Polygon

What is Polygon (MATIC)?

Polygon, formerly referred to as the Matic Network, is a Layer 2 scaling solution aimed at fixing the scalability problem experienced by many blockchains as adoption and use grow.

Using a proof-of-stake blockchain architecture and the Plasma framework proposed by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, Polygon allows autonomous smart contracts to be executed easily and at scale.

What is Layer 2?

Layer 2 is a solution to the issue of scalability that many blockchains experience. Essentially, blockchains become very expensive to use as transactors bid higher and higher gas fees to have their transactions processed quickly.

This sort of bidding war and gas fees of tens or even hundreds of dollars on a network like Ethereum can deter many potential adopters of the platform from actually using it. You can view the cost of gas on Ethereum at any time on Etherscan.

Layer 2 solutions were born of this problem, solving it by abstracting transactions away from the underlying blockchain while inheriting the security of the main chain itself. There are several ways to do this, but the preferred method is with rollups.

In practice, rollups build a communication channel between the main chain and the side chain, sending transaction data from the former to the latter. The transactions are executed on the side chain rather than the main chain.

The two main kinds of rollups are optimistic rollups and zero-knowledge rollups. Polygon offers both of these solutions, as well as a hybrid one.

When Was MATIC Launched?

Polygon, known as Matic Network at the time, was launched in October 2017. It was launched using a custom version of the Plasma framework that allows side chains on Polygon to process over 65 thousand transactions a block.

The MATIC token itself debuted on the Binance Launchpad in 2019, amid the boom of Initial Exchange Offerings (IEO). Its PoS Chain went to mainnet in June 2020.

Who are the Founders of Polygon?

Polygon was created by Jaynti Kanani, a full-stack developer and blockchain engineer, Sandeep Nailwal, a blockchain programmer and former CEO of Scopeweaver, and Anurag Arjun, a business consultant with experience in finance and consultancy.

The Polygon team also credits Mihailo Bjelic as a co-founder, while David Schwartz, Jordi Baylina, and Antoni Martin founded Polygon ID and Polygon Hermez.

Among Polygon’s backers are the Binance and Coinbase cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as Mark Cuban Companies.

How Does Polygon Work?

To use Polygon, cryptocurrency assets, including MATIC tokens (needed for fees), are bridged from a compatible wallet.

A bridge is a set of smart contracts that help to move crypto assets from the main Ethereum chain to the Polygon side chain. Once this bridging process is completed, the assets are available on Polygon, and MATIC becomes the currency used to pay fees.

The Polygon Software Development Kit (SDK), launched in 2021, allows developers to launch fully customizable blockchains and decentralized applications to add to the Polygon network.

Polygon also offers Polygon Edge, a modular and extensible framework for building private or public Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks, among its suite of tools for developers.

What Makes Polygon Unique?

Polygon was one of the first successful Layer 2 solutions for Ethereum that was widely adopted. With Ethereum gas fees rising to astronomical levels, users needed a solution, and Polygon provided it.

However, Polygon relies on the integration of various other protocols for users to see the utility. In other words, its allure increases with more integration. Some major platforms already allow the use of the Polygon chain.

For example, OpenSea, a major non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, allows users to view and transact assets using Polygon, drastically reducing transaction costs.

Decentralized exchanges SushiSwap and QuickSwap, DEX aggregator 1inch, trading platform Curve Finance, and yield/lending platform Aave are examples of other major platforms that allow users to use Polygon instead of Ethereum.

As a specialist in scaling, Polygon also has a zero-knowledge rollup solution called Hermez for Ethereum. It is also testing Nightfall, which uses optimistic as well as zero-knowledge rollups.

How is Polygon Secured?

Polygon is secured using proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, where node validators are selected based on how many tokens they lock away. As such, holders of higher ‘stakes’ of MATIC are more likely to be chosen as validators.

Validators then verify and validate blocks on a blockchain, incentivized to do so with more MATIC and disincentivized from misbehaving by the threat of having their stake ‘slashed’ or destroyed.

What is the Use of MATIC?

Polygon’s MATIC is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain that is used primarily for the payment of gas fees, but also for staking and governance.

Staking MATIC rewards holders an average APY of 8% for their part in securing the network on Polygon’s proof-of-stake blockchain.

While this three-fold utility is more than what a lot of other cryptocurrencies can boast, MATIC is generally not used for payments like Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies.

This, alongside the relatively small gas fees that need to be paid, is a stick commonly used by critics against Polygon.

Who Controls Polygon?

Polygon is controlled by Polygon Network, rebranded from Matic Network, but the group aims to increase decentralization in governance.

According to the Polygon team via their regular blog, Polygon is considering several permissionless mechanisms to avoid the risk of cartelization of the main PoS chain.

