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Polygon Price Prediction 2024: What Happens to MATIC After Shift to POL?

Last Updated January 16, 2024 10:47 AM
Peter Henn
Last Updated January 16, 2024 10:47 AM

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 – but it is being replaced by the POL crypto.
  • It has been targeted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
  • One Polygon price prediction suggests MATIC can reach $2.16 next year.

Polygon Ecosystem Token Price Prediction 2024: What is POL?

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

MATIC is being replaced  by a new coin, POL. POL launched on the Ethereum mainnet on October 25. MATIC holders can swap their tokens for POL on a 1:1 basis.

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

Polygon (MATIC) has emerged as a pivotal player in Ethereum’s scaling solutions, leveraging off-chain transaction processing and Ethereum batch proofs to establish a high-speed ecosystem for DeFi, NFT, and Web3 projects. However, the challenges of fragmentation and liquidity issues have prompted Polygon’s evolution into the next phase of its development: Polygon 2.0.

Originally introduced as Matic Network in 2017, Polygon spearheaded layer 2 technology, creating side chains running parallel to Ethereum to significantly enhance transaction throughput through off-chain processing.

Recent Updates from Polygon

At the core of this off-chain processing lies zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, a groundbreaking cryptographic method. ZK proofs enable one party to verify information to another party without divulging the underlying data. This cryptographic tool is particularly valuable in public blockchains, known for their transparency.

Polygon 2.0 is designed to unify existing protocols, employing zero-knowledge technology to establish a network of ZK-powered sidechains. The objective is to provide virtually unlimited scalability and a unified liquidity layer, enabling users to interact with the entire network seamlessly.
The phased upgrades, implemented from mid-June to mid-July 2023, encompassed enhancements to architecture, tokenomics, governance, and more. Ultimately, Polygon 2.0 aspires to reinforce its role as a value layer for Ethereum, with the vision of enabling “anyone, anywhere to create, program, and exchange value.”

Polygon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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 January 16, 2024.

Polygon Price Prediction 

Let’s examine some of the Polygon price predictions being made on January 16, 2024. It is crucial to bear in mind that price forecasts, particularly for a potentially volatile asset like cryptocurrency, often turn out to be inaccurate. Additionally, please remember that many long-term crypto price predictions are generated using algorithms, which means they can change at any time.

2024 2025 2030
Prediction #1 $1.86 $2.16 $6.30
Prediction #2 $0.9990 $2.04 $5.11
Prediction #3 $1.48 $1.65 $2.65

Firstly, CoinCodex  made a short-term Polygon price prediction for 2024 that said that MATIC would rise to $1.004974 by January 21 before dropping back to $0.932362 by February 15, 2024. The site’s technical analysis was slightly bullish, with 15 indicators making positive signals and 14 making bearish ones. 

Polygon Price Prediction for 2024

DigitalCoinPrice  said Polygon would trade at $1.86 next year, while CaptainAltCoin  suggested it could reach $0.9990 next December. CoinPriceForecast  was more optimistic, saying it would close 2024 at $1.48.

Polygon Price Prediction for 2025

CoinPriceForecast said that the coin would reach $1.65 by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, CaptainAltCoin said that it would trade at $2.04 while DigitalCoinPrice said it would be worth $2.16 next year. 

Polygon Price Prediction for 2030

As far as a more long-term Polygon price went, CoinPriceForecast said that the crypto would hit $2.65 in 2030. CaptainAltCoin predicted MATIC to be worth $5.11 at the start of the next decade and DigitalCoinPrice said it would trade at $6.30.

Google BardAI Price Prediction for Polygon (as of January 16)

Google’s BardAI platform gave the following price prediction for Polygon on January 16. Please remember that price predictions are very often wrong, and that artificial intelligence should not be trusted. 

Short-term (2024)

  • Predicted range: $2.50 to $3.00
  • Reasons:
    • The overall performance of the cryptocurrency market: If the cryptocurrency market continues to grow, MATIC is likely to benefit as well.
    • The adoption of Polygon by businesses and developers: If more businesses and developers start using Polygon, the demand for MATIC will increase, which could drive up the price.
    • New partnerships and developments: If Polygon announces new partnerships or developments that are seen as positive by the market, the price of MATIC could surge.

Medium-term (2025)

  • Predicted range: $2.46 to $5.44
  • Reasons:
    • Continued growth of the Ethereum ecosystem: Ethereum is the most popular blockchain platform for decentralized applications (DApps), and MATIC is a key player in making Ethereum more scalable.
    • Increased adoption of DeFi: The DeFi industry is growing rapidly, and MATIC is well-positioned to benefit from this growth.
    • Improved marketing and partnerships: MATIC needs to continue to improve its marketing efforts and build partnerships with other companies to increase its visibility and adoption.

Long-term (2026-2030)

  • Predicted range: $1.50 to $20.00
  • Reasons:
    • Continued growth of the Ethereum ecosystem.
    • Increased adoption of Polygon by developers.
    • Growing demand for scalable and cost-effective blockchain solutions.

Here are some additional factors that could affect the price of MATIC:

  • The overall performance of the cryptocurrency market.
  • The development of new dApps and projects on the Polygon network.
  • The adoption of MATIC by mainstream businesses and institutions.
  • Regulatory changes that affect the cryptocurrency industry.

It adds: “It is important to note that these are just predictions, and the actual price of MATIC could be higher or lower. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile, and there are many factors that could affect the price of MATIC. However, the factors listed above are all positive signs for the future of MATIC, and it is likely to continue to be a major player in the cryptocurrency industry.

