Vitalik Buterin Salutes Polygon — From ZK Scaling to Pandemic Science

Ethereum’s brainchild calls Polygon a “real builder,” praising its zero-knowledge breakthroughs and $190M humanitarian move.

⚡ Quick Hits

• 💬 Vitalik Buterin: “Polygon helped push ZK tech forward when no one else would.”
• 🔬 Credited Polygon for advancing Ethereum scalability and biomedical research
• 💰 Sandeep Nailwal returned $190M in SHIB to fund anti-pandemic biotech
• 🧠 Polygon’s ZK-EVM and AggLayer tech now power next-gen scaling
• 🌍 CZ (Binance) and Vitalik both backed the Balvi biotech fund
• 🪙 Prediction: Polygon PoS could soon hit $0.0001 transaction costs with L1-level security

🧩 Ethereum’s Silent Powerhouse

When Vitalik Buterin talks, the crypto world listens — and this time, he’s giving flowers to Polygon.

In a recent post on X, the Ethereum co-founder praised Polygon’s dual legacy: technical innovation and real-world impact. He spotlighted how Polygon became the go-to hub for scalable Ethereum applications — including Polymarket, one of the most successful non-financial dApps in the ecosystem.

More importantly, Buterin emphasized how Polygon’s early bet on ZK-EVM tech helped the entire Ethereum ecosystem move faster, even before mainstream adoption kicked in.

“They supported Jordi’s team putting their heart and souls into the tech when it was too early for production,” Vitalik wrote. “It helped move the space forward even when the benefits weren’t immediate.”

⚙️ The ZK Revolution

Polygon’s investments in zero-knowledge proofs weren’t just visionary — they were catalytic.

While many chains were chasing hype, Polygon doubled down on research and infrastructure. The result? AggLayer, proof aggregation frameworks, and an expanding toolkit of ZK capabilities that now underpin Ethereum’s next scaling phase.

Buterin predicts that Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake chain may soon integrate off-the-shelf ZK modules — effectively giving it Ethereum-level security at near-zero cost:

“Think $0.0001 per transaction,” he teased.

💸 The $190M Humanitarian Move

Not everything in crypto is about price charts. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal made headlines by returning $190 million in SHIB tokens that Vitalik had earlier donated — redirecting them toward Balvi, an open-source anti-pandemic biotech fund.

The move accelerated biomedical infrastructure projects in India, including clean indoor air research and pandemic defense initiatives. Buterin also gave props to CZ (Binance CEO) and his own $20M contribution for helping Balvi scale.

“Most whales think projects like this are cool but don’t personally contribute. Sandeep and CZ are special here,” Vitalik noted.

🌐 Why It Matters

Polygon isn’t just scaling Ethereum — it’s reshaping what ethical blockchain innovation looks like.

By blending deep tech (ZK-EVM, AggLayer) with humanitarian action, Polygon shows how decentralized ecosystems can fuel both performance and purpose.

The bigger message? Ethereum’s resilience isn’t just in code — it’s in builders who give back, innovate early, and think globally.

As ZK-EVM adoption spreads, Polygon’s blueprint could redefine what it means to “build for the future.”

TL;DR

• 💥 Vitalik praises Polygon for its role in Ethereum scaling and pandemic research
• 🔬 ZK-EVM and AggLayer positioned Polygon at the heart of Web3 innovation
• 💰 Sandeep Nailwal’s $190M SHIB return funded the Balvi biotech initiative
• 🧠 CZ and Vitalik also supported Balvi’s pandemic science mission
• 🌍 Polygon’s tech + ethics combo sets the gold standard for next-gen blockchain projects