Why Big Brands Keep Tapping Flow and Polygon To Build In Web3

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When it comes to crypto projects that have helped established brands build in the world of Web3, Polygon and Flow are two high-profile examples.

Between Polygon and Flow, Disney, Starbucks, and Nike have all chosen to dip their toes into the realm of digital assets using their tech. And in the case of Polygon, it’s positioned itself at the frontier of zero-knowledge proofs and how they mesh with Ethereum’s ecosystem today.

Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou said that Flow was built from the ground up to help developers craft simplistic user experiences — especially those that have an ease of use mirroring what most internet users have come to expect.

“We want to be able to let developers build mainstream, quality experiences without compromising composability and decentralization,” he said. “Everyone in this space likes talking about buzzwords, … but we think the way to move the space forward is real value for customers in applications that they use every day.”

Known as creators of NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day, Dapper Labs unveiled Disney Pinnacle last month. Including IP from Disney properties like Marvel and Star Wars, the digital pin collecting experience is expected to launch in Apple’s App store for iOS before the end of 2023.

When it comes to the value that NFTs can add to old-time collectibles, including Disney-themed pins, Gharegozlou signaled one doesn’t have to look far to understand why Web3 makes sense.

“In the physical world, you can buy an NBA jersey and wear it anywhere you want,” he said. “Web3 is just about taking that power and extending it.”

But there should be a balance, Gharegozlou argued, especially when users may have had little to no exposure to assets built from the idealistic cloth of financial self sovereignty. For example, he said NBA Top Shot starts users off in a custodial account — where losing a seed phrase isn’t an existential threat — but gives them the option to export to any wallet of their choice.

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron expressed a similar sentiment. The user experience issues associated with Web3 tech is one of the main barriers holding the space back in the consumer-facing space, he said.

As an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, Polygon is a framework for building apps that are compatible with Ethereum, which can offer faster and cheaper transactions by processing on-chain activity on top of Ethereum’s often busy network.

Fast and cheap transactions are a crucial part of the adoption puzzle, Boiron said, because the experience won’t stick if the process of leveraging NFTs in a customer setting feels clunky.

“The next-level thing that they want is an experience that doesn't have tons of friction, just because they're in control of their own assets,” he said. “They don't have to wait in Web2, and it's not expensive, too, so they want that same thing.”

In terms of blockchain tech, Polygon was at the forefront of efforts this year to leverage zero-knowledge proofs in tandem with Ethereum. In cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs are a method of proving that a statement is true without revealing the contents of that statement itself.

The Polygon zkEVM, which entered a mainnet beta phase in March, was effectively christened by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. He conducted the first transaction on the Polygon zkEVM during a livestream event that month.

In August, Polygon Labs introduced what’s been dubbed the Polygon Chain Development Kit, allowing others to launch their own zk-powered Ethereum layer-2. Pointing out that the popular exchange OKX is using the kit to build its own network, Boiron said the tool has garnered notable amounts of interest.

“We're not just going to onboard big brands and Web3 natives,” he said. “What we're going to give you is also like the best tech that you can possibly have in the space.”

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