After a year of extensive community discussions, Polygon developers have officially begun the migration of the MATIC token to POL, marking a significant upgrade for the network. This transition introduces POL as the new ticker symbol for Polygon’s native gas and staking token on the Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain. The upgraded token is expected to be listed on exchanges soon.
The move from MATIC to POL is a key step in Polygon’s development into a zero-knowledge (ZK) chain and its integration with AggLayer, a system designed to consolidate liquidity and state across multiple chains. Despite the change, POL will retain MATIC’s existing tokenomics, including a supply of 10 billion tokens.
The migration will start with a 1:1 exchange ratio from MATIC to POL, with a planned gradual increase of 2% in token emissions over the next decade to support network expansion. This emissions model aims to provide ongoing rewards for validators, encouraging new participants to join and contribute to the network.
MATIC holders on the Polygon PoS chain won’t need to take any action, as their tokens will be automatically upgraded to POL. However, those holding MATIC on Ethereum, Polygon zkEVM, or centralized exchanges will need to manually migrate their tokens to POL using a designated migration contract.
The new POL token will provide additional functionalities in the future, such as involvement in block production, zero-knowledge proof generation, and participation in Data Availability Committees (DACs). Polygon utilizes two primary scaling solutions: the Polygon PoS sidechain and the zero-knowledge rollup network, Polygon zkEVM.
The transition to POL was first proposed in July 2023, with the official upgrade from MATIC to POL announced for September 4, 2024. This upgrade is a significant milestone in Polygon’s ongoing evolution, aimed at enhancing the network’s scalability and interoperability.