Polygon (MATIC); a masterpiece frontier by Ethereum

Fredrick Awino
25.08.2022
467 Views

There is already much information out here about Ethereum. You will remember that Ethereum is the native blockchain for ether which is among the fastest rising crypto around today. Today, fin-techies involved in Ethereum ecosystem are working around the clock to perfect the crypto, probably in ambitious efforts aimed at overstepping the pioneer, Bitcoin. Polygon, previously MATIC is one technology which Ethereum continues to explore more territories.

WARNING: Investing in crypto, or other markets, can be of a high risk for your savings. Do not invest money you cannot afford to lose, because there is a risk for losing all of your money when investing in crypto, stocks, CFDs or other investments options. For example 77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

Initially known as MATIC, Polygon aims at scaling Ethereum. It enables the developers to develop scalable user-friendly Apps with low transaction fees. However, it does not interfere with security. It is a great network because even Instagram launched its NFTs on Polygon. The network is also focused on fostering Web3 applications growth by offering the necessary infrastructure.

In verifying transactions, Polygon uses Proof of Stake. PoS works by employing validators in locking their tokens in the chain. Through this, they earn rewards when they verify transactions. Besides, the chain may use locked tokens as collateral and even punish the traders who fail to properly validate transactions. Transactions have to be verified before being in the Ethereum blockchain. The strategy gives polygon the opportunity to separate from Ethereum while it reaps benefits from the chain.

Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun founded Polygon in 2017. In starting up, they got funds from family and friends in Mumbai. Even though Polygon has its roots in India, it has attracted investors globally. In 2019, the platform raised over $450,000 in two rounds of starting up. Moreover, Matic is Polygon’s cryptocurrency. It is used in staking, governance, and paying fees in the network.

The Way Polygon Works

In understanding the way Polygon works, it is important to know about its four-layer architecture. They include the Ethereum layer, Security layer, Polygon architecture networks layer, and execution layer from the first to the last. Each layer plays an important role in the network.

The first layer which is the Ethereum layer is in charge of communication with different Polygon chains. Besides, it is responsible for the staking process as well as transaction finality. The second layer is the security layer. It oversees providing validators as a service besides the Ethereum layer. Additionally, it also acts as an additional security layer.

The third layer is the network layer. It oversees collating transactions, local consensus, and block production. Besides, the layer consists of different independent blockchain networks. The networks are for the community and user base. The execution layer is the last layer. It handles the execution and interpretation of transactions in the Polygon network. The layer further consists of two layers including execution logic and execution environment. The execution logic is written for Polygon network’s Ethereum smart contracts. On the other hand, the execution environment is a virtual plug-in-play machine implementation.

The Main Features of Polygon

  • Customer experience: Polygon has WalletConnect support, native mobile applications as well as developer concept from the mainchain to the Polygon chain.
  • Availability: In the polygon sidechains, the transactions are safe, low cost, and quick transactions. This can be shown in the way Ethereum is the first layer among the other three layers.
  • High throughput: A test that was done confirmed that Polygon can process over 7,000 TPS in one sidechain. For the case of horizontal scaling, lots of chains will be created.
  • Public sidechains: The Matic sidechains are open to the public. Besides, they have the capacity of supporting different protocols.
  • Security: Polygon is highly secure as it operates on the PoS system.

The Process of Buying Polygon

Most of the popular crypto trading platforms offer tokens. To Buy or sell Polygon, you have to open an account with the platforms. It is simple and takes about 5 to 10 minutes. You just have to sign up using your email or phone number and a password. Besides, you will be asked to enter some of the basic information such as an address. After verification, you can commence trading.

The Polygon Tokens

The developers release the Polygon tokens on a monthly basis. According to CoinMarketCap, there is a total supply of 10,000,00,000 tokens and 8 billion are in circulation. Since January Mainnet’s upgrade, about 650,000 coins have been burned.

Investors are attracted to Polygon because of its varied use. However, you have to remember that before you invest in Polygon tokens, you need to understand cryptocurrency. Polygon also has a user-friendly interface.

Important Things to Know About Polygon before Investing

  1. At the beginning of 2022, the price increased by about 13,000%
  2. Polygon provides the technology of improving the performance of a blockchain
  3. Polygon token is utilized for staking, governance, and fees
  4. It is also compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
  5. Polygon is working towards offering a framework for blockchain networks
  6. Some of the top exchanges list Polygon including Gemini, Coinbase, eToro, and Binance
  7. One of the potential roadblocks is Ethereum 2.0 and other blockchain networks

Why You Should Invest in Polygon

Some people consider MATIC a good investment while others do not. For example, the cryptocurrency-enthusiast billionaire, Mark Cuban invested in Polygon. I consider it a good investment as it has the potential to grow. The main reason why Polygon was developed was to improve and scale the infrastructure of Ethereum.

Polygon highly aims at simplifying and speeding up the Ethereum-based transactions. Polygon is almost similar to an express train. Although this train travel on the same track it moves faster and makes fewer stops. Furthermore, as compared to the other cryptocurrencies, Polygon is doing well during this crypto winter. For instance, it is hiring. Currently, companies such as BlockFi and Coinbase are laying off staff. Therefore, I believe it is a good place for any investor.

Highly Scalable

Currently, Polygon can achieve 7,200 transactions per second (TPS). This makes it highly scalable as compared to Ethereum which processes 15 TPS. The development is good as it influences the prices of a coin in the Matic network.

High Growth Potential from the demand for NFTs

The popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has played an important role in Matic’s overall growth. For example, in 2021, NFTs had an explosion of use including NFTs in the gaming and fashion industry. For NFTs to exist, they have to be minted.

It is cheaper to mint NFTs on Polygon as compared to Ethereum. This is due to a more efficient blockchain network as well as cheaper transactions. In short, it is cheap to buy or sell in the Polygon network. In return, more people will mint NFTs in the Polygon network.

Large Ecosystem

Currently, in the Polygon networks, there are over 700 dApps. This includes some of the top Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Projects that have over 450,000 users. The number of dApps that the platform performs will make the platform relevant for a long period. Some of the projects include ApeSwap, Crazy Defense Heroes, and Sunflower Farmers. Besides, there has been the development of Polygon games.

Opportunities for global partnership

Because of Polygon’s utility and efficiency, we expect it to conduct global partnerships in the future. There is a high possibility of this happening as MATIC offers high scalability and flexibility. One of the partnerships it has successfully conducted in the past is Zipmex. Therefore, more partnerships will follow in the future.

In the first quarter of 2022, Polygon raised about $450 million from 40 VC firms. They include SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia Capital India in scaling fund Web3 development, Ethereum, and Web 3 applications. It has also proven to be the largest funding and this has grown investor confidence.

The Limitations of Investing in Polygon

The first limitation is Polygon’s attachment to Ethereum. Even though the network is competing with the other cryptocurrencies, it is also competing with Ethereum. Funnily, it is competing with something that it depends on.

Furthermore, the Polygon developers believe that the network will still remain relevant even with the Ethereum Merge. The merge is expected to take place in September 2022. The developers believe that it will remain relevant as Polygon provide speedier transactions. Also, it allows Ethereum to communicate with other networks.

 

Author Fredrick Awino