What is Polygon? A beginner’s guide to POL and Ethereum scaling
Polygon is a group of scaling networks for Ethereum, not a single blockchain. Its POL token pays fees, supports staking, and votes in governance.
Vahe HakobyanEditor-in-chief
Updated Oct 6, 20263 min readFact-checked
On this page
- Polygon is several networks, not one chain
- MATIC moved to POL in September 2024
- POL pays gas, can be staked, and carries votes
- The SEC named MATIC in its June 2023 Binance case
Polygon is not one blockchain. It is a family of networks built alongside Ethereum to take pressure off it. Ethereum alone gets slow and costly when many people use it, so Polygon gives developers another place to run apps. Those networks carry payments, trading apps, and games.
The POL token and the MATIC migration
Polygon's original token was MATIC. In September 2024 it began migrating to POL, which is now the network's native token for fees and staking. Some platforms may still list MATIC, so the two are not always interchangeable.
How does Polygon work?
Polygon's networks process transactions away from the Ethereum main chain and settle the results back to Ethereum. That split keeps Ethereum from handling every action itself, which is what makes transactions faster and cheaper. The main one is Polygon PoS, a proof-of-stake chain that runs alongside Ethereum with its own validators.
- Pays gas fees on Polygon PoS
- Can be staked to help secure the network
- Counts in governance votes on proposals
Who created Polygon? The legal issues
Polygon was founded in 2017 by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic. It began as Matic Network and later took the Polygon name for a wider set of networks. In June 2023 the SEC sued Binance and named MATIC as an alleged security. POL was not the token named in that case.
Frequently asked questions
Polygon PoS is a proof-of-stake network with its own validators. Polygon zkEVM was introduced as a zero-knowledge rollup that posts proofs back to Ethereum.
You usually need POL to pay gas fees on Polygon PoS. Some apps cover those fees, and other Polygon networks can use different gas tokens.
It depends on the network. Polygon PoS is usually called a sidechain, while the zero-knowledge rollups are usually called layer 2 networks.
