Key Takeaways
- Polygon Labs has started the transition from MATIC to a new POL token.
- POL will “provide valuable services” to the network.
- The POL token will be deployed across Polygon’s “AggLayer.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 4, Polygon began switching out the widely held $3.8 billion MATIC token for a new POL token, which forms an integral part of Polygon’s 2.0 roadmap.
Introducing the token in a previous blog post, Polygon said: “POL is the next generation protocol token, designed to become the major tool for coordination and growth of the Polygon ecosystem and the main driver of the vision of the Value Layer for the Internet.”
Polygon Moves To POL
“Blockchains today don’t look or feel like the Internet. Instead of a unified, highly scalable network, users face scaling limitations and bad UX due to fragmented liquidity and state,” Polygon wrote in a July 2023 blog post.
“To solve these challenges, Polygon Labs researchers and engineers have designed the aggregation layer, a novel solution to unify the whole of Web3.”
In further updates, POL will be deployed across Polygon’s “AggLayer,” which aggregates zero-knowledge proofs from all connected chains.
Why is Polygon upgrading MATIC?
The upgrade to POL will further expand the utility of Polygon’s native token “to reflect and power the vision of Polygon as an ever-growing network of aggregated blockchains.”
Polygon described the token in a blog post as a “hyperproductive” token that will “provide valuable services to any chain in the Polygon network, including the AggLayer itself.”
However, Polygon has not yet revealed what those “valuable services” are.
What do MATIC holders need to do?
MATIC holders on the Polygon proof-of-stake chain will be automatically converted to POL. However, MATIC holders on the Ethereum network may need to migrate their tokens to POL on Polygon’s Portal Interface.
MATIC holders on the Polygon zkEVM layer-2 network may also need to upgrade to POL, such as bridging them to Ethereum.
For holders looking to switch MATIC to POL on Ethereum in a permissionless manner, Polygon has deployed a migration contract to help – although it has warned this is a process for advanced users.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
