Polygon, an Ethereum layer-2 development firm, has revealed its ambitious plan to upgrade its MATIC token to POL, a new token that will power its entire ecosystem of protocols.
The announcement was made on Twitter on Thursday, and it is part of Polygon 2.0, a vision to create a multi-chain system that can scale Ethereum and Web 3.0 applications.
1/ Today, the next technical proposal of Polygon 2.0 is unveiled:
POL, the upgraded token of the Polygon protocol! 💫
POL is the next generation native token, designed to secure, align and grow the Polygon ecosystem.
Watch the video to get an idea how cool it is, then 🧵 pic.twitter.com/Gn7KcHpWEY
— Polygon (Labs) (@0xPolygonLabs) July 13, 2023
POL is not just another productive token like ETH, which allows holders to become validators and earn rewards on a single chain. POL is a hyperproductive token, the third generation of native tokens, that enables validators to secure multiple chains and perform multiple roles on each chain.
This means that POL holders can benefit from the diverse and growing range of Polygon protocols, including Polygon PoS, zkEVM, and Supernets.
POL’s utility is based on aligning and encouraging validators to do beneficial work. Validators can validate numerous chains, as many as they desire, and each chain can provide validators with multiple responsibilities (and related rewards).
For example, on a single chain, validators can not only verify transactions, but also produce zero-knowledge proofs and participate in data availability committees.
POL staking can provide validators with three types of incentives: protocol rewards, transaction fees, and additional benefits.
The upgrade will require the approval of the Polygon community, and if accepted, MATIC holders will receive POL tokens in a 1:1 ratio. Token holders would be given enough time to upgrade, possibly four years or more.
The conversion from MATIC to POL would be as simple as sending MATIC to the upgrading smart contract, which would instantly return the corresponding amount of POL.
The proposal is the third step in Polygon 2.0. This follows the release of Polygon 2.0 architecture and zkEVM PoS system upgrade announced last month.
If the proposed upgrade is approved, the rebuilt protocol architecture will include characteristics such as infinite scalability and no friction between any two protocols.
Polygon is one of the leading Ethereum layer-2 development firms, with over 500 applications running on its network. With POL, Polygon aims to create a multi-chain system that can scale Ethereum and Web 3.0 applications to the next level.