After the airdrop controversy, can Polyhedra regain user trust through hard-core technology?

Airdrop Controversy

Recently, the airdrop claim activity of zkBridge developer Polyhedra Network has caused a lot of heated discussion, mainly because most participants received fewer tokens than expected. In addition, as a cross-chain project focusing on interoperability, Polyhedra Network claimed the airdrop on the Ethereum mainnet, resulting in users having to pay high gas fees, further exacerbating the spread of dissatisfaction in the community. In the face of community controversy, Polyhedra Network subsequently announced compensatory measures, planning to launch a $15 million ZK token airdrop event, but the specific details have not yet been announced. Amid controversy, how can Polyhedra Network regain user trust? Polyhedra Network's technical strength Polyhedra Network is a company that builds Web3 interoperability, scalability, and privacy infrastructure through zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology. With its expertise in cryptography, the team built Virgo, Virgo++, Orion, and Virgo++. href="https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/317.pdf" style="font-size: 18px; text-align: justify;">Libra、Gemini、Marlin、Pianist 7 different zero-knowledge proof systems, and published papers to introduce them one by one.

The zkBridge currently built to achieve cross-chain interoperability should have been experienced by many friends who like on-chain interaction. zkBridge uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify the validity of transactions between two blockchains. Compared with traditional cross-chain bridges, the advantages of zk technology are self-evident. There is no need to fully copy all data on each chain, only to transmit proofs. The lightweight communication method improves the efficiency of cross-chain communication and eliminates external trust assumptions. In addition, unlike other zk cross-chain bridges, zkBridge can generate proofs faster, thanks to their zk-SNARK proof generation system deVirgo. deVirgo uses parallel computing to distribute the proof generation process to multiple machines, thus achieving a proof generation time of less than 8s, which is less than Ethereum's 12s block time, thus avoiding the problem of transaction delays caused by the speed of proof generation.

In addition to deVirgo, which accelerates proof generation, zkBridge's proof system also involves Libra and Virgo. Libra enables nodes participating in cross-chain communication to prove validity without leaking private information, providing a foundation for zkBridge's secure communication. Virgo's fast proof time, concise proof size, and low verification complexity make cross-chain communication more efficient, providing support for zkBridge's scalability and performance.

In order to improve the performance of zkBridge, Polyhedra Network has also developed another proof system, paraPlonk, to accelerate the ZKP system based on Plonk (a zero-knowledge proof system) to minimize node communication overhead.

In addition to cross-chain tokens, zkBridge can also realize cross-chain NFT and message. And with the continued popularity of the Bitcoin ecosystem, zkBridge is ready to be compatible with the Bitcoin ecosystem to achieve interoperability and data transmission between Bitcoin and other blockchain networks.

In addition to zkBridge, Polyhedra Network has also developed a lightweight client technology zkLightClient built on the LayerZero protocol for cross-chain communication, using ZKP Technology is used to verify the state transition that occurred on the source chain and prove the validity of the state transition to the receiving chain without copying all the data on the receiving chain. This can greatly reduce the cost of on-chain verification and reduce latency. Currently, zkLightClient has been fully integrated into the LayerZero protocol, and developers in the LayerZero ecosystem can use this technology to easily build cross-chain applications.

The above technologies promote the development of cross-chain communication. In the context of the current multi-chain era, achieving frictionless and imperceptible cross-chain interoperability is what users urgently need, and it is also what Polyhedra Network is achieving.

Summary

Polyhedra Network focuses on the ZK field in terms of technology, and solves some of the current blockchain problems in cross-chain, efficiency and privacy through solutions such as zkBridge and various proof systems. Although this airdrop has caused some controversy, the subsequent response measures of the project show the team's positive attitude. Of course, since the specific details are not yet public, whether it can gain the recognition and support of the community again remains to be seen.