# Introducing Polygon

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**Why Polygon?**

**A Lucrative Multichain Destination**

A successful blockchain network is made up of many important qualities, but EVM compatibility stands out as one of the most essential qualities in order to achieve user adoption as well as to expand the developer community. In simple terms, the term EVM compatibility refers to the ability to write and deploy smart contract code that is compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine and is therefore able to be recognized by nodes running on the Ethereum network. It is also essential that EVM compatibility is ensured in order for cross-chain bridges to be built in order to allow funds to be transferred from one network to another with as little friction as possible.

During times of congestion, gas fees on Ethereum and EVM chains tend to rise significantly and also, and the transaction rate is very less in Ethereum.

**Polygon** solves this issue by leveraging layer 2 scaling solutions like ***Optimistic*** and ***ZK-Roll Ups**.* **With roll-ups,** transactions on Polygon are executed ‘**off-chain** via payment channels or independent blockchains consisting of a smaller group of validators, and then periodically bundled together as one large transaction that is confirmed on the Ethereum network. This allows the Polygon EVM to execute smart contracts and users to transact more frequently while saving on gas fees. Polygon offers developers a stack of solutions on a single network. This approach grants developers higher levels of control and customization when choosing a scaling solution best suited to their application.

Its multichain solutions offer better scalability. Also, unlike other EVM sidechains, Polygon commits checkpoints to Ethereum. Specifically, each time Polygon processes a transaction, it creates a few checkpoints on Ethereum. These checkpoints ensure that all the data that has been processed on Polygon up to that point is valid and safe for the Ethereum blockchain. Note that other EVM sidechains do not use checkpoints.
