Zisk Rises from Polygon's Ashes: Baylina's Team Goes Rogue with zkVM

Holy moly, folks! Jordi Baylina, the mastermind behind Polygon's zkEVM, just pulled a fast one on us! He's taken his crew and the entire codebase, and they've gone full indie with a new project called Zisk. Polygon Foundation decided to pull the plug on their pricey chain, but Baylina ain't letting that stop him from carrying the zkVM torch forward. He's still rocking the founder title, but now he's the captain of his own ship, sailing into uncharted waters!

Get this, on June 18, Baylina dropped the bombshell on X, announcing that he and his gang of zkEVM wizards have broken free from Polygon's grasp. They're now all about Zisk, a rebel project dead set on pushing the boundaries of low-latency, open-source zero-knowledge virtual machine tech. It's like they've been bitten by the innovation bug and there's no turning back!

And here's the kicker: all the brainpower and code they poured into Polygon's project? It's now in the hands of SilentSig GmbH, a slick Swiss outfit that Baylina owns lock, stock, and barrel. According to the Zisk website, these rebels have been cooking up something special inside Polygon since May 2024. But on June 13, they said, "Enough is enough," and officially cut ties. It's like a tech heist, but instead of stealing, they're just taking what's rightfully theirs!

The Zisk Gambit: How Polygon's zkEVM Exodus Could Reshape Zero-Knowledge Tech

Hold onto your hats, crypto fans, because Baylina's bold move comes hot on the heels of a major shakeup at Polygon. Just a week ago, co-founder Sandeep Nailwal swooped in to take the reins of the Polygon Foundation. And what's the first thing he does? He tosses the zero-knowledge EVM out the window and puts all his chips on Polygon PoS and their fancy AggLayer interoperability protocol. Talk about a plot twist!

That decision pretty much sealed the fate of a project that was bleeding over a million bucks a year. Blockchain guru Lorenz Lehmann spilled the beans on X, saying Polygon had "quietly abandoned" the zkEVM, despite sinking nine figures into it. Can you believe that?

Soon, the Polygon zkEVM will be nothing but a distant memory. Let's recap: Polygon bought Hermez for a cool $250M back in 2021, slapped the zkEVM label on it, and then ghosted the whole thing. They never even bothered to upgrade it to use Blobs, and the chain was running at a loss of over a mil a year. And now, they're pulling the plug for good.

But Baylina and his crew? They saw the writing on the wall and decided to take matters into their own hands. Instead of fighting the tide, they're riding the wave with Zisk. Baylina's got his sights set on ditching the old, clunky architecture and focusing on what the zkEVM should have been all along. It's like they're starting a revolution in the world of zero-knowledge tech!

While the current zkVMs out there are all about being BFFs with the EVM, Zisk is taking a different approach. They're all about those lightning-fast proofs, which is crucial for real-world stuff like decentralized exchanges and gaming. Early tests are showing that Zisk could cut verification times by a whopping 40-60% compared to the old guard. But don't take their word for it – they're inviting the big brains to come and audit their claims.

And get this: Zisk isn't just about speed; it's also carrying on the open-source legacy of Polygon zkEVM. Baylina's promising to keep the codebase wide open, so anyone can jump in and help shape the future of zero-knowledge tech. It's like they're building a community of rebels, united by their love for innovation and their disdain for the status quo!