Polygon Transitions MATIC to POL, Here’s What You Need to Know

Polygon has officially become Polygon 2.0, with the cornerstone of the upgrade being the transition from native token MATIC to POL.
POL is set to introduce several new staking methods for on-chain validators.
The upgrade will also alter the coin’s tokenomics to improve the community’s earning potential over the coming years.

The highly anticipated Polygon upgrade is finally live, after more than 12 months of preparation among the community and developers. Polygon 2.0 was announced in June 2023, and the industry has watched closely to see how the transition—which includes changing the native token standard—would impact the network.

Despite the exciting news, Polygon endured a rough day at the office, falling 4.7% while the rest of the market tentatively gained 0.5%.

Related: Bitcoin Staking Takes Off Enabling BTC Holders to Earn Across Multiple Blockchains

Polygon 2.0 to Unlock Wave of New Earning Mechanisms

The biggest changes to Polygon 2.0 are tied directly to the token upgrade, with MATIC moving to a new coin called POL.

It’s official. The MATIC to POL upgrade is now live, after a year of community-led discussions and consensus 💜
What happens now? Starting today, every transaction on Polygon PoS uses the hyperproductive token as the native gas and staking token.https://t.co/j6vlMTh9ZX pic.twitter.com/hx9l7GS4zv
— Polygon | Aggregated (@0xPolygon) September 4, 2024

An underlying theme of the transition is increasing utility. At present, MATIC holders within the community are largely hamstrung by a simplistic staking structure. Current owners can stake on a PoS node – and that’s about it.

POL is set to introduce several new fee-generation mechanisms, allowing stakers to generate zero-knowledge proofs and participate in Agglayer, an interoperability bridge.

Additionally, POL may also open up earning opportunities from other blockchain networks created with Polygon’s development kit (CDK).

The tokenomics of the native coin will also be altered, with an inflationary schedule releasing 200m POL tokens annually. This will help generate emissions, which have currently stalled, to reward stakers on the network.

“Littlest Big Upgrade” According to CEO

Those who currently hold MATIC tokens directly on Polygon’s network will, well, no longer be holding MATIC. The transition occurred automatically overnight, with their wallets now brimming with the equivalent number of POL.

Ethereum-based MATIC holders, or those who keep the token in a centralised exchange, can manually upgrade their coins anytime. There’s no deadline at this point, so investors can utilise the Polygon transition smart contract whenever convenient.

Polygon’s CEO, Marc Boiron, put the upgrade succinctly:

[This is] the biggest little upgrade that’s ever happened with a token.

Polygon CEO Marc Boiron