Adding value here 💯

Here's what nobody tells you about launching a blockchain: the cold start problem will kill you before bad tech ever does.
You can have brilliant architecture, a passionate team, and genuine innovation—but without users, liquidity, or network effects from day one, you're shouting into the void. Most promising projects die not from lack of vision, but from lack of momentum.
We've been thinking about this problem for years. Watching talented founders struggle not because their ideas were wrong, but because bootstrapping from zero is brutally hard. So we built something different: the AggLayer Breakout Program. And I'm genuinely excited about what's already emerging.
The Model That Actually Works
The program is straightforward—incubate high-potential projects, provide resources and expertise to help them move fast, then graduate them into independence while keeping them connected to AggLayer's growing ecosystem. No walled gardens. No permanent dependencies. Just a launchpad that solves the cold start problem.
But here's the part that makes this sustainable: Graduated projects allocate 5-15% of their native token supply to POL stakers. Not as rent. Not as tribute. As genuine alignment—stakers help secure AggLayer, graduated chains benefit from that security and from AggLayer's unified liquidity, and everyone's incentives point the same direction.
We're not trying to own these projects. We're trying to create conditions where ambitious builders can launch without spending two years just convincing people to show up. Every successful graduation strengthens the entire network through real network effects, not manufactured hype.
The First Wave Is Already Here
Privado ID (formerly Polygon ID) graduated and is building zero-knowledge identity infrastructure for humans and AI agents. HSBC and Deutsche Bank are already testing it. The EU Blockchain Sandbox selected them for regulatory applications. They're allocating around 5% of token supply to POL stakers.
Miden graduated to build what they call "blockchain at the edge"—bringing computation to user devices with next-gen ZK architecture. Led by Facebook blockchain alumni, they're positioning to compete with Solana and Aptos. Around 10% of native tokens going to POL stakers.
Katana just graduated as the first AggLayer chain integrating CDK OP Stack—marking AggLayer's multistack era where heterogeneous chains coordinate seamlessly. They're a DeFi-focused chain using AggLayer as canonical bridge, allocating ~15% of KAT tokens to POL stakers.
ZisK graduated too—co-founded by Polygon's own Jordi Baylina, focused on low-latency zkVM proving technology that pushes verification performance boundaries. Pure infrastructure play strengthening the entire zero-knowledge ecosystem.
These aren't vaporware announcements. These are teams shipping, growing communities, and graduating into independence while remaining connected to AggLayer's coordination layer.
Why This Changes POL's Value Equation
Look, I've seen enough tokenomics white papers to know most "utility" is just forced holding with extra steps. This is different because the alignment is genuine.
POL stakers earn from three distinct sources now:
Polygon PoS transaction fees and staking rewards (operational, proven)AggLayer coordination fees as cross-chain activity scales (emerging, high growth)Breakout airdrops from graduated projects allocating meaningful token percentages (recurring as new projects launch)
That third piece multiplies utility with every graduation. We're not diluting value across more tokens—we're creating complementary exposure where POL stakers benefit from ecosystem growth in multiple dimensions.
And here's the beautiful part: as more projects graduate and connect to AggLayer, network effects compound. More chains means more cross-chain connections. More connections means more coordination revenue. More revenue means more attractive staking returns. More staking means stronger security. Stronger security attracts more projects wanting to connect.
That's a flywheel, not a Ponzi. Real projects. Real utility. Real network effects.


The Staking Dashboard Nobody Asked For (But Everyone Needs)
We're launching a new tab in the Polygon Staking app that calculates your total staked amount and total hours staked relative to all other stakers. It's a public tool—meaning graduated projects can use it for fair airdrop distribution based on actual contribution.
No snapshot games. No "you had to be there on Tuesday at 3pm" nonsense. Just transparent calculation of who's been securing the network and for how long. Projects can use it or not—it's sovereignty all the way down. But the infrastructure exists to reward genuine participation fairly.
This matters because airdrops shouldn't be lottery tickets. They should recognize the people who were actually providing infrastructure security when it mattered. The stakers who showed up not for airdrop speculation, but because they believed in what we're building.

What We're Learning as We Build
The first cohort taught us something important: sovereignty and coordination aren't opposites. Projects can be fully independent—choosing their own direction, building their own communities, forging their own paths—while still benefiting from AggLayer's unified liquidity and cross-chain infrastructure.
Miden isn't "Polygon's chain." They're an independent blockchain with unique architecture competing at the highest levels. But connecting to AggLayer gives them day-one access to liquidity and users that would take years to bootstrap alone.
Privado ID isn't controlled by us. They're building identity infrastructure with major institutions and regulatory engagement. But allocating tokens to POL stakers creates alignment where their success benefits the broader ecosystem that helped them launch.
This is what actual ecosystem building looks like—not extractive relationships where everyone's fighting for scraps, but collaborative infrastructure where rising tides actually lift boats.
The Projects We Can't Talk About Yet
Several more are in the pipeline. A DePIN project that's genuinely ambitious. A prover network pushing zkVM boundaries. Multiple high-impact chains that will make AggLayer's value proposition even more compelling.
Some will graduate in coming months. Some might not make it—that's the nature of early-stage building. But each attempt teaches us more about what works, what founders need, and how to structure programs that create genuine value rather than manufactured hype.
The goal isn't launching a thousand chains. It's launching the right chains—projects that meaningfully contribute to network effects, that solve real problems, that attract developers and users because the product is compelling, not because incentives are juiced.
Quality over quantity. Always.
Why I'm Optimistic About What's Coming
I've been in crypto long enough to see countless "ecosystem programs" that were really just marketing budgets disguised as infrastructure investment. Teams got grants, shipped nothing substantial, and disappeared when incentives dried up.
This feels different because the incentives are genuinely aligned. Projects graduate into independence, which means they succeed or fail based on actual product-market fit. But POL stakers benefit from their success through airdrops, creating shared upside without forced dependencies.
And the technical foundation—AggLayer's coordination infrastructure—is real. Not vaporware. Not distant roadmap promises. Operational code connecting chains right now, with clear path toward the fast interop and atomic transaction features that will make multi-chain coordination feel seamless.
As a builder watching this develop, what excites me isn't the individual projects (though many are genuinely impressive). It's the pattern we're establishing—a playbook for how ecosystems can nurture innovation, provide resources that accelerate development, then graduate projects into independence while maintaining beneficial connections.
If we execute well, this model could define how ambitious blockchain projects launch for the next several years. Not through captured ecosystems demanding tribute, but through collaborative infrastructure that makes cold starts warm and shared success genuinely possible.
The most meaningful innovations rarely announce themselves with maximum hype. They just solve hard problems for builders who were previously stuck—then compound quietly as more people realize the infrastructure actually works. That's what we're building here. And I genuinely can't wait to see what graduates next.
$POL @Polygon #Polygon