Ethereum’s internet of blockchain networks

Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, is a framework for creating interconnected blockchain networks. Polygon aims to overcome some of Ethereums fundamental flaws using a unique sidechain solution. Some of these challenges include its high fees, low throughput, and lack of community governance.

Rather than being a single scaling solution, like its predecessor (Matic), Polygon intends to be an all-inclusive platform for building interoperable blockchains.

How Polygon Works

Polygon’s architecture consists of a four-tiered layer system. These layers include the Ethereum layer, the Security layer, the Polygon networks layer, and the Execution layer.

Smart contracts built on the Ethereum network form the Ethereum layer. These smart contracts manage transactions, staking, and communication between Ethereum and the different Polygon chains. The security layer operates alongside Ethereum and provides a “validators as a service” function. This allows chains to benefit from an extra layer of security. The Ethereum and Security layers are entirely optional.

There are two mandatory levels after this. The first is the Polygon networks layer, which is the ecosystem of Polygon-based blockchain networks. Each of these blockchain networks has its own community in charge of achieving local consensus and generating blocks. The second layer is the Execution layer, which is Polygon’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) implementation for smart contract execution.

Polygon-based chains can communicate with one another as well as with Ethereum, due to Polygon’s arbitrary message passing ability. This allows a range of new use-cases, such as interoperable decentralized applications (DApps) and straightforward value exchanges between different platforms.

What Makes Polygon So Special?

Polygon intends to pave the way for a larger environment where different networks can integrate and link with each other.

Its long-term objective is to establish an open, borderless society in which people can engage with decentralized products and services, eliminating the need for middlemen. It attempts to provide a hub in which other blockchains may readily plug into each other. It also seeks to address some unique drawbacks of these networks.

Polygon achieves this broader vision through the employment of a number of technologies, these include;

• POS Chain: An Ethereum sidechain known as the Matic POS Chain. This is Polygon’s primary chain which offers a proof-of-stake (POS) security layer to Polygon-based blockchains.

• Optimistic rollups: A technology built on Ethereum that allows for near-instant transactions through the use of “fraud proofs.”

• ZK-rollups: An alternative scaling approach that utilises zero-knowledge proofs for the final public record on the Ethereum main chain. It does this by bundling a large number of off-chain transactions into a single transaction.

• Plasma Chains: Polygon employs a scaling technology known as Plasma. It utilises this technology to transfer assets between the root and child chains via Plasma bridges.

Polygon, as you may have observed, aims to include more than one scaling approach. This is important to keep with its goal of lowering entry barriers by minimizing transaction costs to a bare minimum.

What Polygon Integration Means for Fluidcoins’ Merchants

It’s quite evident how expensive and slow Ethereum can be. Last year the average price spent on gas fees hit $150. Polygon, on the other hand, saved up to $155 million in gas fees daily.

Integrating with Polygon means our merchants are now able to receive faster payments, with gas fees as low as $0.02. We currently support polygon payments using USDC, USDT, and MATIC (the Polygon network native currency). You can also programmatically interact with all three coins via our API.

More amazing news! We do not require any steps from merchants to receive payments via polygon. This option automatically shows up on our payment widget whenever a customer wants to pay you!

If you’ve tried this out already, please share your thoughts and/or feedback with us. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, If you’re a business and you’d like to accept crypto payments. Sign up on our dashboard and get this started.