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Polygon (blockchain)

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Polygon
Icon of Polygon
Denominations
CodePOL
Previous namesMATIC
Development
Original author(s)Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Mihailo Bjelic, Anurag Arjun (polygon.technology/about)
White paperpolygon.technology/papers/pol-whitepaper
Code repositorygithub.com/maticnetwork/
Development statusActive
Developer(s)Polygon Labs
Source modelOpen source
Ledger
Ledger startJune 1, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-06-01)
Issuance scheduleYearly emission rate of 1% after 10 years polygon.technology/papers/pol-whitepaper
Block time2.3 seconds
Block explorerpolygonscan.com/
Circulating supply10,000,000,000 polygon.technology/papers/pol-whitepaper
Valuation
Exchange rateATH $2.92 (Dec 26, 2021) coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon/
Website
Websitepolygon.technology/

Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a blockchain platform which aims to create a multi-chain blockchain system compatible with Ethereum. As with Ethereum, it uses a proof of stake consensus mechanism for processing transactions on-chain. Polygon's native token is POL, an ERC-20 token which allows for compatibility with other Ethereum cryptocurrencies. It is operated by Polygon Labs.[1]

Polygon is a natively Layer-2 network that uses Ethereum as a base network. In particular, transactions are first validated inside Polygon and then periodically committed in a "checkpoint": a Merkle root of transaction hashes is committed to Ethereum's mainnet by using "Core contracts".[1]

Polygon runs various decentralized applications (dApps) such as Defi, DAOs, and NFTs.

History

[edit]

The blockchain company Polygon was originally known as Matic Network. The Matic Network was launched in 2017 by four software engineers: Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic.[2] In February 2021, the project was rebranded as Polygon Technology.

In August 2021, Polygon acquired Hermez Network for $250 million.[3] In December 2021, Polygon acquired the Mir blockchain network for 250 million MATIC tokens, with the tokens having a value of around $400 million at the time of the deal.[4]

In December 2021, Polygon disclosed a security vulnerability that resulted in the theft of 801,601 MATIC tokens.[5]

In February 2022, Polygon raised $450 million by selling MATIC tokens in a round led by Sequoia Capital India including Tiger Global and Softbank Vision Fund.[6][7]

In November 2022, JPMorgan Chase executed its first live trade on a public blockchain, using Polygon and modified Aave.[8]

On December 15, 2022, Donald Trump launched a series of digital art NFTs minted on the Polygon network for sale to the public for $99 USD each.[9][10]

By February 2023, the blockchain was doing business with large companies such as Starbucks and Mastercard, with Fortune noting it had been relatively unaffected by the 2022 cryptocurrency crash compared to other companies.[11] The Fox Network began working with Polygon on a blockchain project in 2023.[12][13] TIME in 2023 named Polygon Labs one of the Time100 Most Influential Companies of the year.[14]

In 2023, Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani, announced his decision to step back from the daily operations of the project after six years of involvement. In an October 4 post on X, Kanani stated that he plans to focus on "new adventures" while continuing to contribute to Polygon "from the sidelines."[15]

In January 2024, Polygon announced that its community had voted to fund a new "Community Treasury", with about $640 million worth of tokens to fund grants for projects within the Polygon ecosystem.[16]

In February 2024 Polygon Labs laid off 60 employees, or around 19% of its staff.[17][18]

On the 4th of September 2024, Polygon initiated a migration from the MATIC token to a new updated token called "POL". From the 10th of September 2024, the primary Polygon Network is using POL as a native gas token instead of MATIC. This token switch was instant and required no action.[19][20]

Technology

[edit]

Polygon employs a modified proof-of-stake consensus technique, which allows consensus to be reached with every block on the blockchain. (Using standard proof-of-stake, achieving consensus will need processing a large number of blocks to establish consensus.) The proof of stake method requires network participants to stake—agree to not trade or sell—their POL tokens, in exchange for the right to validate Polygon network transactions. Successful validators in the Polygon network are rewarded with POL tokens proportionally to their POL stake. The Polygon network aims to address problems within the Ethereum platform, namely high transaction fees and slow processing speeds.[1]

In January 2024, Polygon announced a new protocol called AggLayer that aims to aggregate zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) from multiple blockchains and allow developers to connect layer 1 and 2 blockchains to merge them into a single network. According to Polygon Labs, AggLayer aims to provide a seamless user experience comparable to that of the internet, eliminating the need for "cumbersome and frequent bridging" between different chains. As an example, Polygon Labs demonstrated how a user on Ethereum’s layer-2 chain Arbitrum holding USDT could purchase a nonfungible token (NFT) on Polygon’s zkEVM without the need to first bridge USDT to the zkEVM. “From the end-user perspective, this will feel like using a single chain” Polygon Labs stated.[21][22][23][24][25]

Partnerships

[edit]

Polygon is the blockchain platform which runs Polymarket,[26] the world's largest prediction market.[27][28] Polymarket is the first crypto dApp to reach mainstream.[29][30]

In July 2022, Polygon participated in Disney's 2022 acceleration program to expand into augmented reality, NFTs, and AI.[31][32]

In October 2022, the Indian Police in Firozabad started using Polygon for reporting crimes.[32]

In January 2023, Polygon partnered with Alethea AI on an "AI Collectibles campaign" for trading AI characters as NFTs on Polygon.[33]

In March 2023, Polygon partnered with Immutable Pty Ltd to integrate Polygon's zkEVM technology into Immutable's blockchain.[34]

