- Polygon’s POL (formerly MATIC) has surged in the past 24 hours.
- POL’s rise appears linked to a key Binance move.
- POL promises holders new income potential.
Over the past year, Polygon‘s native token MATIC has largely underperformed the broader crypto market despite unveiling a new exciting roadmap and multiple technological developments. Following Polygon’s upgrade of MATIC to POL, however, the network’s fortunes may be changing.
In the past 24 hours, the asset has outperformed the broader crypto market in a move that appears linked to Binance‘s MATIC to POL migration.
Polygon’s POL (MATIC) Soars
Polygon’s POL (formerly MATIC) outperformed most crypto assets on Friday, September 13, surging over 18% from lows of around $0.38 to highs of around $0.45 at one point. While it has shed some of these gains to trade around the $0.42 price point at the time of writing, it still represents an impressive 11% gain over the past 24 hours, per CoinMarketCap data.
In comparison, Bitcoin (BTC), the largest crypto asset by market cap, has posted only a modest 3.7% gain in the past 24 hours at the time of writing. Similarly, Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are up only 3% and 1.5%, respectively.
POL’s recent surge follows the completion of Binance’s migration from MATIC, opening deposits and withdrawals for the new token and listing it for spot and futures trading.
Is the MATIC to POL Upgrade Bullish?
While it is hard to tell how the Polygon MATIC to POL upgrade will impact price, the upgrade promises to open up new income potential for holders.
The initial upgrade has seen POL replace MATIC as the gas and staking token of the Polygon PoS chain. In the future, however, POL will play a key role in securing Polygon’s envisioned multichain ecosystem, which is intended to infinitely scale Ethereum by horizontally connecting as many chains as possible on top of the Layer 1 chain. In this phase, Polygon developers argue that POL will be “a hyperproductive token,” allowing holders to earn rewards across multiple blockchains.
All of these benefits, however, come at the cost of token inflation. Unlike MATIC, which had a fixed token supply, POL’s supply is set to grow by 2% annually over the next ten years. Polygon developers argue that this inflation is necessary for the sustainable growth of the expanding network.
The 2% token emissions will fund validator rewards and the community treasury for development efforts and ecosystem project grants.
On the Flipside
- POL is still far from its 2024 high of $1.3 and even farther away from its all-time high of $2.92.
- POL is unlikely to unlock its full potential till 2025.
Why This Matters
The recent price surge after the MATIC to POL upgrade highlights the potential for a resurgence after a largely woeful showing in recent months.
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