What is Polygon (MATIC)

What is Polygon (MATIC) cryptocurrency?

The Polygon definition starts with its primal aim. The main goal of Polygon (MATIC) is to create a decentralized, stable, secure, and scalable blockchain. Thanks to the second-layer (Layer 2) blockchain, third-party developers can create more decentralized applications (dapps), services, and products.

Polygon offers a solution allowing other blockchains to scale or, in other words, to cope with high demand from users. With it, existing networks can solve this problem without sacrificing decentralization. Using Polygon technologies, other projects will be able to achieve mass adoption and implementation in various sectors of the economy.

The Layer-1 blockchains (Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum) have certain technological limitations that are almost impossible to bypass. Due to poor scalability, BTC, for example, is not suitable for blockchain games due to the long transaction time. But one can exploit its security and decentralization by building a second-layer solution. You can literally imagine it as the second floor that rests on the foundation of the first floor.

The first blockchain whose scalability the Polygon development team is looking to increase is Ethereum. The Ethereum Foundation is the largest developer community in the world. The Ethereum ecosystem still suffers from scalability issues due to low throughput — 15–20 transactions per second (TPS — abbreviation).

By integrating Ethereum decentralized apps with the L2 scaling solutions, Polygon makes life easier for users. One Polygon network sidechain can process up to 65 000 TPS almost for free, and it takes less than two seconds to confirm a new block. It allows the creation of accessible decentralized applications.

Plasma Framework enables the creation of child blockchains using the Ethereum main chain and provides users with cheaper and faster transactions. Thanks to the Plasma Framework implemented, an unlimited number of applications can run simultaneously on the Polygon chain.

What is MATIC? It is an ERC–20-compatible Polygon Ethereum-based token. MATIC is used to pay for the fees within the Polygon ecosystem, manage and secure the network thanks to the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. See the detailed review on the crypto below, and be sure to check more info on the project’s site, explorer, and Whitepaper.

History of Polygon (MATIC)

Three visionaries launched Polygon (formerly Matic Network) in October 2017. Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun, two experienced blockchain developers and a business consultant, co-founded the Polygon platform.

Before moving to their network in 2019, the Polygon team made a massive contribution to the Ethereum ecosystem. They worked on implementing the Plasma MVP (Minimum Viable Plasma), the WalletConnect protocol, and Dagger, a widely used notification mechanism in Ethereum.

In 2017, data scientist Janty Kanani, then at Housing.com, noticed a “weak link” in the Ethereum blockchain. In December 2017, the NFT CryptoKitties project (an Ethereum blockchain game developed by the Canadian studio Dapper Labs, where you can collect virtual cats) took a lot of effort from developers due to the sharp popularity.

In the first three months, the number of active users exceeded 1.5 million people, which contributed to the extreme congestion of the network. Processing times significantly increased, and gas fees were substantial. It limited the volume and size of transactions, then led to security, efficiency, and utility problems.

Kanani contacted blockchain developer Sandeep Nailwal and business consultant Anurag Arjun to launch Matic in October 2017. The decentralized platform they developed sought to solve Ethereum’s scalability problem.

They retained the original mission, which was scalability within the Ethereum platform. In February 2021, the platform rebranded from Matic to Polygon, but the MATIC cryptocurrency kept its original name.

Already at the beginning of 2022, the Polygon team raised $450 million from Sequoia Capital India, involving 40 venture investors. They are going to spend the funding on developing their Web 3.0 scaling solutions. The suite of solutions includes: Polygon Avail, Polygon Edge, and Polygon PoS, synonymous with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for Web 2.0 developers.

As for the Polygon news today, the network’s projections are big. For example, they are going to upgrade their PoS chain in the near future. The hardfork must help reduce the frequency and depth of reorgs and improve transaction finality.

How does Polygon work, and where is it used?

The Polygon platform uses Ethereum and connects projects based on this blockchain. Polygon enhances a blockchain project’s flexibility, scalability, and independence while maintaining the security, interoperability, and structural advantages of the Ethereum blockchain.

The network uses a modified Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. This method requires network participants to agree not to trade or sell the Polygon token. The platform rewards such validators with a MATIC native token.

Polygon eliminates the limitations of the Ethereum platform, namely high transaction fees and low processing speed. The platform can deploy existing blockchain networks, develop its own, and provide communication between Ethereum and other blockchains. In addition, it helps existing networks become compatible with Ethereum.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Polygon?

The Polygon platform has both strengths and weaknesses; among the first are:

• Fast transaction processing. The average processing time for a Polygon blockchain is 2.1 seconds.
• Low transaction fee. Using the platform, the user will pay a minimum commission of about $0.01.

But the service also has its cons:

• Dependence on Ethereum. If there are some problems in the Ethereum network or its liquidation, Polygon will have the corresponding effect.
• Limited asset use. MATIC is not typically used for everyday purchases but for management, security, and in-platform payment.

How to get a MATIC token?

Since the Polygon network doesn’t work on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, you canʼt mine Polygon crypto. Instead, you can join the Polygon network and set up a validator node to collect rewards for validating transactions. With Airnfts, the Multichain NFT marketplace, users can create Polygon NFT and get MATIC.

Mining MATIC directly, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, is impossible, but you can earn it thanks to the WhiteBIT Crypto Lending program. It’s a simple and effective tool for getting passive income in crypto being the token’s owner.

Besides staking, there are also DeFi yield farming platforms to multiply your crypto. Such an opportunity involves increasing income on different platforms, including Ethereum, Polygon, Polkadot, and more.

You can buy the MATIC token using the WhiteBIT exchange, placing a buy order, activating WhiteBIT codes, or using a P2P platform.