The blockchain and crypto project Polygon is a protocol looking to scale the Ethereum blockchain through parallel blockchains and other solutions. Polygon has its own blockchain mainnet — an Ethereum sidechain — with its own coin, MATIC.
History
Anurag Arjun, Sandeep Nailwal, Mihailo Bjelic and Jaynti Kanani co-founded Matic Network in 2017, aiming for the project to scale the Ethereum blockchain via a layer-two concept. Matic Network’s launch came in 2020.
The project rebranded as Polygon in 2021 and, in doing so, transitioned to a different scaling approach focused on an ecosystem of Ethereum-interoperable sidechains and solutions. Although the project took on the new name Polygon, it kept the name MATIC for its asset, which is the native coin of the Polygon blockchain.
Polygon’s technicals
The Ethereum blockchain has suffered scaling difficulties at times. Polygon, as an open-source project, aims to help Ethereum scale while still utilizing the blockchain’s power. Polygon has its own proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain that runs parallel to Ethereum as a sidechain, also known as a sister chain, giving it interoperability for Ethereum-compatible blockchains via a bidirectional bridge.
Projects can also build their own solutions within the Polygon ecosystem using a workbench of tools provided by Polygon, including resources for interested projects to construct solutions in the Polygon ecosystem that do not require creating a whole separate Ethereum-compatible blockchain.
Essentially, the Polygon mainnet blockchain (called Polygon PoS Chain) can be built upon, while Polygon’s other tools give different options for building. Polygon SDK, for example, helps parties build their own blockchains with Ethereum interoperability.
MATIC, the native coin of the Polygon blockchain, is used for governance as well as fee payment on the Polygon network. Additionally, MATIC holders can stake their coins for profit.
MATIC price action
Polygon’s price, as seen in the project’s MATIC crypto-asset price, changes from day to day. The asset trades on a number of different crypto exchanges. The MATIC price live today is shown at the top of this page. This page also includes a MATIC price chart showing previous price action for the MATIC coin.
