Ethereum's Internet of Blockchains
Polygon is a protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Aggregating scalable solutions on Ethereum supporting a multi-chain Ethereum ecosystem.
Built by developers, for developers
Polygon combines the best of Ethereum and sovereign blockchains into a full-fledged multi-chain system.
Polygon solves pain points associated with Blockchains, like high gas fees and slow speeds, without sacrificing on security. This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc, but with at least three major upsides:
1. It is able to fully benefit from Ethereum’s network effects
2. It is inherently more secure
3. It is more open and powerful
Challenge
Ethereum is the blockchain development platform of choice, but it has limitations.
* Low Throughput
* Poor UX (gas, delayed PoW finality)
* No sovereignty (shared throughput/clogging risk, tech stack not customizable, governance dependence)
Many projects are exploring Ethereum-compatible blockchains as a way to mitigate these limitations while still leveraging Ethereum’s thriving ecosystem. However, there is no specialized framework to build such blockchains nor a protocol to connect them. This introduces significant development challenges and causes ecosystem fragmentation.
Features
Polygon combines the best of Ethereum and sovereign blockchains into an attractive feature set. Built by developers, for developers.
ETH Compatibility
Industry dominance, established tech stack, tools, languages, standards, enterprise adoption
Scalability
Dedicated blockchains, scalable consensus algorithms, custom Wasm execution environments
Security
Modular ''security as a service'', provided either by Ethereum or by a pool of professional validators
Sovereignty
Dedicated throughput/resources, fully customizable tech stack, sovereign governance
Interoperability
Native support for arbitrary message passing (tokens, contract calls etc), bridges to external systems
User Experience
Comparable to Web2, “zero-gas” transactions, instant (deterministic) transaction finality
Developer Experience
Equivalent to Ethereum, no protocol level knowledge required, no token deposits, fees or permissions
Modularity
High customizability, extensibility and upgradeability, short time-to-market, community collaboration