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Polygon (MATIC)
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Polygon (MATIC)

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A Layer-2 platform for Ethereum scaling and Web3 infrastructure development.

Polygon (MATIC) Fact Sheet

  1. Polygon is a platform for Ethereum scaling and web3 infrastructure development. Its growing suite of products offers developers easy access to all major scaling and infrastructure solutions: L2 solutions (ZK Rollups and Optimistic Rollups), sidechains, hybrid solutions, stand-alone and enterprise chains, data availability solutions, and more.
  2. Polygon (MATIC), previously known as the Matic Network, is a platform created as a Layer-2 solution to help scale Ethereum (ETH) and enhance its overall infrastructure for development.
  3. One of the core components surrounding Polygon is the Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that allows developers to create different types of decentralized applications (dApps).
  4. Using the Polygon (MATIC) network, developers can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK Rollup chains, or any other infrastructure required for specific developments.
  5. The key issues that Polygon aims to tackle are transaction speed and the lack of community governance found within the Ethereum blockchain.
  6. The native cryptocurrency token used across the Polygon network is the MATIC token, and it is used as a means of payment for the transaction fees. It can be earned by those providing computational power to the Polygon network and validating transactions or executing smart contracts.
  7. Polygon Technology is a private IT company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.  Its scaling solutions have widespread adoption with 7,000+ applications hosted, 1B+ total transactions processed, ~130M+ unique user addresses, and $5B+ in assets secured.

Polygon Historical Data Price Chart in the U.S. Dollars (USD)


Polygon Historical Data Price Chart in the U.S. Dollars (USD). Source: TradingView

What is Polygon (MATIC)?

Polygon was formerly known as the Matic Network and is a framework specifically created to facilitate the process of building interconnected blockchain networks.


Its primary purpose and the reason for its creation was to address some of the major limitations the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain experienced, such as transaction throughput, a lackluster user experience due to the delayed transactions, and its lack of any community governance.


Through the power and opportunities provided by Polygon, developers can essentially launch preset blockchain networks that fill specific use-cases and requirements, all of which can be customized with a wide range of modules and contribute to the creation of sovereign blockchains.

Since Polygon is a Layer-2 network, it means that it does not change the original blockchain Layer; however, it improves upon it. Specifically, it helps improve Ethereum's size, efficiency, security, and throughout in the form of transactions per second (TPS) while simultaneously incentivizing developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) on top of it due to the variety of different features it offers.


To truly understand how Polygon works, we must first understand how off-chain Layer-2 solutions work. Their primary purpose is to lessen or eliminate components with evaluation power from the primary blockchain before they get executed at a different location, such as a sidechain.


The primary purpose of this approach is for Layer-2 solutions to aid the main blockchain in terms of throughput, which can lead to more transactions per second (TPS) as a result, alongside a reduction in the transaction fees.


The Matic solution can be considered a single part of the broader Ethereum ecosystem that offers improvements to the network, contributing to better utility.

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How is Polygon (MATIC) Used?


Polygon's framework makes it easy for new projects to get up and running quickly and even allows developers to create their scaling solution if required.

Polygon features a four-Layer system: the Ethereum Layer, the Security Layer, the Polygon Networks Layer, and the Execution Layer.

When we take an individual look at each of these Layers, we can see the following:

  • Ethereum Layer - Polygon chains utilize Ethereum as their base Layer, which means that they can take advantage of the high-level security available on the platform. It is implemented as smart contracts, which can be used for finality, checkpointing, staking, and messaging between the Polygon and Ethereum chains.
  • Security Layer - This is the Layer that essentially provides "validators-as-a-service," and this, in turn, lets the Polygon chain take advantage of a set of validators, all of which fill the role of periodically checking the validity of a Polygon chain. In return for putting in the effort, they are paid in the form of a fee.
  • Polygon Networks Layer - This mandatory layer features a sovereign blockchain network. Within it, each network can maintain the transaction collation and the local consensus and facilitate block production.
  • Execution Layer - This is essentially the Layer that can interpret and execute transactions included in the chains that run on top of Polygon and serves as an execution environment that can implement logic subLayers. This Layer is also Polygon's Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) implementation used to execute smart contracts.

Polygon was created in India in 2017 and had the name of the Matic Network. However, the first time the Matic Network went live was in 2020, when it attracted much attention. In February of 2021, the Matic Network rebranded to Polygon.


Due to Polygon's arbitrary message passing capability, any chains launched on top of the Polygon network can communicate with one another and with the Ethereum (ETH) main chain.


Numerous use-cases surround the Polygon network, such as interoperable decentralized applications (dApps) and the exchange of value between different platforms.


With all of this in mind, you might wonder why someone would be interested in using Polygon over Ethereum at Layer-1.


Ethereum was designed with an auction-based model, which essentially encourages users to bid for their transactions to get included within the next block. Throughout its design, Ethereum motivates increasing costs at points in time when the network is congested for users that want their transactions processed as quickly as possible.


Polygon's technology aims to link all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchains and let developers gain access to the benefits of other blockchain platforms with minimal friction.


Polygon also stands out because it allows its token, MATIC, to get staked on the Polygon blockchain. Those who stake the token can earn interest on an annual basis since they are aiding in the process of validating transactions on the blockchain. Furthermore, Polygon stands out since it gives developers access to a stack of solutions throughout a single network. This approach, in turn, provides them with a high level of control and customization at points in time when they are choosing a scaling solution that is best suitable for the specific application they are building and its use-cases within the sphere of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

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Use-Cases of Polygon (MATIC)


When we look at the use-cases of Polygon, the network has the primary goal of becoming an open, borderless network that enables anyone to interact with decentralized products without intermediaries.


