Polygon,the scalable Ethereum layer-2 solution, has announced its intent to optimize its zkEVM (Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine) in the coming weeks. These enhancements are predicted to decrease transaction fees by around 20%, according to the company’s official Twitter account. Interestingly, these improvements will be achieved without the need for any data compression techniques.
Transaction fees within the Polygon zkEVM serve to cover the costs associated with data availability and posting proof to the Ethereum network. Each transaction that gets processed requires the publication of state data. Additionally, fees cover the operational costs of running the servers that generate the proofs. Currently, around 80% of a transaction fee is dedicated to data availability, a resource that is not currently being compressed.
In a roadmap soon to be released, Polygon will detail upcoming upgrades on data compression, as well as the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844. These developments are expected to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of transactions on the platform.
The company also shared advice on how users can optimize fees in the current ecosystem. One major suggestion is to time on-network transactions to periods when Ethereum is the cheapest, thus minimizing the L1 interaction cost.
Interestingly, Polygon advises users to conduct transactions when network activity on zkEVM is high. This approach may seem counterintuitive, but due to the cost of proof generation being distributed across all transactions, fees on a rollup decrease as activity increases.
For users wishing to bridge assets from Ethereum, the fees can be notably high. However, alternatives do exist. Transak, for example, can transfer tokens directly to the layer-2 solution, bypassing Mainnet fees completely.
Moreover, users with assets on a different blockchain can utilize a third-party bridge instead of first bridging to the Mainnet. For PoS (Proof of Stake) to Polygon zkEVM, LayerSwap offers a solution. For other layer-2 solutions to Polygon zkEVM, users can consider options like Orbiter Finance and Multichain.
The forthcoming updates, along with the existing strategies for optimizing transaction fees, point towards Polygon’s ongoing commitment to enhancing user experience and making blockchain technology more accessible and cost-effective.