Project hub

Polygon

29 pieces · Jan 2023 to Dec 2025 · 6 flagship

Sectors

L1/L227 ZK11 Ethereum10 DeFi4 Solana3 DePIN2

Search every mention All projects

Coverage per year

152023

122024

22025

Start here · the strongest pieces on Polygon

Breakdown15 Jan 2024Manta Pacific launch guide: architecture, metrics, ecosystem and tokenomicsMega-thread before the MANTA token launch: OP stack plus Celestia architecture with a DA cost cut above 99%, $946M total value bridged, $407M DeFi TVL, leading apps, a Polygon CDK zkEVM roadmap and 1B supply tokenomics.Map05 Jun 2024The Ultimate ZK Landscape 2.0: zkVMs, zkEVMs, proving, aggregation and privacyLandscape of the ZK stack by category: zkVMs, zkEVMs, universal proving and verification layers, proof aggregation, hardware acceleration and privacy projects. Asks the audience what is missing.Breakdown02 Dec 2023Celo's L2 migration: OP Stack vs Polygon CDK vs ZK Stack comparedCompares OP Stack, Polygon CDK and ZK Stack proposals for Celo against criteria such as EigenDA support, decentralized sequencing, EVM equivalence, validity proofs and interop. Favors Polygon CDK or OP Stack.

Timeline · every piece, newest first

2025 2

27 Dec 2025New vs returning wallets across Ethereum, Solana, NEAR, Polygon and SuiCompares 3-month new vs returning wallet trends. Real growth is new-wallet gains followed by rising returning wallets; Solana's new wallets rose while returning fell, and Sui's both declined, reading as churn.DataL1/L2EthereumSolana

24 Oct 2025Developer growth by ecosystem: Solana, Base, Sui up; Polygon, Arbitrum downElectric Capital data shows Solana/SVM, Bitcoin, Base and the Move stack (via Sui) growing in developers over two years. Polygon and Arbitrum lost over 30%, Polkadot and Cosmos are down, Starknet and NEAR show modest gains.DataSolanaEthereumL1/L2

2024 12

25 Oct 2024Most transactions in 24h by chain: Aptos 326M vs Sui 67M, Solana 56MRanks chains by transactions processed in 24 hours, with Aptos far ahead of Sui and Solana. Cites it as evidence that MoveVM is leading on throughput two years after Aptos mainnet.DataL1/L2

06 Sep 2024Move ecosystem map: Aptos, Sui and the next wave of Move L2sMaps Move-based execution layers: Aptos and Sui as dominant chains, upcoming L2s and rollup stacks supporting Move. Expects Move to become a major narrative in a full bull cycle; a correction puts TVL at $744M for Sui and $656M for Aptos.MapL1/L2

28 Jul 2024Lumoz explained: ZK proving and verification DePIN with RaaSExplains verifiable computation and Lumoz's combined rollup-as-a-service and ZK proof network, with zkProver and zkVerifier nodes secured via EigenLayer restaking. Frames the capped node licenses as the opportunity.ExplainerZKDePINAI

07 Jun 2024Cross-chain bridge flows: Arbitrum, Optimism and Base lead 30-day inflowsUses Artemis and DefiLlama bridge data to track where liquidity moves. Ethereum originates 78.1% of bridge volume and Arbitrum, Optimism and Base capture 72% of destination flows, with zkSync net flows only slightly positive despite the pending ZK token.DataL1/L2DeFi

05 Jun 2024The Ultimate ZK Landscape 2.0: zkVMs, zkEVMs, proving, aggregation and privacyLandscape of the ZK stack by category: zkVMs, zkEVMs, universal proving and verification layers, proof aggregation, hardware acceleration and privacy projects. Asks the audience what is missing.MapZKPrivacy

01 Jun 2024The ZK trademark saga: Matter Labs, zkSync and the community backlashTimeline of the dispute over Matter Labs' ZK trademark filings in nine countries, from the ZK ticker beef with Polyhedra to the ZK pledge and its backlash. Concludes Matter Labs must withdraw the applications to repair trust.BreakdownL1/L2ZK

19 May 2024Axelar on-chain data: 64 chains, GMP dominance and cross-chain volumeData thread on Axelar, an interoperability L1 with a 75+ validator set using threshold signatures. General message passing dominates activity, with BNB and Sei leading by dollar value on fewer transactions, which suggests whale activity.DataL1/L2DeFi

18 May 2024Why Ankr RaaS can win the app-chain summerArgues Rollup-as-a-Service is the catalyst for app-chains and Ankr will gain share because it already runs a global node and RPC network, unlike nascent competitors. Lists supported stacks (OP Stack, Orbit, ZK Stack, Fluentbase, Polygon CDK) and DA and interop integrations.ThesisL1/L2DePIN

22 Mar 2024Polygon as Type 1 zkEVM plus CDK plus AggLayerShort thesis that Polygon is converging on Type 1 zkEVM equivalence with faster parallelized provers, a modular CDK and the AggLayer, with zkSVM, zkWASM or zkMove provers likely added later.ThesisL1/L2ZK

16 Mar 2024Polygon AggLayer: ZK proof aggregation and atomic cross-chain composabilityArgues aggregation is modularity's end game: the AggLayer aggregates ZK proofs from CDK and external chains, settles on Ethereum, and offers atomic cross-chain bundles and async calls at low latency. Expects zkSVM and zkMove chains on CDK.ThesisZKL1/L2

15 Jan 2024Manta Pacific launch guide: architecture, metrics, ecosystem and tokenomicsMega-thread before the MANTA token launch: OP stack plus Celestia architecture with a DA cost cut above 99%, $946M total value bridged, $407M DeFi TVL, leading apps, a Polygon CDK zkEVM roadmap and 1B supply tokenomics.BreakdownL1/L2ZKDeFi

