Orchid is now running on Polygon! The OrchidLotteryV1 contract is live and streaming Orchid's Layer 2 system of probabilistic nanopayments on the Polygon chain. Using the Orchid dApp hosted at account.orchid.com, users can create an account filled with $MATIC on the Polygon chain and then connect it to the app to pay for VPN service!

The Polygon chain has exceptionally low fees and is therefore a great chain for learning how Orchid accounts work. After connecting a wallet on the Polygon chain, users can specify an Orchid identity to fund using $MATIC. Polygon's low network fees mean that moving funds in and out of each account only costs a few pennies. The initial deposit requirement to start using Orchid is also lower on Polygon -- currently,  the total suggested balance and deposit is less than 1 $MATIC. Refer to our chart to see how the cost of using Orchid on Polygon compares to other blockchains.

Why Polygon? 

Gas fees on Ethereum have been rising. Given the heightened amount of activity on the network, they are likely to continue to do so. Many Layer 2 solutions -- including Orchid's system of probabilistic nanopayments -- have emerged as remedies to this problem, as well as the development of separate, EVM- compatible blockchains capable of running dApps that were originally designed for Ethereum itself.

Orchid has adopted a multichain strategy to make its decentralized VPN marketplace affordable and accessible to all. This strategy includes integration with Polygon, which has proven itself as a viable solution to Ethereum scaling. Because of its success, Polygon has gained significant user traction over the past year.

"Using MATIC on the Polygon chain, users can make an Orchid account for only a few cents in fees! The minimum balance needed in the account is less than a dollar, and then users can get VPN service for $0.06 per GB paid for by $MATIC," said Travis Cannell, Orchid's head of product.

How to use the Orchid VPN on Polygon 

One important consideration when using $MATIC on Polygon is that the bridging fee for moving $MATIC the Ethereum ERC-20 token to $MATIC on the Polygon chain can be very expensive. Ideally, users can withdraw $MATIC from an exchange directly onto the Polygon chain to avoid excessive costs.

The basic steps to use Orchid on Polygon are detailed here. In short:

• Connect your wallet to the Polygon chain and get enough MATIC in that wallet for the balance + deposit + funding fee
• Download the Orchid app, add your funding wallet and then select and copy the Orchid identity you want to fund
• Open the dapp at account.orchid.com
• Connect your funding wallet and paste in the Orchid identity
• Add funds! The app will then have a connected, funded account

Click here for a list of exchanges that support direct withdrawal of $MATIC to the Polygon chain, along with more details on how to bridge.

About probabilistic nanopayments, Orchid's unique Layer 2 solution

Orchid's unique system of probabilistic nanopayments is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible Layer 2 solution that enables tiny amounts of money to be sent as off-chain probabilities. (For those familiar with the ins and outs of blockchain, the technology is somewhere between "one-to-many payment channels'' and "probabilistic roll-ups.") When users buy VPN bandwidth on Orchid, transactions are sent as nanopayments, each of which is worth approximately one one-thousandth (1/1,000) of a penny, depending upon how the account is configured. Probabilistic nanopayments allow Orchid users access to a unique pay-as-you-go model for VPN service. Orchid never charges fixed fees or monthly subscriptions (as many centralized VPNs do), making its bandwidth market truly trustless and decentralized.

Privacy is Orchid's mission. Probablistic nanopayments, along with this integration with Polygon, are two critical components of Orchid's goal of making online privacy accessible to people everywhere -- restoring the Internet as a place of freedom and exploration in the process.

Click here to download Orchid today.