In April 2023, Polygon and Google Cloud have formed a multi-year strategic alliance to accelerate the adoption of Polygon protocols, enhancing the development of Web3 products and decentralized applications.[35] Also, in September of the same year, Polygon Labs announced that Google Cloud joined the Polygon proof-of-stake network as a validator.[36][37][38]

A 2023 partnership between Polygon and the DraftKings, where the team was allowed to keep all earnings from sale of MATIC, came under scrutiny for potential undisclosed aspects of the deal, which Polygon denied.[39]

On 22 November 2024, Worldwide Stablecoin Payment Network (WSPN) partnered with Polygon Labs to extend WSPN's flagship stablecoin, WUSD, to DeFi and other systems.[40]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Polygon Blockchain | Everything You Need to Know - Rejolut". Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  2. ^ Kaul, Abhinav; Borate, Neil (2021-05-27). "Meet India's first crypto billionaires". Mint. Archived from the original on 2022-12-17. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  3. ^ "Polygon acquires Hermez in $250 million deal that includes first-ever token 'merger'". The Block.
  4. ^ Melinek, Jacquelyn (December 9, 2021). "Polygon Acquires Mir In $400M Deal to Scale Ethereum". Blockworks.
  5. ^ Maishera, Hassan (2021-12-30). "Polygon (MATIC) Reveals it was Hacked Earlier this Month". FX Empire [Wikidata] – via Yahoo.
  6. ^ "Polygon raises $450 mln from Sequoia Capital India, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, others". Reuters. 10 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Sequoia-Led Group Buys Polygon's Crypto Token for $450 million". Bloomberg.
  8. ^ "JPMorgan Executes Its First DeFi Trade Using Public Blockchain". Bloomberg. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  9. ^ Martin, Mitchell. "Trump NFTs Offer Adoring 45,000 Views Of Former President". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  10. ^ "'Losing the plot': Trump mocked after announcing superhero card collection". The Guardian. 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  11. ^ Benson, Jeff (25 February 2023). "Along came Polygon: The blockchain doing serious business with big names including Starbucks and Mastercard". Fortune. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  12. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (9 January 2024). "Fox partners with Polygon Labs to tackle deepfake distrust". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  13. ^ Melinek, Jacquelyn (14 March 2024). "Blockchain tech could be the answer to uncovering deepfakes and validating content". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  14. ^ Steinberg, Don (2023). "Time100 Most Influential Companies 2023". TIME. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Polygon co-founder steps down, will contribute 'from the sidelines'". Cointelegraph. 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  16. ^ "Polygon unlocks community grants worth $640 million for blockchain builders". VentureBeat.
  17. ^ "Crypto firm Polygon Labs to cut 60 jobs in fresh round". Reuters.
  18. ^ Melinek, Jacquelyn (1 February 2024). "Polygon Labs lays off 60 employees, about 19% of its staff, CEO says". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  19. ^ "MATIC (Polygon) and POL (Polygon Ecosystem Token) | Koinly Help Center". support.koinly.io. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  20. ^ "MATIC to POL Migration Is Now Live". polygon.technology. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  21. ^ "Polygon AggLayer to make multiple blockchains feel like 'a single chain'". Cointelegraph. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  22. ^ "AggLayer will connect all Web3, including L1s like Ether and Solana — Polygon Labs CEO". Cointelegraph. 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  23. ^ "Aggregated Blockchains: A New Thesis". polygon.technology. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  24. ^ "Understanding the Polygon AggLayer: a Comprehensive Guide". thirdweb. 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  25. ^ Antier_SEO (2024-06-12). "AggLayer: Why Polygon's Scalability Solution is a Game Changer in 2024 & Beyond?". Antier Solutions. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  26. ^ "Polymarket Is a Success for Polygon Blockchain – Everywhere But the Bottom Line". CoinDesk. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  27. ^ "Meet The 26-Year-Old Building A Billion Dollar Prediction Marketplace". Forbes.
  28. ^ Sen, Vivek (2024-10-22). "World's Largest Prediction Market Polymarket Is Trump Biased". Bitcoin Magazine - Bitcoin News, Articles and Expert Insights. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  29. ^ "Polymarket Is the First Breakthrough Crypto dApp". polygon.technology. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  30. ^ Somlai-Jung, Grégoire (2024-10-01). "Polymarket: The rise of the first genuine dApp". oakresearch.io. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  31. ^ "Polygon's MATIC Soars After Disney Deal As Crypto Moves Higher". Forbes. Jul 14, 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Firozabad Police to use Polygon blockchain technology to register complaints". India Today. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  33. ^ Takahashi, Dean (19 January 2023). "Alethea AI debuts generative AI on Polygon blockchain". VentureBeat Gamesbeat. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  34. ^ "Immutable and Polygon Labs create a strategic alliance for Web3 gaming". VentureBeat.
  35. ^ Evatt, Melissa (2023-04-28). "Google Cloud shapes Web3 capabilities with Polygon Labs". ERP Today. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  36. ^ Brooke, Olivia (2023-10-03). "Billion Dollar Company Google Cloud Joins Polygon Network as Validator, Bolstering Ethereum Layer-2 Security". Crypto News Flash. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  37. ^ "Google Cloud is now a validator on the Polygon network". Cointelegraph. 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  38. ^ Cirrone, James (2023-09-29). "Google Cloud is now a Polygon validator". Blockworks. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
  39. ^ Dale, Brady (4 December 2023). "Polygon blockchain gave DraftKings unique yield: CoinDesk". Axios. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  40. ^ Rubab, Fatima (22 November 2024). "Polygon Partners With WSPN To Scale WUSD Stablecoin In DeFi And Payments". Blockchain News.
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