zkBridge NEP-9: Integrate Solana with Polyhedra zkBridge

Category: Technical Proposal

I. Proposal:

This is a proposal to integrate the following project with zkBridge:

Project Name: Solana Reasons to pursue integration include:

• High Performance Blockchain: Solana's high transaction throughput and low latency make it one of the most efficient blockchain networks, which complements the advanced capabilities of zkBridge.
• Empower Omnichain Meme Token and AI Ecosystem: Solana has established an excellent ecosystem for meme tokens and AI assets. The integration with zkBridge will create a seamless omnichain experience for these assets, enabling cross-chain innovation and wider accessibility for meme and AI assets.
• Unique Consensus: Solana's unique proof-of-history (PoH) consensus mechanism offers novel opportunities for zkBridge to demonstrate its compatibility with diverse technologies.
• Strengthen Solana's ZK Ecosystem with Expander: We are building the ZK client for Solana's Proof of History consensus empowered by the most efficient prover Expander and its optimization for distributed computation. We have also built a native ZK verifier on Solana. Expander will help to bring the most efficient ZK technology to Solana.
• Developer Ecosystem: Solana boasts a thriving developer community and ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps), offering opportunities for zkBridge to expand its use cases.
• Widespread Adoption: With a strong global community and wide usage across industries, Solana's integration will enhance the Polyhedra Network's cross-chain interoperability and attract new users.

Description: Solana is a high-performance blockchain designed to enable scalable, user-friendly decentralized applications and cryptocurrencies. With its innovative approach to achieving consensus and its focus on speed and cost-efficiency, Solana has emerged as a leader in the blockchain space, making it an ideal candidate for zkBridge integration.

Project’s Social Media: Website: https://solana.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/solana Discord: https://solana.com/discord Telegram: @solana YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SolanaFoundation

II. Rationale:

zkBridge provides users with a range of options and greater asset diversity to bridge across various L1s and L2s. By expanding the supported blockchains, it allows more users worldwide to be able to access the functionalities and features of, and participate in the growth and development of, the Polyhedra Network. Candidates for future integrations will be selected by the community. Based on feedback received from ecosystem members, the community will consider multiple criteria, including:

1. Global reach, recognition from major industry players, and community interest
2. Focus on adhering to regulatory standards and ensuring security,
3. Interest in zero-knowledge proofs
4. Potential for enhancing the network functionality, applications, and user interactions to set a new standard for secure, efficient, and user-friendly cross-chain transactions
5. If this would foster greater participation and collaboration within the blockchain ecosystem
6. Enhanced flexibility and efficiency, decentralization and system integrity across these blockchain networks.

III. Abstract:

Polyhedra Network’s zkBridge represents a significant advancement in the blockchain industry, offering a trustless, efficient, and secure interoperability protocol across different Layer-1 and Layer-2 networks. Polyhedra currently supports integration of zkBridge with a number of third party blockchains and ecosystems such as AltLayer, Alchemy Bridge, Arbitrum, and others. Central to the zkBridge security model is the integration of zero-knowledge proofs, which offer robust security that is not dependent on external factors and significantly reduce the complexities and costs associated with on-chain verifications. Other assets could be supported and utilized to grow the utility of the network.

IV. Additional Background:

On April 4, 2023, zkBridge launched on ten layer-1 and layer-2 blockchain networks including Polygon, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Cosmos. zkBridge is the first trustless, efficient, secure, and universal cross-chain bridge with advanced zero-knowledge proof technology. zkBridge uses zkSNARKs to enable a prover to efficiently convince the receiver chain that a certain state transition happened on the sender chain. zkBridge consists of a block header relay network and an updater contract. zkBridge uses a 2-layer recursive proof system to achieve fast proof generation and low on-chain proof verification cost to support cross-chain applications. As of June 2024, zkBridge has supported more than 30 layer-1 and layer-2 networks, and successfully verified more than 20 million cross-chain transactions.

V. Threshold to Approve:

1. More than 50,000 of total Staking Power (SP) cast as votes, and
2. More Yes votes than No votes.