According to U.Today, Polygon, an Ethereum scaling solution, has seen a significant increase in gaming addresses, with a rise of 1,615%. This surge underscores the growing interest and optimism in Polygon's role within the gaming industry. The 'State of Polygon Q1 2024' report by on-chain analytics firm Messari revealed that Polygon's gaming activity saw a substantial increase in the first quarter of 2024. Daily gaming addresses rose by 1,615% quarterly to 207,000, and daily gaming transactions increased by 469% to 734,000 in the same period. The increase in activity was primarily driven by the MATR1X FIRE game by MATR1X.
Several developments have also contributed to the growth of Polygon's gaming ecosystem. Immutable, in collaboration with King River Capital and Polygon Labs, launched the $100 million Inevitable Games Fund, focusing on the Web3 gaming ecosystem. Additionally, Square Enix partnered with Animoca Brands to expand its NFT game, Symbiogenesis, on a global scale.
Other key metrics also indicate the growth of Polygon POS. The stablecoin market value of Polygon rose to $1.5 billion, marking a 19% increase quarter over quarter, with USDT leading the stablecoin market cap at $792 million. Outside of gaming, DeFi daily active addresses rose by 67% quarter over quarter to 50,000. NFTs and Social also saw increased activity, although not as much as gaming and DeFi.
Polygon is currently undergoing significant changes, adding to the optimism surrounding the blockchain. Polygon Labs, a software company focused on zero-knowledge (ZK), is developing a network of aggregated blockchains called the AggLayer, secured by Ethereum. The AggLayer will serve as public infrastructure, uniting user bases and liquidity for any connected chain while also leveraging Ethereum as a settlement layer. As part of the Polygon 2.0 upgrade, MATIC will be replaced with POL. POL will enable holders to contribute to network security on multiple protocols in the Polygon ecosystem using a native restaking protocol, earning incentives for a range of services. These services vary from simple transaction validations to more complex activities like creating ZK-validity proofs. At the time of the report, MATIC, the native cryptocurrency asset of the Polygon blockchain, was trading at $0.696.