Polygon Labs Collaborates with Fabric Cryptography

Polygon Labs is teaming up with crypto hardware manufacturer Fabric Cryptography to integrate its Verifiable Processing Units (VPUs) into the AggLayer ecosystem.

What is AggLayer?

The AggLayer is an interoperability layer currently being developed by Polygon Labs and other key contributors. It aims to provide unified liquidity and security across different blockchain networks. By utilizing ZK proofs, the AggLayer ensures that if one blockchain fails, it won’t affect funds or operations on other chains.

What are ZK Proofs?

ZK proofs allow one party to prove a statement’s validity to another without disclosing the underlying data, thereby enhancing privacy and security within blockchain systems.

Collaboration Details

Polygon Labs co-founders Daniel Lubarov, Bobbin Threadbare, Jordi Baylina, and the ZK team have been working with Fabric since early this year to co-design the Plonky2 and Plonky3 libraries. These libraries leverage the VPUs’ cryptography-focused instruction set to develop fast and cost-effective proof generation systems.

Plonky2 and Plonky3 are integral to Polygon Labs’ suite of ZK-proof systems, distinguished by their capability to generate recursive SNARKs, representing a significant improvement in the speed and efficiency of ZK proofs.

Statements from Leaders

“Plonky2 and Plonky3 are among the most widely adopted ZK-proof systems in the world. It’s incredible to work together with Polygon Labs, a pioneer in open source ZK, to make the Plonky family the very first ZK-proof systems to be powered end-to-end by custom silicon,” said Fabric co-founder and CSO.

Fabric’s VPU is touted as the first custom chip designed exclusively for cryptographic processing. Unlike traditional hardware such as CPUs or GPUs, the VPU is highly adaptable and can be updated to accommodate changes in proof system algorithms.

“The VPU’s cryptography-native architecture delivers unprecedented performance for today’s proof systems,” said Fabric co-founder and CEO Michael Gao.

Accelerating Zero-Knowledge Proof Adoption

Historically, implementing ZK proofs has been costly and time-consuming. Through the integration of Fabric’s technology, Polygon Labs seeks to reduce the timeline for broader zero-knowledge-proof adoption from years to merely months.

“Fabric’s VPUs can accelerate the timeline for wider adoption of zero-knowledge technology from 3-5 years to 6-12 months,” noted Polygon Labs co-founder Mihailo Bjelic.

Investment in Accelerating Development

Polygon Labs plans to acquire $5 million worth of VPU-based server systems to boost ZK-proof generation for various ZK-powered projects within the AggLayer ecosystem, including Polygon zkEVM, Polygon Miden, and Polygon CDK.

Fabric has already amassed pre-orders valued at “tens of millions” ahead of its mass production phase next year.

Last month, Fabric raised $33 million in Series A funding aimed at enhancing its cryptography processing units to significantly improve the speed and cost of cryptographic workloads. This funding round was co-led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, with participation from Polygon Labs and others.