Polygon Miden Alpha Testnet v2, Live

tl;dr

• The new version of Polygon Miden Alpha Testnet is live, with expanded features to make development easier
• Public Accounts and Notes are available for builders to store account or note data transparently, on chain
• A simpler, streamlined command line interface (CLI) 
• Introduction of SWAP notes, expanding what developers can build, and note screener, for optimized storage efficiency
• Increased data storage
• Note refactorings, for developers to create notes without assets

In May, when the Polygon Miden Alpha Testnet first went live, builders started doing what they do best: Building stuff. 

The community’s genuine enthusiasm has been lovely to see. The Polygon Miden Alpha Testnet means client-side proving, and enables devs to design self-sovereign, seriously high-throughput applications. 

And it’s open to everyone: Join the Polygon Miden Alpha Telegram, for tutorials and more, here: http://t.me/midenalpha.

We’re not saying Polygon Miden is the Next Big Thing—but others are 😁

Now, after community feedback and more intensive work by core developers, the next iteration is live: Miden Alpha Testnet v2. 

The new testnet means major new features and better, dev-focused upgrades. Let’s unroll. 

Refresh my memory: What’s Polygon Miden again? 

Great question. We’ve written loads about Polygon Miden—resources that you can find at the end of this blog. 

But the tl;dr is: Polygon Miden is a zkVM rollup that enables users to prove their own state transitions. This is called client-side proving, and with this special feature, a whole host of new applications and possibilities are unlocked. 

By enabling users to prove changes in their local state, Polygon Miden offers self-sovereignty and higher throughput compared to existing solutions. 

It’s like putting ZK in your pocket. 

But developers can also use Polygon Miden like traditional blockchains, depending on public state and network proving. 

You can imagine, in an aggregated future, the importance of something like Polygon Miden, a zkVM rollup with client-side proving, in making computation super cheap and in parallel by client-side proving. These unique design considerations unleash innovative new use cases.

These early testnets support standardized user actions and smart contracts. But future updates will enable developers to execute any logic on-chain or off-chain, just like other general-purpose blockchains. 

Only better, faster, and with more flexibility—all aimed at, one day, connecting to the AggLayer.

New Features in the Latest Release

Okay, we’ve got a refresher under our belt. Here’s what’s in the latest release: 

1. Public Accounts and Notes: Now builders are able to store account or note data transparently, onchain—just like public smart contracts on Ethereum. This means the code and state of those accounts will be visible to the network, such that anyone can execute transactions against them. This is good for applications where smart contracts rely on a public state, or users don’t have an off-chain channel to communicate private notes. Clients syncing with the chain will receive all necessary data to consume public notes. You can test both flows with the testnet faucet.
2. Streamlined command line interface (CLI): The new CLI is simpler and more informative. As an example of what’s changed, the Miden account -s <Account-Id> command now displays assets, storage, key pairs, and even account code interface. With more commands than before, developers will have a streamlined experience, making interaction with the testnet easier than ever. Plus, a web version of the Polygon Miden client is in development, promising even more sophisticated, user-friendly UI.
3. SWAP notes: The latest client release introduces SWAP notes. They represent simple atomic asset SWAPs. A user creates a note which contains an asset and a price denominated in another asset, e.g. 1 ETH for 1000 DAI (price). To consume the note and obtain the ETH, the taker must create another note containing 1000 DAI with the original sender as the recipient. 
4. Note screener: This feature ensures that only relevant notes are stored locally in the client, optimizing storage efficiency.
5. Increased data storage: Virtually unlimited data storage in Polygon Miden accounts through storage maps (key-value stores with keys and values as Words, ~32 bytes each). Users can now utilize up to 254 storage maps per account, though it is recommended that such accounts are private. 
6. Note refactorings: Developers can now create notes without assets. This is useful for data exchange or something like dealing poker cards (check out Aze, a frontier project building ZK online poker). This will also allow users to create notes with many different assets.

Polygon Miden Alpha 2 Testnet is all about better user experience, which has been highlighted above, even as other improvements and efficiencies have been streamlined behind the scenes. 

Core developers have listened to feedback and incorporated early builders. A big shout out to the community—we appreciate you!

What's Next?

In the coming weeks, expect to see some exciting next steps:

• A Rust compiler (!) 
• A Typescript SDK
• The ability for clients to consume notes before they're registered on-chain. In simple words, this will enable sub-second order updates in exchanges.
  

In the meantime, here’s a list of resources you can consult to learn more: 

• Github – for devs who know what they want 
• Docs – for a technical overview
• Blogs – for high-level conceptual understanding and historical design considerations

Tune into the blog and our social channels to keep up with updates about Polygon.

The future of Web3 is aggregated.

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