Polygon, the leading platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development, has announced a major upgrade to its network that will introduce a new token called POL. The upgrade, dubbed Polygon 2.0, aims to create a multi-chain ecosystem that can support various types of decentralized applications and protocols.
According to the Polygon team, the current MATIC token is limited in its utility and functionality, as it can only be used to secure the PoS chain. To enable a more versatile and interoperable token that can serve multiple purposes across different chains, the team has proposed to convert MATIC into POL through a one-to-one swap.
1/ Today, the next technical proposal of Polygon 2.0 is unveiled:
POL, the upgraded token of the Polygon protocol! 💫
POL is the next generation native token, designed to secure, align and grow the Polygon ecosystem.
Watch the video to get an idea how cool it is, then 🧵 pic.twitter.com/Gn7KcHpWEY
— Polygon (Labs) (@0xPolygonLabs) July 13, 2023
Polygon’s POL a Window to the Future
POL will be a multipurpose token that can be used for staking, governance, transaction fees, rewards, and more. It will also be compatible with all Polygon-based networks, including the upcoming zkEVM and Supernets.
The zkEVM is a layer-2 solution that leverages zero-knowledge proofs to enable Ethereum-compatible smart contracts with high scalability and privacy. The Supernets are custom-built networks that can connect different layer-1 blockchains and enable cross-chain communication and interoperability.
The developer team claims that the upgrade will not affect the existing users and developers of the PoS chain, as they will be able to continue using the network with the new POL token.
The team also assures that the total supply of POL will be the same as MATIC, which is 10 billion tokens. The upgrade will require the approval of the community through a governance vote.
The proposal to switch from MATIC to POL has been met with mixed reactions from the crypto community. Some have praised Polygon for its ambitious vision and innovation, while others have expressed concerns about the potential impact on the token price, liquidity, and adoption.
Some have also questioned the need for a new token and suggested that Polygon should focus on improving its existing products and services. The upgrade offer boosted the price of MATIC, which reached a new high since early June.
According to CoinGecko, the trading volume of Polygon’s native token rose by nearly 5% in the last day. The altcoins’ daily trading volume also increased by 21.7% in the same time span, with more than $306 million exchanged.
