Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by 90%, a breakthrough for both developers and users
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by 90%, a breakthrough for both developers and users. This level of fee reduction immediately captures attention. Lower costs mean more transactions, smoother experiences, and broader adoption. The keyphrase “Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees” opens the door to explore why this advancement matters. It sets the tone for a deep dive into how the technology works and why you should care.
The surge in gas fees on Ethereum has priced out casual users and small dApps. Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by batching transactions and leveraging zero-knowledge proofs. This combination brings Ethereum-grade security without high costs. Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by proving computation off-chain and posting compact proofs on Ethereum. In real-world terms, this could cut your transaction from a dollar to a few cents. Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by optimizing every element—calldata, opcodes, proof generation—to deliver efficiency and value. This isn’t hype; it’s a game-changer grounded in verifiable data. Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees using proven compression and batching methods backed by Polygon’s research.
What Is Polygon zkEVM?
Polygon zkEVM is a Layer 2 scaling solution built on Ethereum. It uses zero-knowledge proofs to boost speed and cut costs while retaining Ethereum-level security. This makes Polygon zkEVM EVM-equivalent—most Ethereum smart contracts, tools, and wallets work seamlessly without code changes.
How It Works
Transactions are processed off-chain by sequencers, bundled into batches, and then verified using zk-SNARK proofs. Once validated, a compact proof is submitted to Ethereum mainnet, confirming the batch. This means Ethereum only verifies the proof, not each transaction.
Key Technical Features
It uses advanced proving systems like zk-SNARKs and recursive STARKs, boosting performance and security. It fully replicates Ethereum’s environment so developers don’t need to rewrite contracts or change tooling. Security is ensured by anchoring proofs on Ethereum L1, inheriting its decentralization and resilience.
Real-World Benefits
Developers can migrate dApps instantly with no code modifications. Fees drop dramatically. Throughput jumps compared to L1. Transactions finalize quickly. Security remains rooted in Ethereum’s robust network.
Understanding Gas Fees on zkEVM
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by about 90% compared to Ethereum mainnet. This dramatic drop changes the cost equation for everyone. Let’s explore how this happens.
Layer 1 vs Layer 2 Costs
Ethereum gas fees on L1 average around $1.72 per transaction as of March 2025. In contrast, Polygon PoS charges roughly $0.0063. zkEVM averages $0.015—about one percent of Ethereum’s fees. That’s where Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees shine.
Calldata’s Role
Calldata—the cost to publish data to Ethereum—dares more than 80% of an L2’s fee. zkEVM introduced effectiveGasPrice, a method that factors actual calldata usage into fees. That means users only pay for what they use.
EffectiveGasPrice
Polygon’s effectiveGasPrice algorithm calculates L1 gas price multiplied by an L2 reduction factor. If your transaction uses minimal calldata and logic, you pay less. Complex or calldata-heavy txs cost more—fairer than before.
Real-Time Gas Data
QuickNode’s zkEVM gas tracker shows average gas prices around 8 Gwei. That low number powers transactions that cost mere cents.
The New Compression Tech Explained
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees further with cutting-edge compression technology. This section explores how the platform uses data compression and upcoming Ethereum upgrades to reduce costs even more.
Calldata Compression Strategies
Calldata holds transaction details and makes up about 80% of L2 fees. zkEVM uses advanced compression to shrink calldata size:
It removes padding by representing values in compact forms, minimizing wasted bytes. It introduces bitmaps to pack flags like “uses delegatecall” into single bytes. It indexes repeated data, such as addresses and common function selectors, saving dozens of bytes per call. It applies scientific notation for numeric values, trimming size by orders of magnitude.
These techniques significantly reduce transaction payloads, cutting calldata size by around 50–70%.
Validity Proof Compression
Beyond calldata, zkEVM compresses validity proofs. These proofs confirm batches of transactions and could be large.
It uses recursive SNARKs and proof aggregation to create compact proofs. The result is smaller, faster-to-verify data. Smaller proofs require less gas to submit on-chain, trimming costs further.
EIP-4844 Integration
The upcoming Ethereum Dencun upgrade introduces EIP‑4844, which shifts data storage from permanent calldata to temporary blob storage. This alone cuts costs for zkEVM users by 2–5×.
Combined with zkEVM’s custom compression, Polygon co-founder Jordi Baylina estimates cost reductions of 10–50× in real usage.
Efficiency in Practice
Academic benchmarks show that fully optimized zkEVM transactions cost as little as $0.0038 when batches are full. That matches projected savings once blobs and compression roll out widely. Together, these techniques compound to drive costs down.
Real-World Impact: Fee Benchmarks & Network Trends
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by 90%, but what does that mean in real-world numbers and adoption? Let’s dive into the data and trends that prove its impact.
As of March 2025, average Ethereum transaction gas fees stand at about $1.72. In stark contrast, Polygon PoS transactions cost around $0.0063, while zkEVM transactions average $0.015—roughly 1% of Ethereum’s cost. This dramatic divergence illustrates how Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees at scale.
