Spotlight: Polygon (MATIC)

The very first project to be featured on Polylastic’s ‘Spotlight’ series is none other than Polygon network! Given the importance of Polygon, not only to the overall cryptocurrency space, but to Polygon-built Polylastic, it only made sense to cover this incredible blockchain to start this series off right! Let’s get right into a bit of history, a technical breakdown, the impact that Polygon is making, and much more!

Polygon’s Origins

Back in 2017 a data scientist by the name of Jaynti Kanani spotted a weakness in the Ethereum blockchain. NFT projects had just started to rapidly gain in popularity, and the network was experiencing strain and congestion. Processing times were quite long and gas fees were greatly increasing. In turn, the volume and size of transactions was limited. Furthermore, the increase in network activity also led to security issues.

Determined to seek out a practical solution to Ethereum’s dilemma, Kanani reached out to a colleague and talented blockchain developer, Sandeep Nailwal. He also connected with Anurag Arjun, a successful business consultant. The three joined forces and after a lot of brainstorming and ironing out all of the details, they launched the game-changing decentralized Layer-2 platform, Matic, in October of 2017. The Matic network was designed to address the scalability problem of Ethereum.

As Matic began to expand on its mission of increasing scalability within the Ethereum network, the team decided to rebrand to Polygon while maintaining the name of the network’s native token, MATIC. The Polygon network has achieved a faster, cheaper, and more scalable blockchain model that has taken the cryptocurrency word by storm.

So What Exactly is Polygon (MATIC)?

Polygon is a decentralized Ethererum scaling platform that addresses many of Ethereum’s challenges, including scalability and a lack of community governance. Dubbed “Ethereum’s internet of blockchains,” Polygon offers a full-fledged multi-chain experience, which can be attributed to its interoperability and scaling framework.

Polygon helps build interconnected blockchain networks that can “talk” to each other while ensuring high level security, low gas fees, and fast transactions. The network is designed to help developers launch customized, interoperable blockchains.

How Does Polygon Work?

Polygon’s framework comprises a four-layer system architecture, as follows:

• Ethereum layer — This optional layer consists of smart contracts designed to handle transaction finality, staking, and interoperability between Ethereum and the different Polygon sidechains.
• Security layer — This layer allows chains to benefit from an additional layer of network security. The security layer is also optional.
• Polygon networks layer — The Polygon networks layer is one of the two mandatory layers designed to handle local consensus and producing blocks.
• Execution layer — The second mandatory layer is the Execution layer, which is designed to execute smart contracts.

Sidechains deployed on Polygon can communicate with one another and the Ethereum main chain, enabling use-cases such as interoperability between multiple blockchain network platforms and decentralized applications (DApps).

Polygon’s framework revolves around a number of technologies as follows:

• POS Chain — Polygon’s main chain, known as the Polygon POS Chain, integrates a proof-of-stake (POS) security layer with different blockchain networks operating on Polygon.
• Plasma Chains — Polygon moves assets between the root chain and child chains through Plasma bridges.
• ZK-rollups — A scaling solution designed to process transactions off-chain before finalizing them on the Ethereum main chain.
• Optimistic rollups — An Ethereum-based solution designed to allow for near-instant transactions.

The Future of Polygon

Since its inception, Polygon has established itself as one of the largest blockchain technologies in the world, enjoying a huge increase in network activity and institutional interest. The Polygon community has rapidly expanded in size and social engagement is being recorded at all time highs. Polygon has also secured many notable and impressive partnerships, collaborations, and integrations. Included among these are the following:

• Reddit — Reddit recently announced its plan to sell NFTs, leveraging its relatively new Avatar Builder to allow the creation and selling of avatars to its community. The avatars will be available on Polygon.
• Facebook — Facebook announced that it has chosen Polygon to expand into the Web3 space.
• Instagram — Instagram recently announced that it is planning NFT integrations utilizing Polygon.
• Stripe — Stripe announced in April of 2022 that it will support payouts over the Polygon network, which was chosen for its low fees, speed, integration with Ethereum, and broad wallet compatibility.
• HTC — HTC recently launched a Polygon-supported metaverse phone “Desire 22 Pro,” which comes with a digital assets wallet and virtual reality (VR) headset pairing feature, as part of the Taiwanese firm’s Web3 expansion.
• Adobe — Adobe will integrate Polygon to scale NFT functionality in Behance social platform. The integration will allow Behance users to mint and display their NFTs while avoiding higher fees on Ethereum.
• Bulgari — Through a collaboration with Polygon, Bulgari will include NFTs to accompany its newest high jewelry collection.
• Disney — Polygon is one of only six initiatives selected to participate in Disney’s 2022 Accelerator program — a business and development program designed to spur the growth of innovative companies around the world.
• Starbucks — Starbucks will offer NFT-based loyalty program using Polygon’s blockchain technology.

In Closing

As you can see, Polygon network enables a growing range of real-world use-cases. Developers can launch amazing products utilizing the power of Polygon’s technology. This rapidly growing blockchain is quickly unbecoming a household name, and you can bet that Polylastic is proud to be built on Polygon.

This concludes the first Polylastic ‘Spotlight.” The Polylastic team hopes that you enjoyed this exclusive insight into Polygon. Stay tuned for future ‘Spotlight’ featured projects.

Website | Twitter | Telegram | Discord | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook