Origins of Polygon (Matic Network) and $MATIC Token
Polygon’s journey began as Matic Network, an initiative founded in 2017 to tackle Ethereum’s scalability challenges. The project introduced its $MATIC token via a Binance Launchpad IEO in April 2019, giving early supporters a stake in the network. After extensive testnets, the Matic Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mainnet officially went live in late May 2020, delivering a high-throughput Layer-2 sidechain anchored to Ethereum. This PoS chain combined Plasma technology with a network of validators staking MATIC, enabling fast, low-cost transactions while periodically checkpointing to Ethereum for security.
Rebranding to Polygon and Early Expansion (2021)
In February 2021, Matic Network rebranded to Polygon, signaling an expanded vision beyond a single chain. Polygon aimed to become a “Internet of Blockchains” for Ethereum – a well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Along with the Polygon PoS chain, the team introduced new solutions like the Polygon SDK (a framework for building custom Ethereum-compatible chains) and announced Polygon Avail (a data availability layer). Polygon quickly gained traction as popular DeFi and NFT projects (Aave, Sushi, OpenSea, and more) deployed on the PoS network, attracted by its low fees and faster throughput compared to Ethereum mainnet.
A major milestone came in August 2021 when Polygon merged with Hermez Network, a zk-rollup project. This $250M deal (paid in MATIC) was the first full-blown merger of two blockchain networks. Hermez was rebranded Polygon Hermez, and its technology and team (led by zkEVM pioneer Jordi Baylina) joined the Polygon ecosystem. The merger also unified the tokens: Hermez’s HEZ token was phased out, and MATIC became the sole utility token for the combined network. By this time, Polygon’s product suite included the PoS chain, Polygon Hermez (zk-rollup), Polygon SDK, and other upcoming tools – establishing Polygon as a multi-solution Ethereum scaling hub.
Advancing Scaling Solutions (2021–2022)
Throughout late 2021 and 2022, Polygon doubled down on scaling R&D, especially in zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography. In December 2021, Polygon announced the acquisition of Mir Protocol (a startup building cutting-edge ZK proofs) in a $400M deal, with the goal of developing Polygon Zero, a highly-scalable ZK rollup leveraging Mir’s recursive proof technology. This came on the heels of Polygon introducing Polygon Miden (a STARK-based, Ethereum-compatible ZK rollup) and Polygon Nightfall (a privacy-focused rollup built in collaboration with EY) earlier in 2021. These initiatives were backed by a massive $1B treasury allocation for ZK development, funded in part by a $450M venture raise in February 2022 led by Sequoia Capital. By assembling multiple ZK teams and projects (Hermez, Miden, Zero, Nightfall), Polygon positioned itself at the forefront of next-generation Layer-2 technology.
Meanwhile, the Polygon PoS chain continued to mature. In January 2022, Polygon implemented Ethereum’s EIP-1559 upgrade on PoS, bringing fee burning and better fee visibility to users. Polygon also achieved a milestone of going carbon neutral in 2022, reflecting a commitment to sustainability. Throughout 2022, the network handled growing user activity (sometimes millions of transactions per day) without significant hiccups, validating the PoS sidechain approach. These developments set the stage for Polygon’s most ambitious scaling product: an Ethereum-equivalent ZK rollup.
The Launch of Polygon zkEVM
Polygon’s ZK efforts culminated in the Polygon zkEVM, a Layer-2 ZK-rollup fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Developed from the groundwork of Polygon Hermez, Polygon zkEVM aims to replicate Ethereum’s smart contract functionality on a faster, cheaper ZK-rollup. The first public testnet for Polygon zkEVM went live in October 2022, demonstrating that the solution was “fully EVM-equivalent” (able to run existing Ethereum apps with no changes). After months of testing, Polygon launched zkEVM Mainnet Beta on March 27, 2023 – a landmark moment in Ethereum scaling. Notably, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin conducted the symbolic first user transaction on Polygon zkEVM to mark the occasion. As an open-source project, Polygon zkEVM’s code and ZK prover technology (Plonky2) were made public for the community.
The rollout of Polygon zkEVM was a major milestone: it proved that ZK-rollups can support general-purpose smart contracts with Ethereum-like security. In the months following launch, Polygon zkEVM continued to evolve – lowering proof generation times, increasing throughput, and decentralizing its sequencer – on the path out of “beta.” This ZK L2 now operates alongside Polygon PoS, giving the ecosystem two complementary scaling options: the battle-tested PoS sidechain and the cutting-edge zkEVM rollup.
