March 27, 2023

Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta is Live

Today, Polygon Labs is proud to announce that Polygon zkEVM is launching on Mainnet Beta. Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta is permissionless and public–anyone can use it to transact and build. And as of today, Polygon zkEVM is also completely open-source. This is a momentous occasion for Polygon, for Ethereum, and for all of Web3.

Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta:

✅ Permissionless and public
✅ EVM-equivalent
✅ Fast finality
✅ Open-source

Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin has already performed the symbolic first transaction on Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta.

Polygon zkEVM’s public testnets established Polygon zkEVM as the leader among EVM-equivalent ZK scaling solutions. The testnets also allowed Polygon zkEVM to be battle-tested, becoming faster, cheaper, and more secure along the way.

The once-distant dream of an EVM-equivalent zkEVM has now arrived and is ready for anyone to use: Polygon zkEVM is the build-anything machine that will take Ethereum to places no one could previously have imagined going. Join the adventure, join the next chapter of Ethereum–join Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta!

Integrations at Launch: The Best of the Best in Web3

Polygon zkEVM is an all-purpose Ethereum scaling protocol featuring EVM-equivalence, which means you can build on it and use it like you would Ethereum itself–out of the box, without changing languages or tooling. The possibilities are endless with Ethereum’s build-anything machine. An impressive array of infrastructure providers, dApps, and gaming projects are taking advantage of what Polygon zkEVM has to offer and launching on Mainnet Beta from day one.

These include premier dApps such as Lens and Balancer, blue-chip gaming projects such as Midnight Society and Oath of Peak, and trusted infrastructure providers such as ANKR, Alchemy, Sequence, and The Graph. Polygon zkEVM’s integrations at launch are the best of the best in Web3. Polygon Labs is humbled and excited to share this moment with them. There’s no better crew in Web3 than the one Polygon zkEVM is traveling with as it enters Mainnet Beta.

Security Measures at Launch and Beyond

Security is Polygon Labs’ highest priority. For that reason, Polygon zkEVM will have a series of guardrails in place as it enters Mainnet Beta. These security protections will be implemented in two distinct stages. Read our post on security measures to learn more, but here are the main things to keep in mind:

During Stage I of Mainnet Beta, a dedicated Security Council will be able to rapidly upgrade Polygon zkEVM.
During Stage II, there will be a series of measures taken to ensure that users can be protected if anything goes wrong, but with greater decentralization and no Security Council with privileged access.
To make the network censorship resistant, users will eventually be able to force transactions to Ethereum L1 in the event of failures. This mechanism will be enabled briefly after launch.

There is an ongoing bug bounty program, and the rewards will grow as the network matures. Polygon zkEVM has passed multiple outside audits of every component—including the prover—and has faced the challenges of three testnets. No truly innovative technology is perfect when it launches, but Polygon zkEVM is ready for the rigors of Mainnet Beta.

Adventuring Responsibly: A Request to the Ethereum Community

Polygon zkEVM is the leader in an emerging category of groundbreaking technology. Ethereum itself is less than a decade old, and scaling Ethereum with L2 protocols is a significantly newer practice. Nothing—not even Ethereum—emerges fully formed. As we’ve repeatedly noted, the concept of a true zkEVM–an EVM-equivalent, ZK-powered L2–was long considered to be years away. Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta is the moment that a long-awaited future arrives, but not without risks.

Polygon Labs asks the Ethereum community to keep the newness of Polygon zkEVM in mind even as you enjoy its excitingness. Polygon zkEVM was designed to be as secure and performant as possible, but there will inevitably be bumps in the road as we discover unexplored parts of the Web3 landscape. As on any adventure, patience and resiliency will be crucial.

To that end, we’ll keep users informed of any network downtime here.

Journeying to the Horizon: Where Polygon and Ethereum are Going

Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta is a turning point for Ethereum and Web3, but it’s not the final destination.

Today marks a watershed moment in Polygon’s quest to become the Internet’s value layer. Over the coming months, you will hear more about the exciting developments with Polygon zkEVM. But you can also expect to learn more about Polygon’s changing ecosystem, and the critical role that ZK innovation will play in amplifying everything you already love about Polygon and Ethereum–as well as unlocking new possibilities you haven’t even considered.

Polygon zkEVM is the build-anything machine that will carry us to the outer limits of what’s possible in Web3. Climb aboard for the adventure that is Mainnet Beta!

Details to connect to the Polygon zkEVM Mainnet Beta will be available after the launch event live stream ends. Stay tuned!