Key Takeaways

• Polygon is a layer 2 scaling solution, allowing people to speed up their crypto transactions.
• Its native token MATIC helps secure the system and holders can vote on changes to the network. 
• It has been targeted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission

Polygon’s MATIC coin may not have long to live – but its holders should not be too worried. The crypto has benefited from the announcement of Polygon 2.0, an upgrade which, if implemented, would make the system more decentralized. 

Not only that, but it could see MATIC be replaced by a new coin, POL.

The news came not long after it was accused of being an unregistered security by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Then, the influential Robinhood crypto exchange said  it was planning to delist the coin. This news caused the price of MATIC to fall sharply, and the markers are watching to see if, and when, it can make a recovery. 

But what is Polygon (MATIC)? How does Polygon work? Let’s see what we can find out, and also take a look at some of the Polygon Price Predictions that were being made as of August 1 2023.

From the Whitepaper

In its technical documentation, or whitepaper , Polygon, which was then known as the Matic Network, says that, although people are interested in blockchain technology, many platforms slow down when they get busy, thus costing people time and money.

Although some blockchains offer solutions, they do so without supporting decentralized applications (dApps), according to the documentation.

The whitepaper says: “Matic Network strives to solve the scalability and usability issues, while not compromising on decentralization and leveraging the existing developer community and ecosystem.”

Advantages and Disadvantages of Polygon 

Blockchain analytics company Messari recently released its quarterly report on Polygon . It highlighted [any interesting fact you come across], and outlined some key advantages and disadvantages of the blockchain.

It said that between April and June 2023, MATIC had

• A market cap of $5.82 billion, up year-on-year from $3.97 billion but down quarter-on-quarter from $9.92 billion.
• 417,640 average active daily addresses, up year-on-year from 314,900 and quarter-on-quarter from 396,050.
• 2.41 million average daily transactions, down year-on-year from 3.13 million and quarter-on-quarter from 2.94 million.
• Quarterly transaction fees of $11.44 million, up year-on-year from $5.71 million but down quarter on quarter from $11.85 million.

Advantages of Polygon

Messari said that Polygon

• Could become more secure in the future thanks to the proposed Polygon 2.0 upgrade.
• Had an active, enthusiastic, and well-supported developer community.
• Was faster than before, thanks to a tech change that happened in late March.

Disadvantages of Polygon

Messari also said that Polygon

• Had seen the total value of assets staked on the network drop throughout the quarter.
• Experienced a decline in the overall value of stablecoins on the network.
• Suffered after being accused of being an unregistered security

With Messari’s report being broadly positive about Polygon, what does this mean about the MATIC price prediction?

First, though, let’s talk about what Polygon actually is.

Polygon (MATIC) Explained

One of the big issues blockchains and their developers have to deal with is that of scalability. If a blockchain does a good job, it is likely to get more popular, meaning more people use it. In turn, this means that it is crucial that the platform is able to deal with higher traffic without slowing down and, as a result, costing its users time and money. One way of doing this is a level 2 scaling solution, a program linked to the blockchain that takes a transaction off the chain, carries it out, and then puts it back on. One platform that is based on a layer 2 scaling solution but is, ultimately, much more than that is Polygon.

Polygon  was created in 2017 by Indian Ethereum (ETH) developers Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun, along with Serbian tech expert Mihailo Bjelic. It was initially called Matic, but in 2021 it was rebranded as Polygon. Its native coin still goes by the ticket handle MATIC, and it is used to reward people who validate transactions on the network. It can also be bought, sold and traded on exchanges. 

 

How Polygon Works

What makes Polygon a little different from other blockchains is that it exists to link up with other chains and serve as a kind of super layer 2 scaling solution. The main Polygon blockchain comprises a main chain, which is able to link to Ethereum and other blockchains, with a variety of sidechains linked to it. Sidechains come in three forms. Zk-Rollups allow multiple crypto transfers to put be put together as one transaction, Plasma Chains put transactions into blocks, and Optimistic Rollups work like Plasma Chains but with the additional ability to work with smart contracts, computer programs that automatically execute when certain conditions are met.

Polygon operates with a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which means people are selected to add blocks to the blockchain-based on how much MATIC they hold. People who hold MATIC are also able to vote on matters which have an impact on the platform’s future. 

 

MATIC Price History

Let’s now take a look at some of the highlights and lowlights of the Polygon price history . While past performance should never be taken as an indicator of future results, knowing what the coin has done can help give us some very useful context when it comes to either making or interpreting a Polygon price prediction. 

When MATIC first came onto the open market in 2019, it was worth less than a cent, with it breaking though $0.01 later that year and spending much of its first two years hovering around $0.02. When the crypto boom of 2021 happened, a growing market coupled with Matic’s transformation into Polygon saw it reach new levels, breaking past the dollar in early May and peaking above $2 in the middle of the month. While it slid down over the summer, the second half of the year saw it flourish again and, on December 27 2021, it reached an all-time high of $2.92. 

