Polygon To Launch New Public Testnet For Hermez

Polygon has announced the release of its public zkEVM testnet, which will enable developers to test the development of privacy-enhancing zk-rollups in their respective decentralized applications. 

The testnet launch is for Herzez, acquired by Polygon for $250 million last year. 

The Race For Ethereum Layer-2 Solutions

Polygon has rolled out its first public testnet for its new Ethereum scaling solution, Hermes, as competition for finding a leading Ethereum Layer-2 solution begins. Polygon had acquired Hermez, an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution, for $250 million last year. The scaling solution runs on Ethereum, helping to significantly boost its scalability, enabling it to process significantly more transactions for a significantly lesser fee. 

The launch of the public testnet for Hermez marks the first time developers will be able to test the new network. Hermez, part of a scaling solution also known as zkEVMs, which offers benefits around security and applications that most other scaling solutions do not. Zk-rollups promise to significantly enhance the Ethereum blockchain, bunching up a host of transactions and presenting them to the blockchain in a single transaction. 

Benefits Of ZkEVMs

ZkEVMs significantly enhance Layer-2s, enabling developers to create zero-knowledge applications using Solidity, considered the industry’s standard coding language. This allows developers to access all the security and scaling benefits of ZK without learning a new coding language. Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic called zkEVM a groundbreaking development, stating, 

“It was widely believed that zkEVM will take several more years to ship, which makes this an even more groundbreaking milestone, not only for Polygon but for the whole Web3 industry.”

Major DeFi Protocols Already On Board 

Some of the biggest DeFi platforms, including Aave and Uniswap, have already confirmed that they will deploy on the testnet. Another addition to the list of platforms eager to deploy on the new testnet is Web 3.0 social platform Lens and leading gaming studio Midnight Society. The deployment of these protocols will allow them and their users to experiment on Hermez and allows the developer teams of Aave and Uniswap to test for any potential bugs. 

Polygon Hermez co-founder David Schwartz called Polygon zkEVM the next step in Ethereum’s evolution, stating, 

“Ultimately, Polygon zkEVM is the next step in Ethereum’s journey, and we are moving towards giving our users the full benefits of a working zkEVM — scalability without compromise. We have some work to do before we fully achieve those goals, and we’re eager to find out exactly what needs improvement and receive feedback.”

Polygon co-founder Bjelic also encouraged developers to try the new testnet, helping the Polygon team test its limits, identify bugs, and help deliver the world’s first ever zkEVM.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.