Daily user savings are substantial. In January 2025, Polygon users collectively saved an estimated $8.9 million by avoiding Ethereum mainnet fees.
TVL & Adoption Growth
Polygon’s overall Total Value Locked (TVL) crossed $4.12 billion in Q1 2025, rising 93% year-over-year. zkEVM has carved out a sizable share, growing its own TVL to $312 million from just $92 million in mid-2024. That demonstrates real capital confidence in the network’s cost and performance advantage.
Usage Trends & Network Health
Transaction volumes speak volumes. Polygon processed over 8.4 million daily PoS transactions in Q1 2025, up from 4.6 million in the same quarter last year. As for zkEVM, it’s recorded over 96 million transactions since its beta launch. These figures show steady adoption and network health, validating that Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees without sacrificing usage.
Daily active addresses reached 1.23 million in February 2025, up from 1.01 million in late 2024. Monthly active users climbed to 18.9 million in Q1 2025. The high user engagement indicates Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees and scales effectively with growing demand.
Price Stability & Consistency
Ethereum gas spikes, sometimes exceeding $14 per transaction, are common. Meanwhile, Polygon rarely breaks $0.02 per transaction. zkEVM mirrors this consistency, offering predictable costs ideal for budgeting and user confidence.
Summary of Network Impact
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by lowering average costs to mere cents. Users saved millions and developers enjoyed increased throughput. TVL growth and active usage confirm that low fees drive adoption. Moving forward, zkEVM’s network trends indicate steady growth and a robust foundation for future scaling improvements.
Why Fees Fall as Usage Grows
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees more as usage increases, thanks to economies of scale. When more transactions fill each proof batch, the fixed costs spread across them, lowering average costs.
Batch Amortization
zk-rollups process transactions in batches. Proof generation has a fixed cost regardless of batch size. Small batches cost more per transaction.
Research shows Polygon zkEVM batches average 27 transactions. That yields a per-transaction cost of about $0.051. But with full batches, costs drop below $0.004. As more users send transactions, larger batches emerge and average fees fall accordingly.
Prover Efficiency
Polygon zkEVM’s prover takes around 190–200 seconds per batch, regardless of size. This consistent proving time means each added transaction costs almost nothing extra once the prover’s running. That efficiency leads to meaningful savings.
Data Availability Compression
zkEVM posts batch data to Ethereum. Optimizing this posting, especially by using compressed proofs and calldata, slashes costs. More transactions per batch mean fewer data uploads per transaction, reducing the data availability portion of the fee.
Transaction Volume Effects
High transaction volume accelerates batching. During busy periods, rollups fill batches quickly. That naturally drops fees. Studies also show high activity leads to short-lived congestion, keeping per-transaction costs low.
Technical Challenges and Mitigations
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees by 90%, but maintaining that efficiency requires navigating technical hurdles. This section explores the issues and how they are managed.
Don Quixote Transactions
Transactions that use heavy calldata but minimal computation—dubbed “Don Quixote” transactions—pose challenges. They drive high Layer 1 costs yet little actual execution. To counter this, Polygon implemented effectiveGasPrice. It adjusts fees based on both calldata and execution costs. This ensures Quixote transactions no longer slip through with artificially low fees.
DoS Protection with Opcode Quotas
Polygon zkEVM applies zk-counters—opcode quotas that limit usage per batch. These prevent one transaction from monopolizing resources or launching denial-of-service attacks.
Managing Proof Submission Load
Each transaction batch generates a zk-proof. Submitting these proofs to Ethereum has fixed overhead. To keep this economical, Polygon batches transactions and compresses both calldata and proofs. That keeps submission costs proportional to batch size.
Infrastructure Scaling
Handling high throughput requires robust infrastructure. Node providers like Chainstack and Ankr support reliable zkEVM nodes and RPC endpoints. They help manage high request volumes and mempool load.
Roadmap: What’s Next for zkEVM Fees
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees today. But even more savings lie ahead. The roadmap features planned upgrades that will reduce costs further.
EIP‑4844 & Blob Storage
Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade introduced EIP‑4844, also known as proto‑danksharding. It brings blob storage—temporary, cheap storage for layer‑2 data. Polygon zkEVM will integrate blobs in its Feijoa upgrade in May 2024. Blobs could roughly halve calldata costs, yielding 2x–5x fee reductions.
Compression and Effective Gas Price Enhancements
Polygon plans to roll out more compression schemes alongside blob storage. These include improved payload compression, calldata indexing, and proof aggregation. Combined, these could drive fee cuts beyond 50x in typical use.
Cancun/Dencun Integration Timeline
The Ethereum Cancun (execution layer) and Deneb (consensus layer) upgrades went live March 13, 2024. Dencun enables blobs, which zkEVM will fully adopt soon in its Feijoa upgrade.
Long-Term Scaling with Danksharding
EIP‑4844 forms the first step toward full danksharding. As Ethereum implements further data‑sharding, zkEVM benefits more. Its roadmap aligns with broader L2 trends, positioning it to scale cheaply as shard rollout continues.
