Polygon has announced plans to replace its native MATIC token with POL as part of the Polygon 2.0 upgrade.
POL will serve as an instrument of coordination and growth of the Polygon 2.0 ecosystem and the main driver of the project’s vision to become the value layer of the Internet.
Polygon unveils POL
Having recently announced the gradual rollout of its network upgrade dubbed Polygon 2.0, the Sandeep Nailwal-led Ethereum layer-2 scaling network is now set to replace its native MATIC token with POL as part of its transition process.
According to a whitepaper released by the team, POL will be at the heart of Polygon 2.0, functioning as the driver of growth and coordination.
The team says the creation of POL was inspired by its vision to become a “Value Layer of the Internet,” where value can be created and exchanged seamlessly across the globe the same way information is exchanged today.
POL to offer multi-fold utility
As the driver of coordination and growth of Polygon 2.0, POL will offer multi-fold utility, including validator staking, where members of the Polygon community will be required to stake POL to join the validator pool.
$MATIC is upgrading to $POL
— Zerk.eth (@Rekt_Zerker) July 13, 2023
What that means and why it matters?
🧵 1/8 pic.twitter.com/5uiSc6rrLT
Just like other proof-of-stake (PoS)-based cryptocurrencies, validator staking strengthens the security of the network and safeguards it against Sybil attacks.
POL will also offer holders governance rights in the Polygon 2.0 ecosystem, enabling them to participate in the key decision-making processes of the project, amongst other benefits. Moreover, POL will come with an initial supply of 10 billion, just like MATIC.
However, the team has made it clear that 2% of the entire POL supply will be set aside annually for validator rewards (1%) and community treasury (1%). MATIC holders will be able to upgrade their tokens to POL via official links to be provided by the Polygon team.