechains, all intending to scale the Ethereum network and lower transaction fees. The Proof of Stake consensus mechanism is used. It was founded in 2017 by three Indian developers and was previously known as the Matic network, but its native currency is now known as Matic. Polygon consists of Plasma chains which are lighter and more secure than regular sidechains. It works by verifying transactions from the Ethereum network, grouping them, and then pushing them back onto the main chain. Polygon already offers several solutions, including Polygon Zero, Polygon PoS, Polygon Nightfall, and others. So there you have it; hopefully, you now know a little bit more about the Polygon network (sincerely hope so). My name is Lawwee, and I appreciate you reading this post. You can get in touch with me using the details below; if you have any questions or would like to talk about anything in particular, please send me a direct message.

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