Polygon 2.0 Vision and the Transition to $POL (2023)
In mid-2023, Polygon’s leadership unveiled Polygon 2.0, an ambitious blueprint to transform Polygon into the “Value Layer of the Internet.” The vision, announced in June 2023, proposed a sweeping re-architecture of Polygon’s protocols – from network architecture to tokenomics to governance – to achieve unlimited scalability and unified liquidity for Web3. In essence, Polygon 2.0 aims to evolve Polygon into an aggregated multi-chain ecosystem of L2 chains, all powered by a unified protocol and a upgraded token at the center.
A key pillar of Polygon 2.0 is the introduction of $POL, a next-generation native token to succeed $MATIC. In July 2023, Polygon founders published a whitepaper proposing POL as a “third generation” protocol token. Whereas MATIC (like ETH) is a productive token used to stake and secure one chain, POL is designed to be “hyperproductive,” enabling its holders to validate multiple Polygon chains and perform multiple roles on each. This upgrade reflected the multi-chain future: under Polygon 2.0, there could be many Polygon chains (PoS, zkEVM, app-specific L2s, etc.), and POL allows a single token to back the security and alignment of the entire ecosystem. The Polygon 2.0 announcements also emphasized a move toward greater community governance and treasury decentralization, to further cement Polygon as a community-driven protocol. (Notably, a dedicated Polygon Foundation was established in early 2023 to oversee ecosystem funding and research, separate from the for-profit Polygon Labs, signaling an intent to decentralize development.) Over a series of blog posts, Polygon Labs outlined plans for migrating to POL, upgrading the Polygon PoS chain, and implementing new governance structures – all part of realizing the Polygon 2.0 vision.
Polygon CDK and the Multichain Ecosystem (2023–2025)
To enable a world of Polygon-powered chains, the project introduced the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK) in 2023. Polygon CDK is a modular, open-source SDK that makes it easy for developers to launch their own Ethereum layer-2 chains powered by Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology. With Polygon CDK, any project can spin up an application-specific blockchain (an “appchain”) that inherits security from Ethereum via zk proofs. Essentially, Polygon CDK lets applications become their own chains (or lets even other Layer-1 chains become Polygon L2s) with a trustless bridge to Ethereum. This toolkit delivers on Polygon 2.0’s promise of “unlimited scalability” – whenever more capacity is needed, new chains can be deployed, all while remaining unified within the Polygon ecosystem. Polygon CDK also gives developers full sovereignty and customization over their chains (choice of validator set, governance, token economics, etc.), combining the flexibility of appchains with the security of Ethereum.
The first version of Polygon CDK, announced in late 2023, used Polygon’s ZK-prover and Ethereum bridging as defaults. By 2024, Polygon began open-sourcing the CDK and expanding its capabilities. In fact, in 2025 the CDK was rebranded to AggLayer CDK and extended to support multiple tech stacks. For example, in May 2025 Polygon added support for the OP Stack (Optimism’s software stack) as an option in the CDK, allowing developers to launch Optimism-style chains that are natively connected to Polygon’s ecosystem. This multistack approach means developers can choose their preferred execution layer (Polygon’s ZK stack, OP Stack, etc.) and still plug into Polygon’s unified cross-chain protocol (AggLayer) without paying any extra “bridge tax.” The evolving Polygon CDK/AggLayer CDK is positioning Polygon as a universal scaling framework – one that can incorporate the innovations of various Layer-2 communities (Optimism, Arbitrum, etc.) and aggregate them into a single interconnected network.
The Aggregation Layer (AggLayer) for Unified Liquidity
While multiple chains provide scalability, Polygon 2.0’s magic sauce is the Aggregation Layer, or “AggLayer,” which will seamlessly connect all these chains. AggLayer is envisioned as a trustless interoperability protocol that sits atop Polygon chains (and even external chains), allowing them to exchange messages, assets, and liquidity as if on one network. The goal is similar to how the internet’s TCP/IP unified many networks into one: AggLayer will unify disparate blockchains into a cohesive multi-chain ecosystem. In fact, Polygon describes AggLayer as a new “blockchain router” or interoperability standard: “For every blockchain, regardless of execution environment or consensus, to connect to the AggLayer for unified liquidity, users, and state.”
