Polygon zkEVM beta hits snag, MATIC price remains intact

Polygon disclosed that its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) beta faces downtime due to a sequencer issue. 

In a recent update on X, Polygon (MATIC) attributed the issue to a problem with the blockchain sequencer. 

Despite the setback, Polygon stated that other facets of its ecosystem, such as its proof-of-stake (PoS) network and chains developed with the Polygon software development kit, remain unaffected.

The network assured its community that it is actively working to resolve the issue and will provide a detailed post-mortem analysis once the matter is addressed. 

Anticipation continues to build for the release of the second-generation zkEVM, promising enhancements to boost performance. At the time of writing, Polygon had not provided any further updates regarding the status of the zkEVM mainnet beta.

Polygon journey with zkEVM

Polygon’s zkEVM initiative began in March 2023 with the launch of its mainnet beta. Its aim was to enhance smart contract deployment with increased finality and reduced costs. 

However, the journey hasn’t been without hurdles. Recall how blockchain security firm Verichains identified a flaw last September.

Collaborative efforts between Polygon and Verichains resolved the issue, underscoring the importance of robust security measures in blockchain ecosystems.

As of the latest update, the incident has not notably impacted the price of MATIC. Over the past 24 hours, the coin has seen a modest increase of 0.9% and is currently trading at $1.00. 

However, it has experienced a 5.5% decline over the past week and another 19% drop over the previous fortnight, in line with broader market trends.

Polygon’s zkEVM outage adds to recent disruptions in the crypto market, highlighting the challenges of ensuring stable blockchain performance. 

This incident echoes similar outages, including a significant downtime on Solana (SOL) on Feb. 6. The incident, which was Solana’s first in over a year, saw the blockchain halt transaction processing, with network engineers and validators from across the ecosystem mobilized to address the issue.