to unify all Web3 networks

The well-known cryptographic project Polygon is aiming high with its interoperability infrastructure AggLayer, which aims to unify the entire Web3 landscape. After announcing the group’s broad vision in June 2023, Polygon is making great strides so that its “value layer for the internet” can gain traction.

All this solves a series of major problems that afflict the world of blockchains, such as liquidity fragmentation.

All the details below.

Polygon and the transition of the blockchain to AggLayer: the so-called “layer del valore per internet” for the entire Web3

Polygon had already anticipated in June of last year what would be the vision of its AggLayer, which today aims to significantly improve the web3 world.

In a post on X the project team had outlined the key points of the update “Polygon 2.0”, focused on aspects of scalability and interoperability.

Already 15 months ago Sandeep Naiwal and his group of experts aimed at the creation of a series of interconnected L2 networks, following the trail of the success of scaling systems.

Polygon with great self-esteem and emancipation had claimed to be oriented towards the development of a platform known as “layer del valore per internet”.

If at that time the vision might have seemed excessively optimistic, already today we can affirm that several progressions have been made. Firstly, MATIC, a key resource of the Polygon ecosystem, has been renamed to POL, with some technical changes. The latter will indeed support a fundamental role in Polygon’s staking hub, with premium functions related to ZK proofs, block generations, and rollup data availability.

POL, which mirrors the price of MATIC at a 1:1 ratio, represents the gas token of the AggLayer ecosystem integrated with the entire web3 ecosystem. Yesterday, in particular, the migration of the cryptocurrency on the Polygon PoS network was completed, marking a significant milestone for the project.

The ambitious vision of Polygon’s AggLayer: unifying Web3 networks

Now that Polygon has revealed its cards, the game gets interesting: the AggLayer aims to unify all existing Web3 networks under a single supporting infrastructure. We are not just talking about a stack for Ethereum L2, but a true interoperability channel for any L1 chain and beyond, from Solana to Cosmos.

In a manner similar to a bridging protocol, AggLayer aims to connect the entire web3 blockchain space, with POL as the reference resource. As reiterated in this regard in a recent interview by Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs:

“When you think of Polygon 2.0, you need to bring together the idea of thematic to execute the upgrade along with Polygon CDK to enable that infinite scalability and then AggLayer to unify everything.”

Already other projects like the newcomer LayerZero have a similar goal, but none have the same ambition as Polygon. It, in fact, aims not only to unify the hundreds of different chains, but also wants to bring “infinite scalability” to this ecosystem. Unlike other interoperability solutions, AggLayer is not ecosystem-specific, but focused on connecting the entire Web3 space, Boiron explained.

His words send shivers down the spine, as one understands the potential that AggLayer could offer to the market:

“Unlike any other interoperability solution very focused on its own ecosystem, AggLayer is there to connect all of Web3 … It’s not just about L2, it’s not just about L1. It’s not just about Ethereum. It’s literally about putting everything together.”

Solving the problem of liquidity fragmentation in Web3

Aggregating all web3 blockchains around Polygon’s AggLayer is not just a goal of supremacy for Polygon, but it implies great advantages for the entire sector. Firstly, this approach could finally solve once and for all the problem of liquidity fragmentation.

With this term, we indicate the current web3 condition in which on-chain wealth is divided across a multitude of networks that are not interconnected. This causes inefficiency in the use of capital and difficulty in moving such funds across multiple chains in a short time. Often, to move crypto assets from Ethereum to Solana, it takes several minutes due to multiple bridging operations or by going through centralized routes.

Most of the time the connection between the main networks is expensive and involves security risks due to cross-chain vulnerabilities. There is still no infrastructure like AggLayer that eliminates the liquidity fragmentation limit in a totally decentralized way (perhaps for a short time).

Not to mention the limit of interoperability that prevents the flourishing of true mass adoption in the web3 sector. The presence of an avalanche of different blockchains with their own programming languages, results in a real barrier to entry for new users. 

Both from the perspective of programming and on-chain operations, such a broad and complex landscape discourages the traffic of new potential enthusiasts. Beginners already struggle to understand the basic rules of CEX, let alone all the internal logics of the different chains. Having a fast, economical, and unified infrastructure like AggLayer could in this sense trigger a new wave of mass adoption.

For now, this remains the vision of Polygon, with the reality still being quite different from what we are imagining. There is still a lot of work to be done, but little by little we will start to see the first progress.

Good luck Polygon!