Polygon will undergo a mainnet upgrade on Sept. 4, 2024, following the community’s approval of the proposal.
This upgrade marks the transition from the native MATIC token to a new one with the ticker POL and introduces fresh smart contracts.
The Migration Process
“Following PIP-42, consensus was reached that Polygon PoS validators must stake POL (the upgrade to MATIC) to earn protocol rewards and transaction fees in POL,” said Polygon Labs in a July 18 blog post.
SAVE THE DATE: MATIC → POL
After community consensus, the long-awaited upgrade is set for September 4th
• Initial phase: POL replaces MATIC as the native gas and staking token for Polygon PoS
• Subsequent phases: POL will serve a crucial role in the AggLayer
More details pic.twitter.com/SyxsFAlOeZ
— Polygon Foundation (@0xPolygonFdn) July 18, 2024
This means that beginning on September 4, POL will replace MATIC as the native gas and staking token for Polygon’s Proof of Stake (PoS) chain. This transition is a milestone in Polygon’s roadmap, aligning with the broader vision outlined in the “Polygon 2.0” plan introduced last year.
The migration will involve several DeFi protocols, dApps, and infrastructure updates to support the new POL token. Polygon currently uses two scaling solutions: the Polygon PoS sidechain and the Polygon zkEVM zero-knowledge rollup network.
The upcoming Polygon 2.0 architecture aims to enhance the network’s security and efficiency as an aggregated blockchain, unify liquidity, and improve interoperability across multiple ZK-Rollup chains. AggLayer is expected to help link the Polygon 2.0 chains and settle ZK-based security proofs back on Ethereum to secure them immediately.
The Polygon Labs team stated, “POL is a hyperproductive token that can be used to provide valuable services to any chain in the Polygon network, including the AggLayer itself.”
They added that in the long term, community consensus suggests POL will have broader roles in the Polygon staking hub, which will launch in 2025. These roles include block generation, zero-knowledge proof generation, and participation in Data Availability Committees (DACs).
What This Means for MATIC Holders
For holders of MATIC on the Polygon PoS chain, the transition to POL will be seamless. The tokens will automatically convert to POL without any user-required action. This effortless upgrade ensures that users can continue to engage with the network without disruption.
However, some action may be necessary for MATIC holders on Ethereum, Polygon zkEVM, or centralized exchanges (CEXes). Users will have the option to upgrade MATIC to POL through a migration contract already deployed on Ethereum, allowing for permissionless upgrades at their convenience.
The POL upgrade was first deployed on the testnet on July 17, 2024, to ensure a smooth transition. This “dress rehearsal” was important for identifying and fixing potential issues, allowing users and developers to familiarize themselves with the new system before the mainnet migration.