“Please do your own research before making any investment decisions.”

Advantages and Disadvantages of Polygon 

Blockchain analytics company Messari recently released its quarterly report on Polygon . It outlined some key advantages and disadvantages of the blockchain.

It said that between July and September 2023, MATIC had

  • A market cap of $4.9 billion, down year-on-year from $5.7 billion and down quarter-on-quarter from $5.8 billion.
  • 364,100 average active daily addresses, up year-on-year from 242,000 and quarter-on-quarter from 359,000.
  • 2.3 million average daily transactions, down year-on-year from 2.6 million but stable quarter-on-quarter.
  • Quarterly average transaction fees of $0.02, down year-on-year from $0.09 and down quarter-on-quarter from $0.05.

Advantages of Polygon

Messari said that Polygon

  • Could become more secure in the future thanks to Polygon 2.0.
  • Had an active, enthusiastic, and well-supported developer community.
  • Had a promising partnership with ImmutableX (IMX).

Disadvantages of Polygon

Messari also said that Polygon

  • Was suffering from uncertainty related to POL.
  • Experienced a decline in the overall value DeFi protocols locked into the network.
  • Suffered after being accused of being an unregistered security

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 token 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. It broke through $0.01 later that year and spent 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 several 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. 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 year. 

Polygon in 2023 and 2024

Polygon price prediction
Polygon has not performed particularly well in 2023 | Credit: CoinMarketCap

2023 has proven to be a mixed bag for Polygon. 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. It then entered a period of decline, falling to $0.4946 on September 11. After that, it made a recovery, reaching $0.9789 on November 14. On January 16, 2024, MATIC was worth about $0.8514.

With about 10 billion MATIC in circulation out of a total supply of 10 billion, it had a market cap of around $8.15 billion. This made it the 15th largest crypto by that metric.

Polygon Price Analysis

MATIC price analysis
MATIC could reach $2 at some point.

MATIC has been trading sideways since the middle of November, when it nearly reached $1. On December 28, it spiked slightly higher to $1.10 but quickly fell back to its $0.75 support level.

This could be a minor correction, consolidating the price before further upward movement. Recent price changes could be the first two waves of a five-wave uptrend. 

If this is the case, we could soon see a stronger uptrend that will break past $1.10 and have the potential to reach more than $1.70. MATIC could climb even higher if it is in a five-wave bull run, with its ultimate but optimal target set at $2.

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 the implementation of Polygon 2.0. The new POL coin could be a success but traders could, equally, overlook it in favor of the better-established MATIC. 

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 research. 

Will Polygon go up or down?

No one can 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 prices 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 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. 

Who are the Founders of Polygon?

Indian Ethereum (ETH) developers Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun, along with Serbian tech expert Mihailo Bjelic, founded Polygon in 2017. 

Who owns the most Polygon (MATIC)?

On January 16, 2024, a Polygon wallet held more than 91.9% of the supply of MATIC.

Richest MATIC Wallet Addresses

As of January 16, 2024, the five richest MATIC wallets were

  • 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000001010. This wallet, listed as Polygon: MATIC Token, held 8,807,981,973 MATIC, or 91.9% of the supply.
  • 0x0d500b1d8e8ef31e21c99d1db9a6444d3adf1270. This wallet, listed as Polygon: WMATIC Token, held 163,184,510 MATIC, or 1.7% of the supply.
  • 0x4c569c1e541a19132ac893748e0ad54c7c989ff4. This wallet held 41,342,537 MATIC, or 0.43% of the supply.
  • 0xe84f75fc9caa49876d0ba18d309da4231d44e94d. This wallet held 23,015,451 MATIC, or 0.24% of the supply.
  • 0xf89d7b9c864f589bbf53a82105107622b35eaa40. This wallet held 15,856,238 MATIC, or 0.17% of the supply.

Fact Box

Supply and distribution Figures
Maximum supply 10,000,000,000
Circulating supply (as of January 16, 2024) 10,000,000,000 (100% of maximum supply)
Holder distribution Top 10 holders owned 96% of maximum supply as of January 16, 2024

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.”

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 can 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. This is a program that takes a transaction off the blockchain, carries it out, and 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 initially called Matic, but in 2021 it was rebranded as Polygon. The coin still goes by the ticket handle MATIC, and it rewards 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 can 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 together as one transaction and Plasma Chains put transactions into blocks. Optimistic Rollups work like Plasma Chains but with the additional ability to work with smart contracts, and computer programs that automatically execute when certain conditions are met.

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

Polygon Attention Tracker

Polygon MATIC Google search volume
Polygon MATIC Google search volume | Credit: Google

Here is a chart for Polygon Google search volume for the past 90 days. This represents how many times the term “Polygon MATIC” has been Googled over the previous 90 days.

FAQs

How Many Polygon are there?

On January 16, 2024, there were 10 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. DigitalCoinPrice says it expects MATIC to break past $10 in 2032 while CaptainAltCoin says it will happen by 2040. 

What is Polygon used for?

MATIC is secures the Polygon blockchain. The coin’s holders can also vote on changes to the network and people can buy, sell and trade it on exchanges. 

 

Further Reading

Cardano Price Prediction 2024: What is ADA?

Beam Price Prediction 2024: What is BEAM?

Internet Computer Price Prediction 2024: What is ICP?

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 user should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.