Polygon’s enterprise division has introduced Nightfall, a new privacy-enhancing scalability solution for reducing commission costs on Ethereum.
Polygon launches Nightfall, a new technical solution based on Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) and Optimistic Rollups, a layer 2 solution for Ethereum. This was announced by Antoni Martin, Polygon’s Head of Enterprise, as part of a speech at the 2022 EY Global Blockchain Summit.
Using ZKP and Optimistic Rollups, the Nightfall solution is highly scalable and has increased privacy. Nightfall’s basic feature is to reduce the commission costs of using ERC-20, ERC-721, and ERC-1155 tokens for enterprise customers. The technology can be used in supply chain management, NFT transactions, and blockchain mixers.
Ernst & Young (EY), one of the largest international consulting firms, was actively involved in the development of Nightfall. Development has been underway since 2019, aiming to allow EY clients to use Ethereum privately. In September 2021, the company saw a need to reduce Ethereum’s commission fees and turned to Polygon for help.
The Nightfall technology is already used in EY Blockchain Analyzer and OpsChain ESG. The latter is a joint project between Ernst & Young and Polygon. It allows large enterprises to track their supply chains and manage their carbon footprint in accordance with ESG principles. By the way, blockchain-enabled carbon control initiatives are quite popular:
- Dell is working on a real-time blockchain-based carbon footprint tracking system for large enterprises;
- Shell has initiated the launch of a blockchain platform to promote Sustainable Aviation Fuel;
- in Australia, tokenized carbon credits are already being sold for local bank stablecoins, etc.
The ZKP technology also plays a significant role in the crypto sphere, as shown by a June 14, 2022 Mina Foundation report. According to this data, high levels of privacy and scalability are the main benefits of ZKP. Over 90% of survey participants consider cryptocurrencies with ZKP technology more attractive, another 52% favor dApps with ZKP. Data from CoinGecko in March showed that regulators’ attempts to tighten control over the cryptocurrency market have led to increased popularity of cryptocurrencies with higher anonymity, many of which use ZKP.
