David Schwartz & Jordi Baylina: Polygon zkEVM – From Circuits to Mainnet - Part 1 #486
Channel: Epicenter Podcast
Date: 2023-03-10

With the upcoming launch of Polygon's zkEVM mainnet, L2s are undoubtedly a huge narrative that is unfolding in 2023. It is time to take a step back and recognise the incredible amount of effort that has gone into researching and building L2 scaling solutions in general and zk rollups in particular. Tech-wise, we barely scratched the surface of general purpose processors that can handle zk circuits, so there is still tremendous room to grow. As layer 2s become more efficient, so will the applications that are dependent on blockchain throughput.

We were joined by Jordi Baylina (tech lead) & David Schwartz (CTO) from Polygon's zkEVM, to discuss the different milestones & challenges they had to overcome in designing a zk rollup, from circuits to mainnet.

Topics discussed in this episode:
0:00 - Introduction
1:54 - Jordi’s & David’s backgrounds
5:06 - The idea behind Hermez Network
7:50 - zkEVM scaling & validity proofs
14:39 - How different ZK rollup models function
19:39 - What challenges zkEVM encountered during development
34:30 - Evolutionary pathways in the realm of ZKPs
47:11 - Auditing zkEVM
51:05 - Trusted setup requirement for zkEVM

Links mentioned in this episode: 
- Jordi Baylina on Twitter: bit.ly/3JsyhFb
- David Schwartz on Twitter: bit.ly/3JusTBB
- Polygon zkEVM on Twitter: bit.ly/3LehzuE

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This episode is hosted by Friederike Ernst & Meher Roy. Show notes and listening options: https://epicenter.tv/486