Polygon Spends $1 Billion on ZK Technology Over Three Years

Polygon Labs has acquired blockchain research and engineering firm Toposware, marking its third investment in zero-knowledge (ZK) startups in three years.

Toposware has partnered with Polygon Labs to develop Prover Type 1, enabling Ethereum-compatible blockchains to adopt kZK proofs without significant changes. Following the acquisition, 11 engineers from Toposware will join Polygon’s existing ZK development teams.

Polygon stated that this deal brings its total investment in ZK technology to over $1 billion. In 2021, Polygon acquired two other companies focused on Ethereum scalability and privacy, Mir and Hermez, for a total of $650 million through multiple transactions. ZK technology allows one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing additional information. In blockchain, this enhances privacy by allowing transaction verification without disclosing transaction details.

“We are always exploring potential acquisitions to bolster our ZK research and development efforts,” a Polygon spokesperson shared, adding that no other deals are currently being considered. “ZK technology is driving our efforts on multiple fronts.”

Web3 services alone are expected to require around 90 billion ZK proofs by 2030, equivalent to 83,000 transactions per second. Several cryptocurrency companies are researching ZK technology, including StarkWare and Matter Labs.

A recent trademark dispute arose over ZK technology when Matter Labs, the company behind the layer 2 solution zkSync, attempted to register intellectual property rights for the term “ZK.”

The company quickly abandoned its registration efforts following backlash from researchers and the crypto community.

Polygon condemned the move, accusing Matter Labs of "stealing" public interest:

“This is a serious issue. Essentially, they are trying to steal everyone’s work. We believe ZK is a public good […] We will consider legal action if necessary. We are pleased they decided to abandon their 'ZK' trademark.”
$MATIC