Matter Labs CEO Denies Polygon’s Code Attribution Accusations

A heated debate has erupted in the crypto community over the alleged plagiarism of code by Matter Labs, the company behind zkSync, a scaling and privacy engine for Ethereum. Polygon Zero, a zero-knowledge scaling project, accused Matter Labs of copying parts of its code without proper attribution, and making misleading claims about its original work. Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski vehemently denied the allegations, saying that they were unfounded, misleading, and disappointing.

What is zkSync?

zkSync is a trustless protocol for scalable low-cost payments on Ethereum, powered by zkRollup technology. It uses zero-knowledge proofs and on-chain data availability to keep users’ funds as safe as though they never left the mainnet. While security is its paramount priority, user and developer experience are central to zkSync design. It aims to provide a banking alternative to entire societies, with ultra-low transaction fees, instant confirmations, and 10-minute finality on L1.

zkSync is built on ZK Rollup architecture, which is an L2 scaling solution in which all funds are held by a smart contract on the mainnet, while computation and storage are performed off-chain. For every Rollup block, a state transition zero-knowledge proof (SNARK) is generated and verified by the mainnet contract. This SNARK includes the proof of the validity of every single transaction in the Rollup block. Additionally, the public data update for every block is published over the mainnet network in the cheap calldata.

This architecture provides the following guarantees:

• The Rollup validator(s) can never corrupt the state or steal funds (unlike Sidechains).
• Users can always retrieve the funds from the Rollup even if validator(s) stop cooperating because the data is available (unlike Plasma).
• Thanks to validity proofs, neither users nor a single other trusted party needs to be online to monitor Rollup blocks in order to prevent fraud.

In other words, ZK Rollup strictly inherits the security guarantees of the underlying L1.
zkSync supports ETH and ERC20 token transfers with fees payable in the token being transferred. It also supports multisig and permissionless smart contracts (coming soon). To learn more about zkSync, you can visit its website, documentation, or GitHub repository.

What is Polygon Zero?

Polygon Zero is a zero-knowledge scaling project that aims to bring privacy and scalability to Ethereum. It leverages Plonky2, a zero-knowledge proof system that it claims to have developed in-house. Plonky2 is based on RedShift, a universal SNARK construction that was introduced by Matter Labs in 2019.

Polygon Zero claims that Plonky2 is faster, cheaper, and more flexible than existing zero-knowledge systems. It also claims that Plonky2 is compatible with any elliptic curve and any field size, which makes it more adaptable to different use cases. Polygon Zero plans to use Plonky2 to build ZK Rollups for various applications, such as decentralized exchanges, gaming, NFTs, and DeFi.

Polygon Zero published a blog post on August 3rd, 2023, announcing Plonky2 and its features. It also released its code on GitHub under the MIT license.

What are the accusations?

On August 4th, 2023, Polygon Zero published another [blog post], accusing Matter Labs of copying parts of its code without proper attribution. The blog post claimed that Matter Labs had released Boojum, a new proving system for zkSync that incorporated some code from Plonky2. The blog post alleged that Matter Labs did not give credit to Polygon Zero or mention Plonky2 anywhere in its documentation or announcements. The blog post also alleged that Matter Labs made misleading claims about Boojum being faster and more efficient than Plonky2.

The blog post provided several examples of code snippets that were allegedly copied from Plonky2 to Boojum without any changes or comments. The blog post also pointed out some similarities in the design choices and naming conventions between Plonky2 and Boojum. The blog post concluded by saying that copy-pasting source code without attribution and making misleading claims about the original work is against the open source ethos and hurts the ecosystem.

What are the responses?

Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski responded to the accusations in a [tweet thread], saying that they were unfounded, misleading, and extremely disappointing coming from a team he highly respected. He said that every decision they made as a team towards building zkSync was driven by their ethos, which was based on integrity and transparency.

Gluchowski explained that both Plonky2 and Boojum were implementations of RedShift, which was introduced by Matter Labs three years before the Plonky2 paper. He said that the developers of Plonky2 did not give them credit, but cited RedShift in the paper. He also said that Boojum was not a copy of Plonky2, but a result of their own research and development.
Gluchowski admitted that they had used some code from Plonky2, but only about 5% of the total code base. He said that they had given proper attribution to Polygon Zero in the code comments and the license file. He also said that they had made significant improvements and optimizations to the code, which resulted in Boojum being faster and more efficient than Plonky2.

Gluchowski said that he respected Polygon Zero’s passion for zero-knowledge technology, but he hoped that they would be more careful and accurate in their statements. He said that he was open to constructive dialogue and collaboration with Polygon Zero and other teams in the space.

What are the implications?

The controversy between Matter Labs and Polygon Zero has sparked a heated debate in the crypto community over the ethics and etiquette of open source development. Some people have sided with Polygon Zero, saying that Matter Labs should have given more credit and recognition to Polygon Zero for their work on Plonky2. Others have sided with Matter Labs, saying that Polygon Zero was overreacting and exaggerating the extent of code copying.
The controversy also raises some questions about the future of zero-knowledge scaling on Ethereum. Both Matter Labs and Polygon Zero are working on ZK Rollups, which are widely regarded as one of the most promising solutions for scaling Ethereum without compromising security or decentralization. However, ZK Rollups are also very complex and require advanced cryptography and engineering skills. Therefore, collaboration and innovation among different teams are essential for advancing the state of the art and delivering the best user experience.
However, collaboration and innovation also require trust and respect among different teams. If teams accuse each other of plagiarism or dishonesty, it could create a hostile and competitive environment that hinders cooperation and progress. Therefore, it is important for teams to adhere to the open source ethos and norms, such as giving proper attribution, citing sources, acknowledging contributions, and resolving disputes amicably.

Conclusion

The controversy between Matter Labs and Polygon Zero over code attribution is a complex and sensitive issue that involves technical, ethical, and legal aspects. It is not easy to determine who is right or wrong in this case, as both sides have their own arguments and perspectives. However, what is clear is that both sides are passionate and dedicated to building zero-knowledge scaling solutions for Ethereum, which is a noble and valuable goal.
Therefore, I hope that both sides can find a way to resolve their differences peacefully and constructively, without resorting to personal attacks or legal actions. I also hope that both sides can continue to innovate and collaborate with each other and other teams in the space, to bring the best scaling and privacy solutions to Ethereum users.

What do you think about this controversy? Do you support Matter Labs or Polygon Zero? Do you use zkSync or any other ZK Rollup solution? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Sources:

• (1) zkSync: scaling and privacy engine for Ethereum - GitHub | GitHub.
• (2) Overview | zkSync Documentation | zkSync Documentation.
• (3) zkSync: scaling and privacy engine for Ethereum - GitHub | GitHub.
• (4) zkSync: scaling and privacy engine for Ethereum - GitHub | GitHub.
• (5) undefined | Twitter.
• (6) Matter Labs CEO denies Polygon’s code attribution accusations | CoinMarketCap.
• (7) Matter Labs CEO vehemently denies copy-pasting code from Polygon Zero | Cointelegraph.
• (8) Matter Labs CEO Denies Plagiarism Accusations by Polygon Zero | Cryptometer.
• (9) Matter Labs Responds to Polygon's Allegations | NFTStudio24.

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