Layer-two protocol Polygon will reportedly finalize the acquisition of ZK-rollup project Hermez Network, via a new $250 million equivalent to MATIC tokens agreement. 

Specifically, Polygon reportedly disclosed on August 13th that the Hermez will be included within the scope of the network’s suite of offerings, and will be operating with the new name “Polygon Hermez”. 

The 26 individuals working with Hermez, together with their tech and solutions – including the progress made on an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible offering – will be a part of the platform. 

As included in the acquisition, it would become possible for holders of Hermez’s native HEZ to exchange the tokens at a rate of 3.5:1 to Polygon’s MATIC tokens, with Polygon revealing that HEZ tokens would ultimately be removed, although the precise deadline is not disclosed. 

“We believe this is in a way a historical moment since this will be (to the best of our knowledge) the first full-blown merger of two blockchain networks. [Mergers and acquisitions] in the traditional tech world are an everyday thing. In blockchains, however, they are a new and very interesting concept.” Polygon further remarked. 

The Hermez acquisition is one of the initiatives Polygon is making to establish an additional presence across zero-knowledge (ZK)proofs. The project has dedicated $1 billion to ZK-powered offerings, and is having plans down its pipeline to forge alliances with different entities to develop its suite of solutions.

As a ZK-rollup, Hermez reportedly employs zero-knowledge proofs to carry out the verification for the correctness of a major batch of transactions. A foreign ecosystem conducts said transactions and produces proofs for them, which will then be recorded across the Ethereum blockchain in a direct manner.