Jordi Baylina: Finding Solutions in Zero-Knowledge

One of the buzziest blockchain trends this year has been zero-knowledge rollups, a type of cryptography that makes blockchain transactions cheaper and faster.

Many layer-2 teams have raced to come out with their own chains making use of this technology that is powered by zero-knowledge proofs, a mechanism that determines validity with only knowing a snippet of information.

This profile is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2023. For the full list, click here.

Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution, is one of the pioneers in the field. This year, its technical lead, Jordi Baylina, led the rollout of its zkEVM, a zero-knowledge rollup compatible with Ethereum smart contracts. Polygon's zkEVM went live in March with Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin initiating the first transaction.

Baylina is an OG in the industry. He founded the white hat group that saved funds from the Ethereum DAO hack in 2016 and created the Hermez network, a zero-knowledge rollup, which was acquired by Polygon in 2021.

When Hermez was acquired, "Polygon was betting very hard in scaling and was betting very hard in the in the ZK tech," Baylina said in an interview. After his entrance into Polygon, Baylina put his efforts into bringing the zkEVM to life.

Baylina is particularly proud of the launch of Polygon's zkEVM, but recognizes that the team has had several milestones in 2023 in its pursuit to become an all-encompassing zero-knowledge network. Baylina said Polygon's latest "Polygon 2.0" roadmap, which outlines its plan for scaling, as well as the launch of its customizable Chain Development Kit (CDK) were other big moments for the team this year.

As for 2024, Baylina believes that it will be even more significant for Polygon. "2024 it's going to be the year of explosion, of this network of Polygon 2.0, the explosion of zk rollups," Baylina told CoinDesk.

Read more: Polygon 2.0 Roadmap Calls for 'Unified Liquidity,' Restaking, New Chains on Demand