POL, as described on the Polygon blog, is the next generation protocol token of the network, designed to be the main coordination and growth tool of the Polygon ecosystem and the main driver of the Vision Layer. Value for internet.
This new initiative proposed by a group of Polygon founders and researchers is called a “technical update” of the native asset of the Polygon network, recently redesigned in all parts of its infrastructure.
A third generation token
As noted in the blog, there are three types of tokens. First, there is BTC, the cryptocurrency of the Bitcoin network, which is a successful but “unproductive” native token, because it does not give its holders any role in the protocol or incentives to play that role. Then, ETH in Ethereum, which established the second generation with tokens this time “productive” that allow their holders to be validators of their respective protocols and be rewarded for it; and third, Polygon’s POL which represents the third generation of native assets: hyper-productive tokens, which, similar to productive tokens, allow their holders to become validators and receive rewards, “but with both revolutionary development,” they said.
The new improvements added to POL are that validators can validate as many chains as they want; and that each can offer multiple roles (with their corresponding rewards) to validators. In this sense, they stated the following:
“This new design secures, coordinates and aligns the Polygon ecosystem and enhances its growth, while offering virtually unlimited opportunities to POL holders.”
VISIONS
The vision behind Polygon as the “Internet Value Layer” says it creates a world where value can be created and exchanged freely and globally, similar to how we create and exchange information today. .
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In this sense, they emphasize that in order to make this ambitious vision a reality, Polygon’s infrastructure must evolve, become more scalable, without sacrificing security and user experience.
To address this, they decided to introduce a modified protocol architecture as part of Polygon 2.0, a network of L2 chains operated by ZK, and united by a new coordination protocol that cross-chain, which can support an almost unlimited number of them, under fluid interactions and immediately without additional assumptions of “security or trust” without of course sacrificing security and user experience, such as discussed. In summary, to paraphrase, they said the following:
“To coordinate, protect and develop this powerful network, an advanced and well-designed protocol is needed. Economic design and mechanisms are needed. This inspired the creation of POL.
Objectives of POL
Within the POL Whitepaper they noted that based on the work analysis, various opportunities were identified that, in theory, POL could benefit the Polygon ecosystem. These opportunities are presented as POL design goals and consist of five areas that include: ecosystem security, permanent scalability, ecosystem support, negative conflict of interest or no friction, community owners .
1. Ecosystem security. POL should help establish a highly decentralized group of validators that can run and secure any Polygon chain. Validators should be encouraged to join and stay in the pool to help secure as many chains as possible. At the same time, prevent them from doing anything harmful.
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2. Unlimited scalability. POL must support the exponential growth of the Polygon ecosystem and a “hyperblockchainization” of the world. Basically, it should allow the pool validator to scale to support thousands of chains.
3. Ecosystem support. As a maturing global network, Polygon needs financial support for further development and growth. Therefore, POL should help establish a self-sustaining financing mechanism for such activities. This funding vehicle should be managed by the Polygon community.
4. No friction. Blockchain networks often require users and developers to maintain, support, or use their native tokens to operate the network. This causes friction and degrades the user and developer experience. The POL should be designed in such a way as not to allow any such contradiction.
5. Community property. Polygon is envisioned as a decentralized network managed by its community. Granting management rights to POL holders enables the creation of effective management models where decision makers are directly encouraged to support proposals that are in the best interest of the Polygon ecosystem.
What will happen to MATIC?
Finally, the question asked by many is what will happen to Matic after the full deployment of POL, and as read in the whitepaper of the new token, the proposal of POL itself is to be the successor of MATIC, so they mean that it is necessary to migrate from the old sign to the new one.
In other words, in the case of self-custodial MATIC holders, they explained that the migration will require a smart contract exchange that must be made for that purpose. “The exchange contract must accept the MATIC from any address and return the corresponding amount of POL to the same address.”
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Meanwhile, for MATIC holders who store their tokens on centralized exchanges, the migration is mostly automatic and does not require any action on the part of the token holder.
Do I need to change my Matic?
In summary and in light of their focus, yes, all MATIC holders should be able to exchange their tokens for POL, including those who have MATIC “locked” for several years in DeFi or vesting, and even those who do not. POL will not be known until some point in the future, because migration will allow this action to take place over a long period of time (for example, 4 years), “if not forever”, they point out before describing this process as follows:
“Migration should be voluntary, that is, it should not be forced. However, if POL is accepted by the majority of the community as the new native sign, there will be little or no reason to continue with MATIC instead of POL. In this situation, it is reasonable to expect that the migration will be fully implemented, that is, the majority of MATIC will be transferred.”
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