#ChartoftheDay After a year of community-led discussions and consensus, MATIC has been upgraded to POL as the network token for Polygon. According to the official announcement, starting Sep 4, every transaction that takes place on Polygon PoS uses POL as the native gas token.
More about the POL upgrade:
- Backwards compatibility. This ensures that existing applications and users experience a seamless transition without disruption, facilitating a smoother upgrade process and preserving the stability of the Polygon network. Makes it easy for validators, delegates, apps, and users to transition smoothly from MATIC to POL.
- Native gas and staking token for Polygon PoS. POL now secures the Polygon PoS network—and every transaction on the network is fueled by POL.
- Future utility for an aggregated network subject to community consensus. With a staking hub planned for 2025, the current community consensus would see POL support broader roles in an aggregated network in the long term.
- Tokenomic Changes. The initial POL to MATIC upgrade ratio is 1:1, with a critical tokenomics change, subject to ongoing community consensus, that has a 2% emission over a decade to support network security and community development. Half goes to the Polygon PoS staking contract for validator rewards to secure the network, and the other half to a community treasury, supporting builders through a grant program overseen by an independent board accountable to the community. This emission model will continue for as long as needed, with the community holding the power to adjust or discontinue based on evolving needs.
This upgrade lays an essential foundation for Polygon's continued evolution into a multi-pronged, aggregated network. POL will be a crucial part of the massively used Polygon PoS network: It will be used as the native gas and staking token on Polygon PoS and, therefore, fundamental to Polygon network security. Polygon PoS will connect to the AggLayer if it reaches community consensus as part of its evolution into a ZK chain, thereby bringing POL into a broader aggregated network.
