Key data (as of September 19, 2022):
- Circulating Provide — 7,441,499,126 MATIC
- Complete Provide — 10,000,000,000 MATIC
- Sector — Scaling
- Token Sort — Native
- Token Utilization — Funds
- ATH — $2.92
- ATH Date — December 27, 2021
Overview
What’s Polygon (MATIC)?
Polygon is a community of stand-alone networks and layer 2 (L2) options with a aim to create “Ethereum’s web of blockchains” and enhance the scalability of the Ethereum community. The platform goals to realize this by offering a framework referred to as Polygon SDK that permits builders to launch their very own customized Ethereum-compatible options.
Polygon is usually recognized for its flagship product — the Matic sidechain — that makes use of a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and serves as a commit chain (adjustment) to the Ethereum mainnet. It bundles collectively batches of transactions and confirms them en masse earlier than returning information to the Ethereum community. Consequently, it helps to realize excessive throughput and low transaction prices. In accordance with Polygon, the PoS chain affords 7,000 transactions per second and 10,000 occasions decrease charges than the Ethereum blockchain.
Polygon helps the Ethereum Digital Machine (EVM), that means current Ethereum-based functions might be ported to Polygon with relative ease. For the time being of writing, there are over 37,000 decentralized apps deployed on the Polygon platform.
Polygon has a local utility token referred to as MATIC. It’s largely used for paying charges throughout the Polygon ecosystem and for staking to safe the PoS community.
A quick historical past of Polygon
Polygon was based in October 2017 as Matic Community by a staff of 4: Sandeep Nailwal, Jaynti Kanani, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic. In April 2019, Matic Community raised over $5.5 million in a sequence of personal and public funding rounds, allocating MATIC tokens. In June 2020, the Polygon mainnet was launched, introducing the Matic PoS community.
In February 2021, Matic Community rebranded to Polygon however the identify of the platform’s native token remained unchanged. In June 2021, Polygon enabled builders to launch stand-alone chains and launched a number of L2 options in testnets so as to add rollups. In April 2022, the Polygon Community went carbon-neutral.
How does Polygon work?
As a way to higher perceive Polygon, it could possibly be helpful to know the distinction between sidechains and rollups because the platform helps each of those choices. Sidechains are sometimes referred to as stand-alone chains within the Polygon community, whereas rollups discuss with secured chains within the Polygon ecosystem. Each choices supply elevated transaction throughput and decrease charges in comparison with the first community (Ethereum), however they’re completely different by way of safety and efficiency.
Rollups inherit a lot of their safety from a related community, whereas the sidechain should care for safety by itself. Consequently, rollups supply decrease transaction prices and quicker pace, whereas sustaining comparable safety to the primary community. When utilizing sidechains, customers might pay a fraction of what they might on a rollup, however that may imply making compromises on safety. Nevertheless, this could not recommend that sidechains lack safety. Slightly, utilizing a sidechain includes a belief part to each validators that safe the sidechain community and the bridge used to enter that sidechain.
Polygon’s PoS sidechain
As a sidechain, Polygon’s PoS community has its personal set of validators that safe the blockchain. Polygon’s PoS sidechain has a three-layer structure:
- Ethereum layer — Polygon maintains a set of good contracts on Ethereum, which handle staking features and rewards for Polygon’s proof of stake layer. This layer can be accountable for Plasma contracts that embrace checkpoints of the sidechain state.
- Heimdall layer — This layer is also called a proof of stake layer. It manages validators, block producer choice, and the state-sync mechanism between Ethereum and the PoS community.
- Bor layer — This layer is accountable for block manufacturing and transaction aggregation into blocks. The Bor layer additionally contains the EVM-compatible digital machine.
Polygon’s PoS sidechain layers. Supply: Polygon documentation
Validators take part in PoS consensus and commit checkpoints to the Ethereum community. Checkpoints characterize a snapshot of the Bor chain which is attested by the vast majority of validators and submitted on the contracts deployed on Ethereum. Submitting a checkpoint validates included transactions.
There are 100 international validators in Polygon’s PoS community. Periodically, the protocol organizes validator auctions the place anybody can exchange any present validator by proposing a better stake. Nevertheless, there may be restricted house for accepting new validators. New validators can solely be part of when a at the moment energetic validator unbonds. To turn into a possible validator, customers have to run a node and lock a minimum of one MATIC token. If customers don’t wish to run a node, they will delegate their tokens to validators to earn staking rewards.
Customers might carry out transactions through the PoS chain by connecting their pockets to the Polygon Bridge.
Modular infrastructure
Polygon Edge is an open-source growth setting that permits builders to create customized L2 options and sidechains. Edge helps PoS and proof of authority algorithms. Edge contains modules that arrange the blockchain, mechanisms for locating consensus, and particular libraries for structure growth. Customized sidechains require a separate set of validators however might be EVM-compatible. With Edge, additionally it is attainable to create non-public blockchains.
One other growth setting that Polygon gives is Avail. It permits builders to work with incomplete information and create a community with “gentle” nodes that obtain a random set of data from the blockchain. With Avail, it’s attainable to create a blockchain that data transaction information for different blockchains, permitting the latter to extend the community throughput. Avail is at the moment in growth.