Furthermore, the Polygon team has committed to gradual decentralization. As such, they are creating a Polygon Ecosystem DAO to further shift control and direction over the whole ecosystem to MATIC holders.

However, the control of Polygon largely rests in the hands of the team and the influential investors in the network.

How Much MATIC Is In Circulation?

As of June 2022, there are over 8 billion MATIC in circulation, with a maximum supply of 10 billion MATIC.

There were two sales of the token, one in April 2019 on the Binance Launchpad and another in an initial private sale in 2017.

3.8% of MATIC’s maximum supply was issued at this private seed sale, and a further 19% hit the launchpad, generating $5 million dollars at a price of $0.00263.

On top of that, 16% of the total MATIC supply went to the team, 4% to advisors, 12% to Network Operations, just under 22% to the foundation, and over 23% went to the ecosystem.

As per the MATIC release schedule, all vested MATIC tokens will be released by December 2022.

How Do You Buy MATIC?

As one of the major contributors to Ethereum DeFi in terms of making transactions fast and affordable for the average user, MATIC is very popular on both decentralized exchanges and centralized exchanges focused on DeFi.

Backed by Binance and Coinbase, MATIC is available on both of these exchanges, as well as on several other major CEX platforms. On these, you’re likely to find MATIC paired with many other cryptocurrencies, especially Ethereum-based ones, and several major fiat currencies, too.

Is It Possible to Buy Polygon Instantly?

The transaction speed when buying Polygon depends on exactly where you’re buying it. Purchasing MATIC on the Polygon chain using DeFi protocols, for example, will be very fast. It will take just a few seconds at most and incur very low fees to boot.

However, purchasing MATIC on level 1 Ethereum might be slower depending on network congestion. After all, that reduced speed and higher transaction cost on the main chain is the entire reason for Polygon's existence!

Purchasing MATIC on a supporting CEX platform will be just as fast as on Polygon DeFi, but remember that there isn’t any actual settlement.

You’re only really sent your MATIC when you withdraw it from the exchange. Before that, all you’re seeing is a notional balance, while the CEX holds all the funds.

How Do You Store MATIC?

Aside from the aforementioned CEX account, MATIC can be stored in Ethereum-compatible wallets of two main kinds:

• Hot wallets. Hot wallets connect to the internet and are often comparatively convenient to use, as they often take the shape of browser extensions.
• Cold wallets. These wallets don’t connect to the internet, keeping the wallet safe from any online attacks. However, especially in the case of paper wallets or old offline devices, make sure to store them carefully!

Polygon’s Energy Consumption

ERC-20 MATIC makes use of the Ethereum blockchain, which at the time of writing remains with the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. This method is extremely energy-intensive, as it requires raw computing power.

However, Polygon’s chain uses proof-of-stake consensus. It has been estimated that Polygon’s validators draw only 0.00079 TWh of electricity every year.

In comparison, common estimates of Ethereum’s energy consumption currently range anywhere between 40-140 TWh.

Is Polygon a Good Investment?

Since its initial exchange offering, MATIC has seen investment in it grow by a factor of several thousand, making it an excellent investment for many.

It also fills a very important niche in blockchain scalability, and as one of the first movers in the area, it has a definite advantage over its competitors.

However, critics of MATIC as an investment point out that the utility of the MATIC token itself is limited, despite its use as a limited government token, for staking, and for the payment of fees.

While not as scarce as many other cryptocurrencies, MATIC does have a fixed supply which, according to its team, will be fully in circulation before 2023. This does offer investors some sort of security, given that many other cryptocurrencies have an uncapped supply.

Why Do We Need Layer 2s?

Layer 2 technologies have seen more and more use thanks to the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency. Things came to a head during the bull run of 2021, when some users had to pay Ethereum gas fees of $100 and more.

For a small-time investor ‘dollar-cost averaging’ into an investment with $10 or $20, or for someone simply minting an NFT, these sorts of gas fees become prohibitive and start to curtail usage of the network.

Given that cryptocurrency and DeFi are still relatively in their infancy, this scenario with the potential to slow adoption is a negative one.

For that reason, Layer 2 solutions are very much needed, helping main chains in two key ways:

• Scalability. Scalability is one of the core problems that every blockchain project looks to solve, and Layer 2 does that. By greatly increasing transaction throughput, Layer 2 solutions help blockchains settle thousands of transactions per second, multiplying their performance by a significant factor.
• Low-cost transactions. Since there is no reason to outbid other users for gas on the main chain anymore, Layer 2 solutions enable gas prices to come down. As such, fees tend to be minuscule on Layer 2 side chains.

In these two ways, Layer 2 solutions have been adopted by many major blockchain projects to help them continue to perform and serve the average user with fast transactions at a low cost.