Polygon has announced that its zkEVM has achieved Type 1 equivalence, making it fully compatible with Ethereum at the bytecode level. This milestone represents a significant advancement in zero-knowledge proof technology.
Understanding ZK-EVM Types
The zkEVM classification system, proposed by Vitalik Buterin, categorizes ZK rollups by their Ethereum compatibility:
- Type 1: Fully Ethereum equivalent
- Type 2: Fully EVM equivalent
- Type 3: Almost EVM equivalent
- Type 4: High-level language equivalent
What This Means
With Type 1 equivalence, developers can:
- Deploy any Ethereum contract unchanged
- Use existing development tools directly
- Expect identical behavior to Ethereum mainnet
- Benefit from ZK security guarantees
Technical Achievement
Achieving Type 1 equivalence required solving significant technical challenges:
- Proving Ethereum’s complex opcodes in ZK circuits
- Maintaining reasonable proof generation times
- Keeping verification costs economical
Network Statistics
Since the upgrade announcement:
- Prover efficiency improved 50%
- Transaction costs reduced
- Developer adoption accelerating
Competitive Landscape
Polygon’s achievement puts pressure on other zkEVM projects. The race to Type 1 equivalence is now won, but competition continues on performance, costs, and ecosystem development.
Looking Forward
This milestone advances the vision of ZK technology as the ultimate scaling solution for Ethereum, combining the best of security and compatibility.