In 2022, Polygon, much like the rest of the cryptosphere, suffered, and it fell below $1 in early May. The crypto market then suffered through a number of crashes and fell below $0.50 in June, before the announcement of the zkEVM Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible program saw it briefly head above $1 in August before falling down. Another reemergence above the dollar took place in the  autumn, as the news that Polygon was to team with Facebook owners Meta to work on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), but the collapse of the FTX exchange was a bitter blow and it closed 2022 at $0.7585, down 70% over the course of the year. 

So far, 2023 has proven to be a mixed bag. The coin broke past the dollar in February, but the news of the SEC’s filings damaged the price of MATIC. On June 10, with the market stunned by the news that Crypto.com was suspending its American institutional operations, it fell to $0.5593.

After that, the price recovered. On July 13, following the news that a judge had found that Ripple’s XRP crypto was not an unregistered security if it was being sold on exchanges, it peaked at $0.8775. Since then, though, it has dropped and, on August 1 2023, MATIC was worth about $0.6785.

 With about 9.32 billion MATIC in circulation out of a total supply of 10 billion, it had a market cap of around $6.3 billion, making it the 12th largest crypto by that metric. 

Polygon Price Analysis

Polygon was hit hard by the news that the SEC was suing Coinbase and Binance. On 5 June, before the SEC announced that it was suing Binance, MATIC was worth $0.8933, meaning it lost more than 35% of its value in five days.

Its peak on July 13 was more than 55% up from its June low, but since then it has fallen by more than 20%.

Polygon has been in a major downtrend since February 18. On that day, it reached $1.55, after that it fell more than 65% to its low in June.

The price went up to reach $0.8775 on 13 July, but it has fallen since then.

If we follow the contested theory that price moves happen in five waves, then we are currently at the start of a fifth wave which could see the price of MATIC reach new lows. 

 

 

Polygon Coin Price Prediction 

With that all out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the Polygon price predictions that were being made as of August 1 2023. It is important to remember that price forecasts, especially for something as potentially volatile as crypto, are often wrong. Also, remember that many longer-term crypto price predictions are made using an algorithm, meaning they can change at a moment’s notice. 

Firstly, CoinCodex  made a somewhat mixed short-term Polygon price prediction for 2023. The site said that MATIC would rise to $0.9223 by August 5 dropping back to $0.725 by August 30. The site’s technical analysis was, perhaps surprisingly,  overwhelmingly bearish, with 27 indicators sending out negative signals, compared to just three making bullish ones. 

Polygon Forecast for 2023

In terms of other MATIC price predictions for 2023, DigitalCoinPrice  said that the coin would recover from its current predicament to trade at $1.44  this year, while CaptainAltCoin  suggested things get worse before they get better, with Polygon dropping to $0.5051 in October before making a small recovery to $0.602 in December. CoinPriceForecast was more optimistic, saying it would close the year at $0.94.

Polygon Forecast for 2025

When it came to making a Polygon price prediction for 2025, CoinPriceForecast  said that the coin would reach $1.02 at the year’s midpoint before climbing to $1.07 by December. Meanwhile, CaptainAltCoin said that it would trade at $1.68, while DigitalCoinPrice said it would be worth $2.31. 

Polygon Forecast for 2030

As far as a more long-term Polygon price prediction for 2030 went, CoinPriceForecast said that the crypto would hit $2.94 in June and $3.12 by the end of the year, while CaptainAltCoin predicted MATIC to be worth $4.21 and DigitalCoinPrice said it would trade at $6.77.

 

Is Polygon a Good Investment?

Polygon aims to get crypto moving, serving as the most notable layer 2 scaling solution platform. The coin has suffered, along with the rest of the market, over the last year or so, but it is still one of the biggest altcoins out there. As far as the future goes, a lot will depend on how Polygon 2.0 is implemented. We could see MATIC replaced by Polygon, which would mean that people who held MATIC would see their holdings converted into the proposed new POL coin. 

Also, we will need to see what happens with the SEC’s latest court cases.

As ever, it is important to make sure that you do your own research. 

Will Polygon go up or down?

No one can really say with any certainty what will happen to MATIC in the future. While a lot of the price predictions are broadly bullish, price predictions do have a reputation for being wrong. It is also important to remember that price can, and do, go down as well as up. 

Should I invest in Polygon?

Before you decide whether or not to invest in Polygon, you will have to do your own research, not only on MATIC, but also on other, similar, coins and tokens like Avalanche (AVAX). Ultimately, though, this is a question you will have to answer for yourself. Remember that you must never invest more money than you can afford to lose. 

 

FAQs 

How many Polygon are there?

As of August 1 2023, there were about 9.32 billion MATIC in circulation out of a total supply of 10 billion.

Can Polygon reach $10?

It could do but, if it does, it won’t be for quite some time yet. While DigitalCoinPrice says it expects MATIC to break past $10 in 2032, that score leaves the site as something of an optimistic outlier. 

What is MATIC used for?

MATIC is used to secure the Polygon blockchain. The coin’s holders can also vote on changes to the network and the crypto can also be bought, sold, and traded on exchanges. 

Disclaimer 

Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.