Polygon, the blockchain dedicated to increasing the scale of the Ethereum network, has finally announced the much-anticipated economic model adjustments for the MATC token as part of the Polygon 2.0 upgrade series.
Specifically, Polygon plans to rename the MATIC token to POL to become a shared token in the Polygon ecosystem. POL will become the main currency and staking token used to verify transactions on Polygon POS, Polygon zkEVM and Supernets, and as a reward token on these networks.
The overall goal of this upgrade is to expand the use of MATIC/POL and increase scale capabilities without threatening the security of the entire ecosystem.
Polygon proudly claims that POL will be a "third generation" cryptocurrency token, supporting multiple different blockchains and fulfilling a variety of different roles. The first two generations of tokens include Bitcoin (BTC), the most basic cryptocurrency, and Ethereum (ETH), a token on a multi-purpose blockchain.
Why choose Validium instead of zkRollup? It is understandable that Polygon previously invested hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire a second-layer solution called Hermez, which has now been renamed Polygon zkEVM. Polygon zkEVM is a true zkRollup platform, so Polygon does not need another zkRollup, but another product focused on scalability.
Some reasons for the birth of Polygon 2.0
As I shared before, Polygon 2.0 was born to solve some outstanding problems in Polygon PoS, such as decentralization, the network is often interfered by spam, leading to congestion. In addition to the reasons from the remaining problems of Polygon PoS, there are some other reasons as follows:
Polygon's development team is very keen on business opportunities, which proves the success of Polygon PoS in the past cycle. Obviously, the second layer and zkEVM are the current and future trends.
The development team has also looked into a number of different layer-2 scaling solutions, and apparently, switching to Polygon PoS is in their long-term plan.
I think one of the most important reasons is that the Polygon development team is ready for a new growth cycle. Even though it became the second layer of Ethereum, they did not eliminate MATC, but continued to build more application cases for MATC.
Obviously, according to this development direction, Polygon 2.0 will focus on areas that require massive expansion, such as games, NFTs, social networking, or transactions. DeFi-oriented protocols will prioritize the development of Polygon zkEVM. Obviously, Polygon predicts that future growth cycles will still involve NFTs and games, so they are preparing for infrastructure in advance.
Outlook for Polygon 2.0
With Polygon 2.0, most of Polygon’s products will return to Ethereum, providing a variety of diverse second-layer solutions suitable for all developer needs.
Polygon 2.0: A blockchain that uses Validium technology and aims to achieve more scalability rather than decentralization and security. Suitable for NFT, gaming, social or trading projects.
Polygon zkEVM: A blockchain that uses zkRollup technology and aims to achieve more decentralization and security rather than scalability. Suitable for DeFi projects.
Polygon Miden: is a zkEVM platform, but the difference from Polygon zkEVM is that Miden uses STARK proofs similar to StarkNet, while Polygon zkEVM uses SNARK proofs similar to zkSync.
Polygon Supernet: is a version of the blockchain Internet model, targeting the App-chains model.
Based on Polygon's products, the development team will bet on the second layer and especially zkRollup in the future growth cycle. An interesting point is that despite being very confident in the second layer, Polygon has not developed any Optimistic Rollup products. In addition, they are still betting on various industries while building Polygon 2.0 and Polygon zkEVM at the same time.
Summarize
Based on Polygon’s products, the development team will bet on the second layer and zkRollup in particular in the future growth cycle. An interesting point is that despite being very confident in the second layer, Polygon has not developed any Optimistic Rollup products. In addition, they are still betting on various industries while building Polygon 2.0 and Polygon zkEVM at the same time. Polygon 2.0 marks the return of the development team to Ethereum after many years of being in the guise of a sidechain, and no longer being regarded as a true second layer.
