Two layer-1 blockchains, Canto and Astar, have decided to switch from their original ecosystems, Cosmos and Polkadot, to Ethereum in the past week. They will become layer 2 solutions that use zero-knowledge proofs to enhance scalability and privacy.

Canto is a general-purpose blockchain that aims to bring traditional finance to decentralized applications. It is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and supports smart contracts. Canto Commons, the governance framework of the protocol, has agreed to build a zero-knowledge rollup of Ethereum’s second layer, using Polygon’s Chain Development Kit ecosystem.

By doing so, Canto will be able to tap into the liquidity and security of Ethereum and Polygon, without sacrificing user trust or decentralization. Canto will also leverage Polygon’s best-in-class ZK prover, which ensures the validity of transactions using cryptography. Canto’s validators and staking system will remain unchanged.

Astar is another layer-1 blockchain that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications. It was formerly known as Plasm Network and was part of the Polkadot ecosystem. Astar has announced that it will soon launch its own Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, called Astar ZK-EVM

Astar ZK-EVM will offer a trustless bridge to Ethereum with high EVM equivalency, meaning that developers can use existing tools and frameworks to build applications across both networks. Astar ZK-EVM will also use zero-knowledge proofs to ensure fast, secure, and low-cost transactions.

Canto and Astar join several other projects that have chosen to build ZK layer 2s using Polygon’s CDK, such as Gnosis Pay, Palm, and IDEX. These projects demonstrate the growing demand and adoption of zero-knowledge proofs as a scaling and privacy solution for Ethereum.