Polygon Labs, the developer behind the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon, announced on Wednesday that it will upgrade its original MATIC token to the innovative POL token starting September 4, following community approval.
This technical upgrade is part of Polygon’s 2.0 roadmap, designed to enhance its zero-knowledge-based layer 2 chains ecosystem and boost the utility and functionality of its native token.
The MATIC to POL Migration Process
Polygon, a prominent layer-2 network, has scheduled the highly anticipated MATIC to POL migration. After the upgrade, POL will replace MATIC as the primary token for gas fees and staking on the Polygon PoS chain during the initial phase. In subsequent phases, POL will also secure other blockchains within Polygon’s aggregated network, including the AggLayer.
According to a July 18 blog post by Polygon, “POL is a hyperproductive token that can be used to provide valuable services to any chain in the Polygon network, including the AggLayer itself.”
For current MATIC holders on the Polygon PoS chain, no action is required as their tokens will be automatically upgraded to POL. However, users holding MATIC on Ethereum, Polygon’s zkEVM rollup, and centralized exchanges will need to bridge, update smart contracts, or use a migration contract to ensure a smooth transition to POL.
Polygon emphasized, “If users don’t update RPC settings in a wallet (MetaMask, Rabby, Zerion, etc.), the wallet may still display ‘MATIC’ instead of ‘POL’ as the token symbol for the native gas token for the Polygon PoS chain.”
Additionally, developers and stakers who have delegated their MATIC on Ethereum will see their tokens automatically converted to POL, with an option to opt out if desired.
Journey to Polygon 2.0
Polygon began a testnet migration on July 17 to identify and resolve any potential issues such as bugs and vulnerabilities before the mainnet migration on September 4.
The token migration is a critical part of Polygon’s planned overhaul, as outlined in its Polygon 2.0 roadmap announced last year. This upgrade aims to expand the utility of the network’s native token, with POL expected to play a broader role in the upcoming Polygon staking hub next year. This includes block generation, zero-knowledge proof generation, and participation in Data Availability Committees (DACs).
Meanwhile, Polygon Labs is collaborating with the TON Applications Chain (TAC) to bring Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functionality to the Telegram-linked TON network.