Polygon Agglayer

Share assets across blockchains. Inherit none of their risk.

Cross-chain infrastructure has always asked you to trust intermediaries with your assets. Agglayer replaces that trust with a cryptographic proof. Your chain connects to a growing network. Your funds stay yours.

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A fundamentally different approach to cross-chain

Most cross-chain systems trade reach for safety. Agglayer gives you both: any chain can connect, and every transfer settles against a ZK proof on Ethereum.

  • Approach - 01

    Committee bridges

    Connect anything. A handful of signers holds the keys.

    Reach
    Safety

  • Approach - 02

    Single-vendor proofs

    Proof-based safety, but only inside one vendor's stack.

    Reach
    Safety

  • Approach - 03

    Agglayer

    Any chain can connect. Every transfer is ZK-proven and settled on Ethereum.

    Reach
    Safety

$2.8BLost to bridge hacks

One signer set can expose everything.

Bridge hacks have exposed assets far beyond the chain where the problem began. Agglayer contains the damage by requiring each chain to prove withdrawals are backed by deposits before settlement

How Agglayer works

Many chains enter. One aggregated proof settles on Ethereum.
Each stage has a clear job and a check you can verify.

1

Unified Bridge

A single contract on Ethereum handles deposits and withdrawals for every connected chain. Assets stay native and fungible across the network.

2

Pessimistic Proof

Every withdrawal is checked against deposits. If the math doesn't balance, the transfer doesn't go through.

3

Proof Aggregation

Individual chain proofs are bundled into one Ethereum submission, splitting gas costs across the network.

4

Interoperability

The math runs before the money moves. For institutions moving high-value assets, the extra time is the security working.

Why businesses connect their chains to Agglayer

Banks and businesses build custom chains to control access, governance, transaction costs, and revenue. Agglayer connects that chain to assets, counterparties, and customers across a wider network without giving up those controls.

01

Reach customers and counterparties where their assets already are

02

Put more liquidity behind every product

03

Bring new financial products to market faster

04

Connect once instead of managing pairwise bridges

05

Keep control of access, compliance, and economics

06

Connect deposits, payments, and tokenized assets

A businessperson at a laptop beside chain chips for Polygon, Katana, OKX and Add your chain.
A businessperson at a laptop beside chain chips for Polygon, Katana, OKX and Add your chain.

Security without shared risk

Agglayer limits what a connected chain can expose you to. Every transfer is proven before settlement, and the proof is recorded on Ethereum.

01 - Containment

Your funds stay protected if a connected chain fails

No chain can withdraw more than it deposited. If one is compromised, your assets remain protected by cryptographic proof.

01 - Containment

Your funds stay protected if a connected chain fails

No chain can withdraw more than it deposited. If one is compromised, your assets remain protected by cryptographic proof.

02 - Verification

Every transfer is mathematically proven before it settles

Agglayer verifies cryptographic proof after on-chain finality. Settlement takes minutes because the math comes first.

02 - Verification

Every transfer is mathematically proven before it settles

Agglayer verifies cryptographic proof after on-chain finality. Settlement takes minutes because the math comes first.

03 - Auditability

Security your compliance team can verify on-chain

Every transfer is proven and recorded on Ethereum, so your compliance team can verify it directly.

03 - Auditability

Security your compliance team can verify on-chain

Every transfer is proven and recorded on Ethereum, so your compliance team can verify it directly.

How Agglayer Compares

Every cross-chain system makes tradeoffs on who verifies transfers and who can connect. Here is how Agglayer’s proof-based model compares with the two approaches most chains rely on today.

Polygon AgglayerCommittee-verified systemsSingle-vendor interop
VerificationZK proof settled to EthereumCommittee of human signersProofs, but only for vendor chains
Chain reachAny stack, open to all blockchainsWide, pay-to-play per chainOnly chains from one provider
ContainmentNo chain withdraws more than depositedCompromised signer exposes allVaries
AssetsSame native asset on every connected chainWrapped tokens per crossingNative within vendor network
CostNo protocol feesCommercial feesVaries; vendor lock-in
AuditabilityProof on-chain; anyone can verifyDifficult signer operationsInside vendor system

From islands to infrastructure

The first cross-chain systems solved for connectivity: link as many chains as possible, verify with a committee, charge per crossing. That approach scaled reach but not safety. The losses proved it.

Agglayer works differently. Safety is a property of the math itself, not a promise from the people running the system. Every transfer settles against a cryptographic proof that no chain is withdrawing more than it deposited.

This is one piece of Polygon's Open Money Stack. Agglayer handles cross-chain settlement. CDK gives you the tools to launch a chain. Together, they let businesses operate across blockchains without inheriting their risk.

Payments, Treasury and Markets each connect through their own chain (Chain A, B and C) to Polygon Agglayer, with proof settlement on Ethereum.Payments, Treasury and Markets each connect through their own chain (Chain A, B and C) to Polygon Agglayer, with proof settlement on Ethereum.

Start building on Agglayer

The fastest way to connect is with Polygon CDK, which gives your chain built-in Agglayer support from day one. Already running a different stack? The protocol is open to all blockchains.

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01

Transfer assets across chains

Set up your environment and move native assets between connected chains.
02

Call contracts across chains

Trigger smart contracts across the network with verifiable settlement.
03

Launch a connected chain

Use Polygon CDK for the fastest path to an Agglayer-connected chain.

Transfer assets across chains

Set up your environment and move native assets between connected chains.

1

Call contracts across chains

Trigger smart contracts across the network with verifiable settlement.

2

Launch a connected chain

Use Polygon CDK for the fastest path to an Agglayer-connected chain.

3
FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

01
Agglayer is a cross-chain settlement layer. It lets chains built on any stack share liquidity, users, and state. Every transfer settles against a ZK proof on Ethereum, so no chain can withdraw more than it deposited.
02
A bridge connects two endpoints. Agglayer coordinates settlement across a network. It uses cryptographic proofs instead of signer committees, keeps assets native and fungible, and contains failure to the chain where it started.
03
Its failure cannot spread through Agglayer. The pessimistic proof prevents any chain from withdrawing more than it deposited, so funds on other connected chains remain out of reach.
04
Nothing today. Agglayer charges no protocol fees, requires no architecture changes, and lets each chain keep its governance and sequencer revenue. Future premium fast-interoperability services may carry usage fees payable in any token.
05
No. Agglayer is a settlement and coordination layer. It does not have its own virtual machine or execute your applications.
06
No. CDK is the fastest path because Agglayer support is built in, but the protocol is open to chains built with other architectures.
07
It is a ZK proof that enforces strict accounting across the network. Every withdrawal is checked against deposits. That proof creates containment and gives auditors an on-chain record they can verify directly.

If you don't see your question answered here, reach out to our support team, we're always happy to help.

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