When it comes to Ethereum Layer-2 blockchains, there’s one network that’s arguably achieved more than any other to date – Polygon.
Between big-name brands, entertainment giants, social networks and more, Polygon is the leading blockchain for developers looking to build top-end brands, apps and tools, being the home of great developer support, sublime user experiences, and all the smoothness and reliability you’d expect from a top-of-the-line blockchain.
How has Polygon become the monolith it is today? Why is it so important to Web3? What’s coming up in its future? Here’s our complete guide to Polygon in 2024.
What is the Polygon blockchain?
Originally known as the Matic Network, Polygon is an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain, created in 2017 by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun.
Polygon’s aim was to benefit from Ethereum’s security with a dedicated platform for apps that avoided the pitfalls of the CryptoKitties crisis that hit Ethereum in late 2017.
The Layer-2 quickly gained traction, with the likes of 1inch, SushiSwap and Curve Finance all selecting Polygon to build DeFi tools, initiatives and platforms – and once NFTs became popular on Polygon, popular marketplaces such as OpenSea, Element and Magic Eden were quick to support the network.
$MATIC (soon to be $POL), the native token of Polygon, is one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies, sitting at #21 at the time of writing with a market cap of $4.1B USD.
2024 has arguably been Polygon’s biggest year to date, as it became the blockchain of choice for Ronin’s Layer-2 expansion, partnered with Google Cloud and Accenture on Web3 loyalty programs, and pledged 1 billion $POL tokens over the next 10 years to promising blockchain projects – totalling $410M USD at the time of writing.
Why is Polygon so important?
Polygon is particularly notable for the large number of big-name brands that have leveraged the network to power their blockchain offerings.
Starbucks, Warner Music Group and Square Enix are just a few mammoth names that have selected Polygon as their blockchain of choice, and Polygon has established a reputation as the go-to blockchain for mainstream brands expanding into the Web3 realm.
Polygon makes use of so-called “sidechains.” These are separate blockchains that run parallel to Ethereum, processing transactions independently before pushing them to Ethereum. This has slashed fees on Polygon as a result – at the time of writing, an ERC-20 transaction costs around $1.68 USD on Ethereum, vs. less than 1 cent on Polygon.
The story of Polygon so far
Polygon debuted in 2017 as the Matic Network, becoming one of the first publicly available Ethereum Layer-2 blockchains.
Its mainnet went live in 2020, leading to huge growth in both developer and user interest – so much so that once NFTs hit their all-time highs at the end of 2021, Polygon had established itself as the leading Ethereum Layer-2 solution.
The following years saw Polygon grow even further. Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram) announced that they’d be partnering with Polygon to integrate NFTs into their platforms – and although this was eventually cancelled, it was a clear signal of Polygon’s leadership and strength.
We also saw a striking partnership between Polygon and Immutable to strengthen the development and adoption of Web3 gaming, leading to a raft of developments in zero-knowledge technology.
2024 has seen Polygon continue to made breakthroughs. On top of the aforementioned developments this year, Polygon overtook Ethereum for the most NFT transactions across a 24-hour period in January, and has pledged $100M in a partnership with Immutable to support blockchain game development.
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