Everything you need to know about this Ethereum scalability solution project, enabling faster transactions and lower fees.
Index
What is Polygon Blockchain?
Polygon, formerly known as MATIC Network, is a protocol created with the aim of increasing the scalability of the Ethereum blockchain.
Currently, Ethereum hosts a wide range of decentralized applications that allow you to intervene in financial services, develop economic activities, participate in NFT games, etc.
The growing popularity of these applications has caused an increase in the number of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
The result of this is that transmission costs increase and traffic of transactions is obstructed.
Polygon is a project that is born to correct these problems of Ethereum’s transaction processing capacity per second.
Through sidechains, Polygon connects to the Ethereum network, favoring superior blockchain processing.
Thus, Polygon provides faster transactions and lower costs for users.
In addition to helping Ethereum to expand in size, Polygon also enables communication between different blockchains and promotes usability improvements without compromising the principle of decentralization.
Who created the Polygon Blockchain?
The Polygon project was developed in India by Jaynti Kanani (current CEO), Sandeep Nailwal (Operations Director) and Anurag Arjun (Product Director).
Initially, this trio of talented developers had the financial support of their relatives and friends in Bombay.
Thus, in 2017 this project was born under the name of MATIC Network. In February 2021 it changed its name to Polygon.
We could say that their creators were true visionaries since they foresaw the current needs of the crypto industry.
That is why today Polygon has positioned itself as the most promising Ethereum scaling solution. And this was thanks to the highly skilled team that developed it.
How does Polygon Blockchain work?
Polygon is a multi-level platform that provides high scalability thanks to a large number of sidechains or sidechains.
These sidechains are alternate blockchains to the main blockchain which is Ethereum.
The sidechains are unique blockchains that are effectively and cost-effectively linked to the Ethereum blockchain.
That is why Polygon is a “layer 2” network. This means that it acts as a complementary layer to Ethereum, which does not seek to modify the original layer of the blockchain.
The scaling solution offered by Polygon is based on processing transactions on these sidechains that allow increasing the speed of its performances.
Polygon can not only connect with the Ethereum network, but it can also run with any other blockchain network to create a structure of connection and communication between different blockchains.
What is Polygon MATIC token used for?
Polygon has its own cryptocurrency, called MATIC.
After the rebranding in 2021, Polygon kept its MATIC cryptocurrency as the digital coin that supports the network.
It is essentially used to pay fees in the Polygon network, as it is the payment and settlement unit between the participants interacting within it.
Moreover, MATIC is used as a governance token as it grants its holders the right to vote on network updates. That is, they can decide if a new scalability solution is implemented in Polygon.
What makes Polygon so special?
Polygon is not the only project that aims to accelerate Ethereum transactions and increase scalability. Other competing networks such as Polkadot, Cosmos and Avalanche exist.
However, there are features that Polygon offers that make it so special and stand out from its competitors.
The approach that Polygon takes makes its solutions both useful and attractive to both developers and large companies, as well as individual users. This is because Polygon offers a battery of diverse solutions on a single network.
This approach allows, for example, a developer to choose a scaling solution that best suits their application. Thus, the levels of control and customization that Polygon offers make it unique.
Is Polygon Blockchain and MATIC the same thing?
As we already mentioned, before the project changed its name, Polygon was called MATIC Network.
As the project began to expand and gain more popularity, MATIC Network became Polygon.
This change of name and brand may cause some confusion, but the truth is that they are the same project.
Currently, what is specifically called MATIC is the native cryptocurrency of Polygon.
In comparison with its competitors, Polygon stands out as a “layer 2” solution that deserves to be taken into account.
That is because even though Polygon is an emerging technology, its proposal is highly attractive.
That is why there are more and more users and developers who choose Polygon in order to scale Ethereum, maintaining decentralization and security at a low cost.
Without a doubt, Polygon will continue to be talked about with its innovative solutions.