03 Jan 2024Manta Pacific as a bull-run epicentre and the launch of Manta ModularistArgues Manta's modular L2 on Celestia will be a leading ecosystem this cycle: 3rd largest L2 with over $700M TVL, a planned zkEVM move on Polygon CDK and $60M raised. Announces a Manta-focused research and media hub.ThesisL1/L2

2023 15

21 Dec 2023Modular thesis and DA layers: Celestia vs Avail with DAS and ZK proofsRecaps the modular thesis and argues DA layers must cut fees for rollups to compete with Solana. Compares Celestia's fraud proof DAS with Avail's KZG validity proofs and expects Celestia to adopt ZK.ThesisL1/L2Ethereum

06 Dec 2023Manta Pacific integrates Celestia DA ahead of mainnet betaExplains Manta Pacific's move from posting data to Ethereum to Celestia with Blobstream attestations, which separates execution, settlement and DA, cuts fees and precedes the Polygon CDK zkEVM transition.BreakdownL1/L2ZK

02 Dec 2023Celo's L2 migration: OP Stack vs Polygon CDK vs ZK Stack comparedCompares OP Stack, Polygon CDK and ZK Stack proposals for Celo against criteria such as EigenDA support, decentralized sequencing, EVM equivalence, validity proofs and interop. Favors Polygon CDK or OP Stack.BreakdownL1/L2Ethereum

11 Nov 2023NEAR goes modular: zkWASM prover, NEAR DA and EigenLayer-based fast finalityAnalyzes NEAR announcements: a zkWASM prover for Polygon CDK, a cheap DA layer and a fast finality layer with EigenLayer, arguing it positions NEAR for modular rollup season.BreakdownL1/L2Ethereum

17 Oct 2023Manta Pacific's move to a Polygon CDK zkEVM: roadmap and rationaleExplains Manta Pacific's four-chapter roadmap from an OP Stack rollup to a Polygon CDK zkEVM with Celestia DA, why validity proofs beat optimistic ones on finality and interop, and how CDK proof aggregation shares verification cost.BreakdownZKL1/L2Privacy

16 Oct 2023Cross-rollup composability: proof aggregation, shared sequencing and SUAVEAdds commentary to an interop overview: light-client ZK verification, validity proof aggregation layers, shared validity sequencing for atomicity, SUAVE as demand-side aggregator and shared sequencers needing stateful builders.Market takeL1/L2Market structure

30 Aug 2023Modular stack part 1: execution layers and virtual machinesExplains monolithic versus modular design (execution, settlement, DA, consensus) and walks through the EVM and the three routes to a zkEVM: prove the EVM trace directly, map EVM opcodes to a custom VM, or transpile Solidity to a custom VM.ExplainerL1/L2ZK

17 Aug 2023Eclipse explained: modular SVM rollups and the projects building on itExplains Eclipse as a customizable modular rollup platform (SVM first) with L3 app-chains settling on an Eclipse L2, then surveys early builders including Nautilus, Injective Cascade and a Polygon SVM rollup. Details Cascade's two interchain security constructions.BreakdownL1/L2Solana

14 Jul 2023Polygon POL proposal: multi-chain validation, emissions and MATIC upgradeSummary of the POL proposal: a hyper-productive token letting validators secure multiple chains and take multiple roles, with emissions for validators and a community growth fund, and a 1:1 MATIC to POL upgrade.BreakdownL1/L2DeFi

11 Jul 2023Plonky2 deep dive: the proof system behind Polygon zkEVMPrimer on SNARKs and STARKs, then how plonky2 combines PLONK with FRI to remove the trusted setup, support recursion, prove on CPUs and keep Ethereum verification cheap by wrapping the final proof in a pairing-based proof.ExplainerZKL1/L2

16 Apr 2023Arbitrum's share of Ethereum L2 fees: 41% vs Polygon, Optimism, StarknetBreaks down the split of L2 fees on Ethereum, with Arbitrum taking the largest share.DataL1/L2Ethereum

16 Apr 2023Arbitrum valuation vs Polygon and Optimism on price-to-feesUses P/F (FDV over annualized fees) from Token Terminal to argue Arbitrum still looks undervalued relative to Polygon and Optimism, and links a longer piece on ARB value.DataL1/L2Ethereum

08 Apr 2023Developer activity by ecosystem: contract deployments and commitsUses Artemis data on contracts deployed, unique deployers, commits and active devs. BNB Chain, Polygon and Ethereum lead EVM deployments, Base's testnet tops L2 activity, and Ethereum has the largest dev community.DataL1/L2EthereumTooling

22 Mar 2023Immutable x Polygon: MATIC-staked zkEVM rollup for gamingUnpacks the Immutable and Polygon partnership: Immutable X, a StarkEx validium with a DAC, will launch its own MATIC-staked Polygon zkEVM rollup using IMX as gas, adding smart contracts and potential game-specific L3s.BreakdownL1/L2ZKEthereum

08 Jan 2023Arbitrum and Optimism catch up with Polygon PoS on daily active addressesNotes that rollups kept shipping through the bear market, with a chart showing Arbitrum and Optimism rapidly closing the gap to Polygon PoS on daily active addresses. Expects zkEVMs to change the game again.DataL1/L2Ethereum

Often covered with

Arbitrum65 Celestia145 Optimism61 Sui24 zkSync41 Manta Network45 Starknet39 Ethereum36

Working together

Research, advisory and builds for deep-tech teams.

View CV A1 Research