As a means of achieving this goal, Polygon (MATIC) takes advantage of numerous technologies.

  • Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Chain - Polygon’s main chain is an Ethereum sidechain. It is known as the Matic PoS Chain because it utilizes the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to add a level of security to blockchains that get launched on top of it.
  • Plasma Chains - Another technology utilized to scale the network is known as Plasma, used explicitly to move assets across the Polygon root chain and the child chains launched through the Plasma bridges.
  • ZK-rollups - These are essentially an alternative scaling solution utilized to bundle together a more significant amount of transactions within a single transaction, where zero-knowledge proofs are used for the final public record that gets added to the Ethereum main chain.
  • Optimistic Rollups - This is essentially a solution that runs directly on Ethereum and is used to enable near-instant transactions through the utilization of what is known as "fraud proofs." Fraud Proofs are essentially evidence that a state transaction was incorrect.

At this point, we can see that Polygon utilizes more than a single scaling solution to minimize any barrier of entry within the network. All of them share the common goal of reducing transaction fees.

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Usability & Primary Features of Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon (MATIC) cryptocurrency and network have high utility due to various features.

Protocol

The MATIC cryptocurrency is an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain. Its primary use case is to allow users to pay for the transaction fees across the ecosystem and governance efforts.

Ledger

The sidechains on top of the network take advantage of the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, where participants can utilize the MATIC cryptocurrency to become validators, after which they can earn rewards generated by the network fees. The tasks validators have include validating blocks and publishing proofs; however, delegation is also possible.

Smart-Contract Support

Because Polygon (MATIC) is built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, it has full support for smart contracts. Developers can utilize this to create decentralized applications (dApps) that push the envelope regarding the use-cases of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).


The core development component of the Polygon network is known as the Polygon SDK. This modular and flexible framework allows developers to build and connect Layer-2 infrastructures, including Plasma, Optimistic Rollups, zkRollups, and standalone chains.


SDK stands for "Software Development Kit," It provides developers with tools, libraries, other types of documentation, code samples, processes, or anything else they might need to create software applications within a specific platform. The SDK can be seen as a workshop that facilitates the creation of applications.

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Tokenomics & Supply Distribution

The MATIC cryptocurrency is essentially an ERC-20 token that is used to power the broader Polygon ecosystem. It is utilized for the payment of gas fees. However, users can also use it for staking and governance.


After the project was rebranded to Polygon, it implemented new features for developers and users of the broader ecosystem.


The total supply of MATIC tokens initially was 10,000,000,000 (10 billion tokens).


The MATIC cryptocurrency has a supply distribution in the following order and percentage:

  • 4% for the advisors
  • 4% for the private sale
  • 12% for the network operators
  • 16% for the team
  • 19% for the launchpad sale
  • 23% for the ecosystem
  • 22% for the foundation

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Team & History

Polygon was created by a team of four software engineers who specialize in the field of software development, and they include:

The project was initially launched under "Matic Network" in 2017. However, it was rebranded in 2021 to Polygon as we know it today.

The four founders include:

  • Jaynti Kanani - a co-founder and Senior Software Engineer who previously worked on notable blockchain projects such as Web3, Plasma, and even WalletConnect.
  • Sandeep Nailwal - co-founder of Polygon and the founder of ScopeWeaver.
  • Anurag Arjun - co-founder and Chief Product Officer who previously worked at SNL Financial, Cognizant Technologies, and Dexter Consultancy.
  • Mihailo Bjelic - co-founder and Software Engineer with a background in Information Systems.

Activities & Community

Polygon (MATIC) network features numerous developments and activities.


When we look at its communities, the Polygon Twitter Page has over 1.5 million followers.


The Official Polygon Telegram Community has over 69,600 members, while the Official Polygon Discord Server has over 38,100 members. Furthermore, the 0xpolygon Instagram page has over 31,300 followers.

Development Activity and GitHub Repositories

Development Activity and GitHub Repositories

When we go over the official Polygon (previously Matic) GitHub page, there are numerous pinned GitHub pages we can find on it, including:

  • contracts - this is the smart contracts GitHub page that comprises the building logic of the Matic Network
  • pos-portal - these are the smart contracts that power the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) based bridge mechanism for the Matic Network.
  • matic.js - this is the JavaScript developer library to interact with the Matic Network
  • bor - this is the official repository for the Matic Blockchain
  • subgraphs - the subgraph for Matic Contracts

launch - the Matic Network Mainnet v1 launch

On-Chain Activity

According to data from PolygonScan, which is the Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Chain explorer, we can see the following:

  • The price of the MATIC token is $0.73.
  • The MATIC market cap on Polygon is $7,240,039,771.00 (9,908,000,000 MATIC).

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Activities and Partners

Numerous decentralized applications (dApps) have been created using Polygon (MATIC) or have conducted partnerships with the platform.

Some of the most popular ones include:

  • QuickSwap - a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that runs on the Polygon (MATIC) network and provides quick transactions at a low cost.
  • Aave - a yield-aggregating protocol that lets users borrow cryptocurrencies and even use them as collateral, allowing them to take out flash loans.
  • 1inch - a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) aggregator that is a liquidity bridge across numerous decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and provides users with the best liquidity on multiple blockchains.
  • Curve Finance - an exchange liquidity pool built on top of Ethereum (ETH) and provides stablecoin trading with a low level of risk.
  • SushiSwap - a Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and Automated Market Maker (AMM) built on top of the Ethereum Blockchain.
  • Decentraland - a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain where users are allowed to create, experience, and even monetize content and applications through the usage of a developer toolkit that works on any platform. Polygon aids in the process of scaling the transactions that occur as a result of the user interactions within the virtual world**.**

References & Reports

References

Market Reports

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