The transition of MATIC to POL already started last year with an initial introduction of three Polygon Improvement Proposals (PIPs).
By Godfrey Benjamin
Edited by Julia Sakovich
Updated
3 mins read
Polygon has finally revealed a potential date for the migration of its native token MATIC to POL. Notably, the Polygon Ecosystem Token (POL) is meant to replace MATIC as the native gas and staking asset for the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network. After the testnet token migration went live on July 17, it was announced that the official transfer would happen on September 4.
Making POL the main token for the Polygon network was first hinted at last year as part of the Polygon 2.0 overhaul which includes the AggLayer. Eventually, the POL contract went live on Ethereum in October 2023. Polygon Labs called the launch of the token a major milestone on the Polygon 2.0 journey toward building the Value Layer of the Internet.
In its recent blog post, Polygon stated that “POL is a hyperproductive token that can be used to provide valuable services to any chain in the Polygon network, including the AggLayer itself”.
Consequently, MATIC holders who hold tokens on the Ethereum and Polygon zkEVM networks or on any Centralized Exchanges “may” have to go through certain steps to migrate their tokens to POL. There is an exception for MATIC holders on the Polygon PoS chain, MATIC stakers, and MATIC governance delegates. Those who fall into this category are not required to take any action as the migration will take place automatically.
Polygon Labs team highlighted that POL will energize an extensive ecosystem of Layer 2 chains based on zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. In the subsequent stages of the upgrade, POL will begin to also secure other blockchains in Polygon’s wider “aggregated” network, including the AggLayer.
The transition of MATIC to POL already started last year with an initial introduction of three Polygon Improvement Proposals (PIPs).
PIP-18, in its Phase 0, laid the foundation for an extensive network of interconnected Layer-2 chains driven by ZK technology. The aim is to scale Ethereum to the magnitude of the Internet. The other part of the Polygon 2.0 roadmap will include the launch of a new staking layer designed to empower Polygon L2, the upgrade of Polygon PoS to zkRollup.
Implementation of advanced interoperability and shared liquidity protocol through the AggLayer will come along. So far, the Polygon 2.0 has seen the addition of several crucial pieces including Type 1 Prover. This is a zk Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) that allows developers to create L2 auxiliary chains as powerful as the base network.
Compared to other types of available zkEVMs Polygon’s new Type 1 Prover could perform 50X better. Both the Type 1 Prover and the AggLayer are significant parts of the Polygon 2.0 roadmap. While, Type 1 Prover will impact EVM chains with ZK scaling capacity and turn them into validiums, the AggLayer will eliminate the security concerns in validiums.
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Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalist who relishes writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desire to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain media and sites.