Benefits for Key Audiences
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees, but its true power lies in how it serves developers, users, and enterprises. Here’s a detailed look.
For Developers and DeFi Protocols
Polygon zkEVM offers full EVM equivalence. That means you can deploy existing smart contracts, tooling, and wallets without changes—no rewriting required. It also delivers high throughput with fast finality, thanks to Polygon Zero tech and recursive STARK proofs, enabling powerful dApps and rich experiences. Lastly, it dramatically cuts costs. zkEVM reduces usage fees through zk proof compression, enabling projects to scale affordably.
For Traders and Everyday Users
Transaction fees on zkEVM drop to mere cents. That makes micro-transactions, NFT minting, and on-chain trading affordable. Users also benefit from Ethereum-backed security thanks to zk-proof verification, preserving fund safety even at low cost.
For Enterprises and dApp Builders
Enterprise grade reliability combines with scalability. The network supports thousands of transactions per second—ideal for high-volume dApps like GameFi, marketplaces, or payment platforms. It secures data through Layer‑1 anchoring and zk‑proof mechanisms, ensuring tamper-resistance and censorship resistance. Plus, support for protocols like ERC‑4337 account abstraction enables smoother user onboarding with non‑MATIC fee payments.
Potential Risks & Considerations
Even though Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees impressively, it also carries risks. Understanding these helps users make informed decisions.
Centralization in Early Stage
Polygon zkEVM launched in a “Mainnet Beta” with centralized controls. A Security Council multisig can perform emergency upgrades without time locks. Sequencer control remains centralized, limiting censorship resistance until fully decentralized.
Proof Forgery Vulnerability
In December 2023, Verichains detected a critical vulnerability in the zkProver. It could allow proof forgery and state manipulation by a malicious aggregator. That flaw was swiftly fixed via Immunefi bug bounty and audit processes.
Sequencer Outages
During beta testing, Polygon zkEVM experienced a 12‑hour outage due to an L1 reorganization that disrupted its sequencer. The incident caused temporary transaction disruption, though Polygon fixed the problem and published a postmortem.
Financial Sustainability Risks
A June 2025 report revealed zkEVM runs at over $1 million annual loss. There are plans to phase it out by 2026. The lack of EIP‑4844 blobs integration and dwindling economic viability could affect long-term usage and support.
Bug Potential in Finalization Processes
Academic research via fAmulet found multiple finalization bugs in Polygon zk-rollups. Finalization failures could disrupt transaction settlement or lead to stale batches. These issues require ongoing fixes but signal inherent complexity in ZK rollups.
How to Optimize Fees Today
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees—but you can reduce costs even further with smart strategies. Here’s how to optimize your transactions effectively:
Batch Your Transactions
Bundling multiple operations into a single transaction significantly lowers gas per action. Polygon support recommends it for mass transaction campaigns.
Time Transactions to Off-Peak Hours
Gas fees drop during low network activity. Historical data shows savings of 2x–5x if you transact on weekends or late nights.
Watch Real-Time Gas Prices
Use tools like QuickNode’s zkEVM gas tracker to detect price dips. Trigger transactions only when gas prices are low.
Set Smart Gas Price
Polygon’s effectiveGasPrice logic uses L1 prices sampled every 5 seconds. Signing at or slightly above the 5-minute low ensures your tx gets included without overpaying.
Optimize Contract Calls
Use calldata-efficient methods like indexed data, tighter structs, and packing to reduce payload size, thereby lowering effectiveGasPrice.
Leverage Smart Wallets & Meta-Txs
Smart contract wallets can automate txn bundling and sometimes cover gas via meta-transactions, reducing direct costs for users.
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees with proven technology, delivering rapid transactions at mere cents
Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees with proven technology, delivering rapid transactions at mere cents. Adoption remains robust, with average zkEVM transactions costing around $0.015—just 1% of Ethereum’s fees—and users saving millions monthly. Daily active addresses now exceed 1.2 million, and Total Value Locked (TVL) in zkEVM reached $312 million in Q1 2025, up from $92 million mid-2024. That proves users value this efficiency.
Yet, the road ahead is uncertain. Polygon’s shift in strategy may lead to zkEVM deprecation by 2026, with annual losses reported at over $1 million. Meanwhile, competitors and Ethereum’s own zkEVM roadmap intensify the landscape.
Despite these concerns, technical upgrades like EIP‑4844 integration and UTP compression strategies aim to reduce costs by another 10x–50x. When paired with economies of scale, zkEVM could support transactions under a penny. The Ethereum ecosystem’s own push toward native zkEVMs adds fuel to scaling optimism.
In summary, Polygon zkEVM slashes gas fees today, but faces a pivotal future. It serves as a powerful proof of concept for ZK-powered L2 scaling. Its technology delivers real savings and performance. The next 12–18 months will determine if this model survives within Polygon’s evolving priorities. If support continues, zkEVM could remain a vital bridge in Ethereum’s journey toward mass scalability.
