Polygon, a scaling solution to the Ethereum blockchain, aims to “unify liquidity” of the various networks in its ecosystem as part of a new architecture under its rebrand as Polygon 2.0.

The plan also provides for restaking tokens, allowing investors to simultaneously stake the same tokens on multiple projects.

Polygon plans to give developers the ability to “add new decentralized chains on demand,” according to a statement – joining competitors including Arbitrum, Optimism and zkSync’s Matter Labs that have made their networks easier to copy, in the pursuit of fostering broader ecosystems of specialized but compatible blockchains.

Under the new tech stack, Polygon says it will link the various Polygon chains through a shared crypto bridge powered by zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, one of this year’s hottest blockchain technologies. CoinDesk reported exclusively earlier this year that Polygon would emphasize ZK technology in its future project roadmap.

“Unified liquidity is the key to everything in Polygon 2.0,” said Brendan Farmer, The co-founder of Polygon in a press release. “We need to support an unlimited scalability, so Polygon 2.0 ecosystem can continue to feel as if you are using a single chain.”

The validity of cross-chain transactions is guaranteed by ZK proofs posted to Ethereum, what we want is a seamless bridging . This way users wouldn’t have to wait for a chain to generate proof or settle on Ethereum.

This way a new coordination structure can be implemented so it is possible to receive confirmed cross-chain transactions, through the shared bridge, powered by ZK proofs.

“With ZK proofs, we will be able to bridge or initiate cross-chain transactions instantly and safely. What we are aiming for is to have a coordination layer along with a shared bridge that allows an unlimited number of chains, that way they all work together simultaneously.” Farmer said. “For a user, it will feel like you are using one single chain.”

Polygon provided this technical description of how it works: “Native Ethereum tokens will be deposited into a single contract on Ethereum, so when a user transacts across Polygon chains, the corresponding assets will be mapped to the tokens deposited on Ethereum. No need for wrapped tokens and the corresponding UX difficulties.” UX stands for user experience.

The proposal also calls for an emphasis on restaking, which allows users to repurpose their staked crypto to ensure the security of other applications from a blockchain. Many protocols, such as Eigenlayer, have recently embraced restaking.

Vitalik Buterin, the Co-founder behind the Ethereum blockchain, has expressed doubts about restaking, fearing that it could create systemic risks for blockchains.

“Personaly I think restaking is a really nice sulution for validators that stake tokens in order to validate chains on Polygon.” Farmer said. “They will not only be able to validate one chain, they’ll be able to restake their own tokens to actually serve as decentralized validator.”

The announcement about Polygon’s new architecture and tech stack comes just a few days after it shared a proposal to upgrade its Polygon PoS chain to a zkEVM validium. Polygon has shared that it will also be releasing announcements over the next few weeks on its token, $MATIC, and its governance process.

“I think one of the main principles behind Polygon 2.0 is we want to build a strong a foundation within the internet, becoming a valuable layer within the internet.” Farmer said.

Despite Polygon’s series of announcements, its MATIC token is down 30% over the past 30 days, the second worst performance among digital tokens tracked by the analysis firm Messari with a reported market cap of at least $500 million. A major overhang is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s labeling the MATIC token earlier this month as security – a designation that could bring added regulatory scrutiny. Tokens from other layer 2 projects are also down over the past 30 days, but not as much: Optimism has lost 13%, and Arbitrum is down 6%.