What is the difference betweeen EVM compatbility and EVM equivalence?

Created by Deepanshu Rathor, Modified on Mon, 19 Feb at 4:12 PM by Deepanshu Rathor


The ultimate goal is not compatibility. The ultimate goal is equivalence. Solutions that are compatible enable most of the existing apps to work, but sometimes with code changes. Additionally, compatibility may lead to the breaking of developer tooling. 


Polygon zkEVM strives for EVM Equivalence because it means that most applications, tools and infrastructure built on Ethereum can immediately port over to Polygon zkEVM with limited to no changes needed. Things are designed to work 100% on day one. This is important, because ideally:


1. Development teams don't have to make changes to their code, which could introduce a security vulnerability.


2. Since no code changes are needed, you don't need additional audits, which saves teams money.


3. The experience for a developer is much better. Since he/she is not rewriting the application, valuable time is saved.


4. The solution ultimately benefits from the security and decentralization of Ethereum, since transactions are still finalising on Ethereum.


5. Allows Polygon zkEVM to benefit from the already vibrant and active Ethereum community.


6. Allows for significant and quick dApp adoption, since apps built on Ethereum today are designed to be compatible.

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