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Bridging

The unified bridge transfers assets and messages between networks (L1, L2) by calling bridge and claim functions on the PolygonZkEVMBridgeV2.sol contract whose deployment address is an upgradeable proxy. Interaction with the actual contract happens via the proxy.

This contract is deployed on L1 and there is also one deployed on every L2 network. It communicates closely with an exit root manager contract specific to L1 or L2.

Polygon bridge contracts

Tip

  • Notice that the L2 bridge content has a function for updating the global exit root: setGlobalExitRoot(...).

Bridge and claim

The main functions of the bridge are:

L1 to L2

To bridge assets from L1 to L2, the sender first transfers the token into the bridge by locking the asset on the origin network (L1).

When executing claimAsset, the bridge smart contract mints a wrapped token of the original asset on the destination network (L2). The wrapped token is a generic ERC20.

Once minted, the recipient can claim the token on the destination network (L2).

The data below is transaction data (represented by a leaf node in an exit tree) and comes from an example L1 to L2 transaction recorded on the L2 zkEVM chain after a successful bridgeAsset call.

Index Parameter name Data type Example value
0 destinationNetwork uint32 1 (zkEVM network)
1 destinationAddress address 0x2944119d60465AE2f4E6C587fCc669214a5094E1
2 amount uint256 20270613020262720
3 token address 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 (Ether)
4 forceUpdateGlobalExitRoot bool true (indicates if new global exit root is updated)
5 permitData bytes (Raw data of the call permit of the token)

L2 to L1

To send an asset from L2 to L1, the wrapped token is first burnt on the L2 network.

When executing claimAsset, the bridge smart contract unlocks the original asset on the origin network (L1) ready for claiming.

The data below is transaction data (represented by a leaf node in an exit tree) and comes from an example L2 to L1 claim transaction which also posts the local and network exit roots and root proofs used for verification on L1.

# Parameter name Data type Example value
0 smtProofLocalExitRoot bytes32[32] 0xdaaaac32944200f40bbf1e208472…
1 smtProofRollupExitRoot bytes32[32] 0xf73a9a58cf58b6ba6a4cc7b4951a…
2 globalIndex uint256 48352 (used for synchronizing)
3 mainnetExitRoot bytes32 0x22e6d13ed71c26a403b8bae97755fc215744bfa490d108aa8d14386fef41de02
4 rollupExitRoot bytes32 0x118318620b268cc322953926c3b45092e573af034ddf75c143456b2886a844ef
5 originNetwork uint32 0
6 originTokenAddress address 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
7 destinationNetwork uint32 0
8 destinationAddress address 0x5251b3304d1bA5834fd227c2842AA82aC50412E6
9 amount uint256 67000000000000000
10 metadata bytes (abi encoded metadata if any, empty otherwise)

Transaction flows in depth

L1 to L2

  1. If a call to bridgeAsset or bridgeMessage on L1 passes validation, the bridge contract appends an exit leaf to the L1 exit tree and computes the new L1 exit tree root.

  2. The global exit root manager appends the new L1 exit tree root to the global exit tree and computes the global exit root.

  3. The sequencer fetches the latest global exit root from the global exit root manager.

  4. At the start of the transaction batch, the sequencer stores the global exit root in special storage slots of the L2 global exit root manager smart contract, allowing L2 users to access it.

  5. A call to claimAsset or claimMessage provides a Merkle proof that validates the correct exit leaf in the global exit root.

  6. The bridge contract validates the caller’s Merkle proof against the global exit root. If the proof is valid, the bridging process succeeds; otherwise, the transaction fails.

L2 to L1

  1. If a call to bridgeAsset or bridgeMessage on L2 passes validation, the bridge contract appends an exit leaf to the L2 exit tree and computes the new L2 exit tree root.

  2. The L2 global exit root manager appends the new L2 exit tree root to the global exit tree and computes the global exit root. At that point, the caller’s bridge transaction is included in one of batches selected and sequenced by the sequencer.

  3. The aggregator generates a zk-proof attesting to the computational integrity in the execution of sequenced batches which include the transaction.

  4. For verification purposes, the aggregator sends the zk-proof together with all relevant batch information that led to the new L2 exit tree root (computed in step 2), to the consensus contract.

  5. The consensus contract utilizes the verifyBatches function to verify validity of the received zk-proof. If valid, the contract sends the new L2 exit tree root to the global exit root manager in order to update the global exit tree.

  6. claimMessage or claimAsset is then called on the bridge contract with Merkle proofs for correct validation of exit leaves.

  7. The bridge contract retrieves the global exit root from the L1 global exit root manager and verifies validity of the Merkle proof. If the Merkle proof is valid, the bridge completes. Otherwise, the transaction is reverted.

L2 to L2

  1. When a batch of transactions is processed, the bridge contract appends the L2 exit tree with a new leaf containing the batch information. This updates the L2 exit tree root.

  2. The bridge contracts communicates the L2 exit tree root to the L2 global exit root manager. The L2 global exit root manager, however, does not update the global exit tree at this stage.

  3. For proving and verification, the zk-proof-generating circuit obtains the L2 exit tree root from the L2 global exit root manager.

  4. Only after the batch has been successfully proved and verified does the L2 global exit root manager append the L2 exit tree root to the global exit tree. As a result, the global exit root is updated.

  5. The zk-proof-generating circuit also writes the L2 exit tree root to the mainnet. The L1 bridge contract can then finalize the transfer by using the claim function.