Polygon supernet vs. Avalanche Subnets: Key Differences

What is a polygon supermesh?

Designed to be a scalability solution, Supernet is the Polygon network’s blockchain development platform that aims to help developers create their own blockchain protocols in a cost-effective manner.

Developers who build on the Polygon network can access a wide range of validators and tools for effortless integration and third-party services to help with implementation, design and management.

Technically, supernet works with problem solving for Polygon’s development framework, Polygon Edge. Polygon Edge helps build Ethereum-compatible blockchains while keeping them secure, decentralized and efficient.

The big concept of supernets is that they are collections of interconnected networks that promote collaborative work while acting as a secure data-sharing hub. They can hold and organize large amounts of data and facilitate communication between users.

The benefits of using polygon supernets include interoperability, specificity, improved scalability, security, and better decentralization. Supernett also solves Polygon Edge’s technical challenges very well, especially when it comes to chain configurations and launching decentralized validator sets.

Related: What is a supergrid and how does it work?

How does Polygon’s supernet work?

Supernet is essentially a tool that helps developers understand complex data structures with relationships that would otherwise be difficult to find.

Leveraging its own blockchain network and a global pool of validators, Polygon’s supernet enables developers to create their own blockchain networks within the same framework as Ethereum, but with much lower development costs.

Supernet allows developers to bring their projects online with three rapid deployment modes.

• Supernet sovereign chain: This chain is managed by a single validator, enabling significant savings on maintenance costs.
• Supernet Shared Security Chain: This chain is validated by expert validators with stakes of 20,000 Polygon (MATIC) tokens or more.
• Layer-2 chain: This chain uses zero-knowledge rollups to scale supernets and is still under development.

As mentioned, supernets are built on Polygon Edge’s stack. They can be called an ecosystem, or blockchain system, as supernets are a set of modules that work and integrate seamlessly as new features are added.

Using supernets, developers can create a distributed blockchain network designed for a specific use case. Supernet also boasts higher scalability, speed, consistent throughput and wide customization. In particular, they also allow Web3 application integration in dedicated networks, providing maximum optimization.

What are the main features of polygon supernets?

Supernett features an advanced technical architecture powered by Polygon Edge, trustless operation via Merkle trees, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, and custom token support.

Supernet architecture is closely related to Polygon Edge. The six modules of Polygon Edge’s architecture relevant to supernets include the following:

• TX Pool: This module acts as a repository for pending transactions and is key to Polygon Edge’s event-driven architecture. Transactions can be easily added from multiple sources and it connects seamlessly with other modules on the platform.
• Blockchain: This refers to the state database and it contains information about accounts, smart contract code, world state and more.
• JSON-RPC: The supernet’s API layer conforms to Ethereum client standards, allowing tools such as MetaMask, Web3.js, Ethers.js, Remix, and Hardhat to run seamlessly on the network.
• Consensus: Supernet uses proof-of-authority and proof-of-stake consensus algorithms.
• Libp2p: This is the supernet’s updated peer-to-peer networking stack that facilitates block synchronization, consensus messages, transaction pool gossip, and SAM pool gossip.
• gRPC: With its powerful communication protocol, privileged operator commands on a supernet can only be executed locally on validator nodes. Validated operators can perform online backups, retrieve information from validation systems, and query and delete data stored in the transaction pool.

Supernet also works trustless, meaning that each node independently validates each transaction by executing the smart contract. For the blockchain ledger to function properly, all nodes must contain an identical copy of it, consisting of a Merkle tree of blocks and comprehensive lists of transactions.

An attempt by malicious actors attempting to alter the ledger will be quickly identified due to discrepancies in hash values ​​from the various states that are incompatible with those within the Merkle tree.

Supernett also has built-in EVM support, meaning developers can write and deploy smart contracts using EVM bytecode, which is compiled from high-level languages ​​such as Solidity.

Developers with Ethereum building experience can easily transfer their Solidity contracts to the supernet without any modifications thanks to the suite of tools available, including Truffle, MetaMask, Remix and block explorers. This provides a seamless transition from one platform to another.

Finally, supernets allow developers to create custom tokens conforming to universally recognized token interfaces, such as ERC-20. This is in line with Polygon’s goal of promoting interoperability via supernets.

What is Avalanche’s subnet?

Avalanche defines subnets as validators that work together to reach a consensus on the state of blockchains.

Undernet simplifies app chains by providing validators that different blockchains can share. Subnets in the Avalanche network facilitate the creation of custom blockchains, allowing developers and tech-savvy businesses to build their own blockchains without needing a token.

The network’s main network consists of three chains:

The Avalanche network is maintained by the primary subnet, which contains all of its validators. It is their duty to validate the primary network and the X, P, and C chains, facilitate connectivity between subnets, and allow validators to validate additional blockchains built on the network.

How do Avalanche subnets work?

Avalanche subnets work in unison to keep the state of blockchains up to date. These subnets essentially provide the foundation for app chain networks by providing decentralized validation services across different chains.

A chain can be validated by only one specific subnet, but one subnet can validate multiple chains. Each sub-network has its own governance and requirements, such as licences, geo-location and know-your-customer and anti-money laundering checks. To join the primary network, validators must stake 2000 Avalanche (AVAX) tokens before validating embedded chains on the network.

Related: What is KYC and why do crypto exchanges require it?

Subnets are highly configurable but do not require complex design choices, allowing developers to create private blockchains that are reliable and scalable. Avalanche’s subnet system thus helps developers build decentralized apps (DApps) quickly while maintaining the highest security standards.

What are the main features of Avalanche subnets?

Subnets offer many useful features, such as the ability to create private blockchains, separation of concerns, and the requirement for validators to stake AVAX tokens before validating embedded chains.

Subnets support private blockchain creation, allowing developers to create subnets where only predefined validators can join. In such a scenario, these validators would be able to create a private subnet and see the contents of the blockchains they have access to. This is an ideal framework for organizations that need to keep their data private.

Subnets also support a separation of concerns, which, in the context of blockchain technology, refers to the ability of validators to only care about blockchains that they are interested in. This reduces the burden on validators, unlike models followed by heterogeneous networks that require validators for to validate even the blockchains they are not interested in.

Subnets also allow application-specific requirements, which allow developers to define validation requirements, such as higher amounts of CPU power or RAM and other hardware requirements. This will ensure that the application works at maximum efficiency and does not suffer from low performance caused by slow validators.

What is the difference between Polygon supernets and Avalanche subnets?

Both subnets and supernets are scalability solutions that allow developers to deploy or develop app chains quickly. However, they differ in several ways, such as consensus mechanisms, transactions per second, validator numbers, and stake requirements.

Avalanche uses the Snowman proof-of-stake consensus protocol, which provides probabilistic consensus to enable scalability and infinite decentralization.

Polygon, on the other hand, uses an Istanbul Byzantine Fault Tolerance (IBFT) consensus protocol to achieve guaranteed consensus, ultimately disfavoring decentralization and sacrificing permissionless participation.

As the use of blockchain technology continues to grow, these technologies are likely to become more widespread and essential for building DApps.