Rollups
Polygon’s native ecosystem options a number of merchandise that help rollups related to the Ethereum community. Most of those options are at the moment both in growth or launched on testnets:
- Hermez — L2 answer constructed utilizing ZK-rollups expertise. ZK-rollups course of 1000’s of transactions in a batch and submit some minimal abstract information to the mainnet. This abstract information defines the modifications that must be made to the Ethereum stake and cryptographic proof that these modifications are appropriate.
- Miden — L2 answer that depends on ZK-STARK expertise to roll up 1000’s of transactions right into a single Ethereum transaction.
- Zero — L2 answer for constructing decentralized functions utilizing ZK-STARK expertise. Confirmations on blockchain modifications are aggregated right into a single affirmation.
- Dusk — A privacy-focused L2 answer. The target market is the company phase.
Polygon’s native token
Utility
As a local token of the Polygon ecosystem, the MATIC token serves the next functions:
- Charges — The MATIC token is designed to be a utility token that features because the unit of cost and settlement between members who work together throughout the Polygon ecosystem.
- Staking — Polygon sidechains implement consensus utilizing a PoS layer wherein community members stake MATIC as validators and earn staking rewards.
- Governance — MATIC token can doubtlessly be used for governance functions by voting on improve proposals associated to the Polygon community. For the time being of writing, this function has but to be launched.
Token allocation
MATIC has a complete mounted provide of 10 billion tokens, whereas the present circulating provide is round 8.7 billion. The circulating provide is predicted to steadily strategy the full provide by unlocking tokens allotted to completely different community contributors.
MATIC tokens have been allotted as follows:
- Personal sale — 3.80%
- IEO (public sale) — 19%
- Staff — 16%
- Advisors — 4%
- Staking rewards — 12%
- Basis — 21.86%
- Ecosystem — 23.33%
MATIC token allocation. Supply: Messari
Buyers who obtained MATIC through the IEO got quick entry to their tokens. Personal sale buyers got entry to half of their tokens instantly, with the remaining being launched in October 2019. Tokens devoted to the Staff, Advisors, Basis, and Ecosystem shall be distributed over time, with 100% of the tokens estimated to be dispersed by This autumn 2022.
1.2 billion tokens that have been allotted to be given out as staking rewards are deliberate to be distributed for the primary 5 years of the community life. Rewards are divided per checkpoint and distributed to all stakers proportionally to their stake. The staking reward fee could possibly be larger throughout decrease bonding charges and vice versa.
A quick overview of Polygon’s DeFi ecosystem
As Ethereum’s sidechain, Polygon PoS community gathered quite a few common Ethereum-based DeFi options looking for to reap the benefits of decrease charges and better throughput. For the time being of writing, Polygon has a complete worth locked (TVL) of $1.77 billion. Though TVL is down greater than 80% from its peak of over $10 billion, Polygon nonetheless has probably the most vibrant ecosystems within the L2 house on Ethereum.
Polygon’s TVL. Supply: DefiLlama
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs)
In accordance with DefiLlama, MM Finance at the moment has the most important TVL within the Polygon ecosystem with 21% dominance. It contains platforms that supply AMM DEX and stablecoin swap. The second largest DEX on Polygon by way of TVL is Polygon-native Quickswap. Quickswap makes use of AMM and is a fork of Uniswap. Different notable initiatives launched on Polygon are Uniswap, Sushiswap, Curve Finance, and Balancer.
Lending
Aave is the most important lending platform on Polygon by way of TVL. It’s adopted by Stargate Finance and QiDao. Stargate Finance is a liquidity protocol that provides liquidity swimming pools with instantaneous finality and empowers customers to switch tokens throughout completely different blockchains. QiDao is a zero-interest crypto lending platform that provides stablecoin loans.
Oracle networks
Polygon options many oracle initiatives, together with the preferred ones corresponding to Chainlink, Telor, Band Protocol, Gravity Protocol, Razor Community, and API3. A large set of oracle networks is without doubt one of the explanation why cross-chain initiatives that already help sure oracles can be part of Polygon with relative ease.
NFT marketplaces
The Polygon ecosystem consists of assorted cross-chain NFT marketplaces, together with OpenSea and Refinable. OpenSea is taken into account the most important NFT market within the crypto trade with over two million NFT collections. Refinable is an NFT market with a local FINE token that gives entry to unique NFT gross sales. Different notable names embrace NFTrade, Zesty Market, and Treasureland.
Discover out extra about Polygon
Polygon gives a set of instruments that customers can make the most of to realize decrease transaction prices and better transaction pace. On the identical time, builders can use Polygon merchandise to realize elevated throughput for his or her initiatives or create new scaling options with their very own safety guidelines. Constructing on Polygon is kind of much like constructing on Ethereum because of its integration with EVM. This instantly makes Polygon accessible to the largest blockchain growth group.
The staff behind Polygon is concentrated not solely on its flagship PoS community but additionally on introducing new scaling options for various audiences and utilizing numerous applied sciences. This makes Polygon well-positioned to increase current Ethereum capabilities.
Stake MATIC on CEX.IO
CEX.IO clients should purchase MATIC tokens utilizing numerous cost strategies to affix the Polygon ecosystem and reap the benefits of MATIC staking. As a way to begin staking MATIC on CEX.IO, customers simply want to carry tokens of their balances. No extra actions are required to earn staking rewards. Whereas staking on CEX.IO, customers might commerce and transfer their MATIC tokens anytime. Examine our staking web page to study the present estimated annual yield for staking AVAX on CEX.IO.