Technically, the AggLayer introduces a “unified bridge” secured by zero-knowledge proofs. Rather than using trust-based bridges with wrapped tokens, Polygon’s AggLayer will use an innovative ZK proof (dubbed the “pessimistic proof”) to verify cross-chain transactions and asset movements in a fully trustless way. This means tokens on one Polygon chain can be treated as native on another chain without re-minting or lengthy lock-up periods, because the ZK proofs enforce a single source of truth for token ownership across all connected chains. In practice, a user could seamlessly move a stablecoin or NFT from, say, a Polygon Supernet or appchain to Polygon zkEVM or Polygon PoS, near-instantly and without relying on third-party bridge custodians. The AggLayer thus promises unified liquidity and user experience across the entire Polygon 2.0 ecosystem.
By late 2024, Polygon Labs began revealing more about AggLayer’s design and potential. An October 2024 blog post called AggLayer “a particle accelerator for blockchain use cases”, highlighting how unified cross-chain connectivity can unlock new innovations (like cross-chain DeFi, unified identity, etc.). The AggLayer testnet was anticipated for 2024, and by mid-2025 Polygon’s core team was actively working on integrating AggLayer with the Polygon PoS chain and other networks. According to the Polygon 2.0 roadmap, by the end of 2025 Polygon will be connected to AggLayer as a multichain settlement layer, enabling seamless interoperability between all Polygon chains. POL, the new token, is slated to play a key role in AggLayer’s operation – for example, POL stakers may run service nodes that facilitate cross-chain validation or shared liquidity pools. In short, AggLayer is the backbone of Polygon’s unified ecosystem, ensuring that scaling out with more chains does not mean siloing users or liquidity. All chains in Polygon 2.0 remain aggregated into “One Polygon.”
$MATIC to $POL: Token Upgrade and Staking Evolution (2023–2024)
To support this multichain future, Polygon embarked on a carefully planned transition from $MATIC to $POL. The new POL token contracts were deployed on Ethereum mainnet in October 2023, and a detailed migration process began. POL is fully ERC-20 compatible and was introduced as an upgrade, not a brand-new genesis asset – meaning existing MATIC holders would swap their tokens for POL at a 1:1 ratio. POL’s design as a hyperproductive token gives it expanded utility: POL stakers will be able to validate multiple chains and perform specialized roles (e.g. acting as a sequencer, generating ZK proofs, participating in data availability committees) across the Polygon ecosystem. This is enabled by a native re-staking protocol, whereby a holder stakes POL once but can opt in to secure many chains in parallel, earning rewards from each.
After months of community discussion and testnet trials, the MATIC → POL upgrade was officially executed on September 4, 2024. On that date, the Polygon PoS network (and its contracts) recognized POL in place of MATIC as the native token. In the initial phase of the transition, POL simply took over MATIC’s functions as the gas token and staking token of Polygon PoS. Every transaction on Polygon PoS from that point used POL for fees, and validators began earning rewards in POL. The swap was seamless for most users: MATIC held on the Polygon PoS chain was automatically converted to POL by the protocol (no user action required). For MATIC held on other networks (Ethereum, Polygon zkEVM) or exchanges, Polygon provided upgrade contracts and coordination with exchanges to facilitate smooth migration.
The full vision for POL extends beyond this one-chain replacement. Per the Polygon 2.0 roadmap, POL will gradually unlock new capabilities through 2024–2025. After becoming the PoS chain’s core token, the next phase is a new “Polygon Staking Hub” in 2025 – a framework that allows POL holders to stake and secure not just Polygon PoS, but all Polygon 2.0 chains (including Polygon zkEVM and app-specific chains) from one interface. In this expanded staking model, POL validators might take on multiple roles concurrently – for example, producing blocks on one chain, serving as a sequencer on another, and running a data availability node for AggLayer, all while using one unified POL stake. Such roles will accrue multiple reward streams to POL stakers (hence the term “hyperproductive”). The community governance process has already signaled support for these ideas in principle. Thus, the token upgrade sets the stage for POL to be the coordination engine of Polygon’s multi-chain ecosystem, aligning incentives across many protocols. It’s a long-term, future-proofing move to ensure that as Polygon grows into an internet of value, its token can secure, govern, and drive utility in a network-of-networks.
Upgrading Polygon PoS: From Plasma Chain to zkRollup
Polygon’s original PoS chain (often just called “Polygon PoS”) has been the workhorse of the ecosystem since 2020. Polygon 2.0 envisions a significant evolution for this chain – transitioning it from a sidechain/Plasma hybrid into a full-fledged Layer-2 zkRollup that inherits Ethereum security. This transition is planned to occur gradually, with minimal disruption to existing dApps and users on Polygon PoS. In the Polygon 2.0 announcements, the team affirmed that upgrading Polygon PoS to a ZK Validity Rollup is a top priority, to “bring the security of Ethereum to Polygon’s most adopted chain.” Achieving this means introducing validity proofs for Polygon PoS transactions and check-pointing every block to Ethereum with proofs, rather than the current committees + periodic checkpoint approach.
