Forget The Merge, this is what will change Ethereum.
Ok, so - this is a VERY big deal.
Fair warning: there's a bunch of jargon in this story - but as always, we're going to cut through the noise, together.
Today, Polygon launched their 'Zero Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine' (zkEVM) public testnet.
RIDICULOUS name. Big step forward.
Here's the problem being solved:
Ethereum is stupidly slow (116.62 transactions per second is the highest the blockchain has ever reached, vs. Visa's 1,700).
And crazy expensive (transaction fees can vary from $1-$4K).
Right now, Ethereum is very much the 'operating system of choice' for most blockchain developers - but to reach broad adoption, Web3 first needs to be better than what's already on offer.
(And slower/more expensive does not equal better).
The good news is, the recent Ethereum Merge update made it possible for others to create solutions to these problems.
Here are those solutions, so far:
'Optimistic Rollups'
Rollup a bunch of transactions, shove them through the Ethereum transaction queue all at once, and save time by not double checking them.
If someone does something shifty, the person receiving the funds has 7 days to call them out and get the transaction adjusted or cancelled.
Transactions are less secure and take 7 days to process (not the best solution).
'zkRollups'
Rollup a bunch of transactions, verify them on a separate/faster blockchain (independent of Ethereum), then shove them through the Ethereum transaction queue all at once.
These are fast and secure...but they don't play nice with smart contracts.
E.g. Let's say you've built a mobile game that uses a smart contract to pay players crypto, every time they beat a level - and you want to use zkRollups to make these transactions faster and cheaper.
To do that you would have to code the smart contract again from scratch, using a completely different coding language. Which is like having your literature professor say:
'Hey, great essay! ...now re-write it for me, in Latin.'
It's a lot of unwanted work (and the more work, the slower the adoption).
zkEVM
These are zkRollups that are fully compatible with Ethereum smart contracts.
No starting from scratch, no learning a new coding language - just plug and play baaaby! It's a huge deal!
But here's the really exciting part:
zkEVM's aren't meant to exist yet - most in the industry had estimated they wouldn't even be possible for another 1-2 years.
And while Polygon's 'Testnet' is exactly what it sounds like - a test - the mainnet launch (aka the grand opening) has already been scheduled for early 2023.
Meaning Web3 products that feel like they 'just work,' are coming sooner rather than later.
(!!!)