Polygon, a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum-compatible blockchains, announced in a press release to Cointelegraph that it has introduced the zk-STARK-powered Miden Virtual Machine to develop blockchains.

1/7 We’re proud to introduce the newest addition to the Polygon family – Polygon Miden, an EVM compatible, STARK-based upcoming compilation!

The project is led by @bobbinth, former Facebook director ZK researcher who led the development of Winterfell.

A, why this is interesting … pic.twitter.com/5RqAJgnZlP

zk-STARK is an acronym for Zero-Knowledge Scalable Clear ARgument of Knowledge. In layman’s terms, zero-knowledge technology enables one party to prove to another party that it has personal information (such as passwords) without revealing it. STARK is one such method to algorithmically obscure, prove, or verify such information. Polygon has invested more than $ 1 billion in developing zero-knowledge technology.

One application of zk-STARK is used in complex decentralized finance or DeFi, such as auto insurance or decentralized health products, due to the need for identity verification. zk-STARK and similar plans can edit sensitive information about digital assets such as driver’s licenses or passport copies and reduce their size for quick review by blockchain participants.

It ensures that nodes can certify the authenticity of such documents without them coming into contact with the actual personal data of the user – thereby alleviating privacy concerns and building trust for DeFi products. But it can also be used to simplify cryptographic evidence in consensus mechanisms and to improve computing power.

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, said the following about the development:

ZK is the way forward for Ethereum and the Miden VM is one of the most important elements of Polygon’s roadmap for Ethereum’s scalability. It will simplify and accelerate validation for DeFi and crypto applications and improve the speed and scope of the polygon ecosystem.