Several preparatory steps were taken in 2023–2024 to pave the way. One was launching the POL token and new staking system (as described above), which will allow Polygon PoS to eventually use POL-staked validators for its upgraded consensus. Another step is the series of hardforks and performance upgrades that improved Polygon PoS throughput and finality (more on these below), ensuring the chain is in top shape before layering on ZK proofs. As of the end of 2024, Polygon PoS is still operating as a PoS sidechain (with checkpoints to Ethereum and fraud-proof plasma security for certain assets), but it’s on track to adopt zkRollup technology in the near future. Once Polygon PoS becomes a zkRollup, users will benefit from Ethereum-level security guarantees for all transactions, and withdrawals from Polygon PoS to Ethereum could become near-instant (no plasma exit periods) thanks to validity proofs. This would mark the completion of Polygon’s journey from its Plasma origins to the cutting edge of ZK.
It’s worth noting that throughout 2021–2023, Polygon PoS received multiple upgrades to boost its efficiency and security. For example, in early 2023 a hardfork (sometimes called the “Delhi” fork) was implemented to reduce gas fee spikes and address chain reorganization issues during high load. And in January 2022, Polygon PoS integrated EIP-1559 to introduce fee burning and better user fee estimates, as seen on Ethereum. These upgrades, along with continual client improvements (Bor and Heimdall nodes), have made Polygon PoS a stable, production-grade network. The chain consistently processed 2–3 million daily transactions at its peak usage, validating Polygon’s approach of scaling via a commit-chain. With the Polygon 2.0 enhancements (POL token, improved validator framework, ZK integration), the Polygon PoS chain is set to graduate into an even more secure and powerful layer – effectively Ethereum’s leading execution layer for high-volume dApps, once it fully adopts zkRollup tech.
Network Upgrades: Bhilai, Rio, and the Path to Polygon 2.0 (2025)
To realize the Polygon 2.0 vision, Polygon’s core engineers rolled out a series of major network upgrades on the PoS chain in 2024–2025. These upgrades dramatically increased performance and prepared the network for cross-chain interoperability. Two key upgrades – named Bhilai and Rio – stand out:
Bhilai Upgrade (Mid-2025): Introduced in July 2025, the Bhilai hardfork instantly turned Polygon into a 1,000+ TPS chain. This was achieved by optimizing block parameters (e.g. increasing the block gas limit) and upgrading the consensus layer (Heimdall v2) for faster finality. Bhilai slashed transaction finality from ~60 seconds down to ~5 seconds, meaning users see confirmations almost immediately – a crucial improvement for real-time payments and DeFi. It also smoothed out gas fee volatility to keep fees consistently ultra-low (on the order of <$0.001 per txn in POL). Under the hood, Bhilai included client upgrades aligning Polygon with the latest Ethereum features (like support for “smart accounts” per EIP-4337) and increased the decentralization by handing more control to the community-run Protocol Council (multisig governing certain contracts). Overall, Bhilai was a transformative update that significantly boosted Polygon PoS capacity without requiring new hardware from validators, demonstrating Polygon’s ability to scale within its existing architecture.
Rio Upgrade (October 2025): On October 8, 2025, Polygon activated the Rio hardfork on mainnet – the biggest performance upgrade in Polygon’s history, geared towards global payments. Rio introduced a novel block production mechanism called VEBloP (Validator-Elected Block Producer), which changes how blocks are proposed. Instead of every validator competing each block (which can introduce delays and forks), under VEBloP a small committee of validators is elected to produce blocks in turn, rotating periodically. This yields massive efficiency gains: Polygon’s throughput immediately jumped to ~5,000 TPS in tests, and finality became **near-instant (single-block finality with effectively no reorgs)**. The Rio upgrade also implemented stateless validation on Polygon (one of the first blockchains to do so), meaning full nodes no longer need to store the entire state – they can validate new blocks using succinct “witness” proofs of state. This drastically lowers node resource requirements, making it possible to run a validator node with minimal hardware. By lowering barriers to entry, Rio aims to broaden the validator set over time, enhancing decentralization and resilience of the
