Polygon Invests $5M in ‘VPU’ Chips That Could Reduce Costs of No-Knowledge Evidence

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Polygon Labs, a major Ethereum layer-2 developer, has announced plans to purchase $5 million worth of server systems optimized for zero-knowledge cryptography (ZK) processing from hardware manufacturer Fabric.

The acquisition is part of a partnership aimed at accelerating the development of Polygon’s AggLayer, an interoperability solution designed to enable seamless token transfers between affiliated blockchain networks. Fabric produces custom zero-knowledge chips called Verifiable Processing Units (VPUs) specifically for the AggLayer project.

Polygon’s ZK team collaborated with Fabric to create custom VPUs for its prover libraries, Plonky2 and Plonky3. These proofs are essential components in blockchain systems built around zero-knowledge cryptography, which has emerged as a key point for Polygon and a hot topic in the crypto industry.

“The implementation of this technology will massively accelerate the development of AggLayer, bringing accessible evidence in real time (…) and much lower costs than thought possible in the medium term,” said Bjelic.

Improving knowledge-free technology for lower costs and faster transactions

The partnership follows Fabric’s recent $33 million Series A funding round, in which Polygon Labs participated. Fabric VPUs are custom chips designed to optimize encryption and blockchain processes. According to Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic, these specialized chips can significantly speed up the timeline for wider adoption of zero-knowledge technology, reducing development and research time.

“Fabric VPUs can accelerate the time to wider adoption of knowledge-free technology from three to five years to six to 12 months,” claims Bjelic. He added that the implementation of this technology will “massively accelerate the development of AggLayer, bringing real-time, affordable proof that no one thought was coming for years.”

By developing hardware optimized specifically for ZK-proof generation, the partnership aims to overcome current limitations and pave the way for more efficient and scalable blockchain solutions. In related news, Polygon has begun migrating its MATIC tokens to POL, working toward a new “hyperproductive” phase for the token’s utility.

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