Everything About Polygon (MATIC/POL): The Gateway to Scalable and Affordable Blockchain

Richard Espinoza November 30, 2025 10:30 PM

Polygon is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, dramatically reducing transaction costs and increasing speed while maintaining security, making blockchain applications accessible and practical.

Table of contents

Welcome to CoinMinutes. Do you remember 2021? If your intention was to purchase a $20 NFT on Ethereum during that period, you might have paid $50 to $100 in fees alone. In other words, it's like paying three times the price for shipping when buying something online. Essentially, the network was not accessible for the average user.

So, that's the reason Polygon came into the picture.

Polygon is referred to as the "Swiss Army Knife" of Ethereum scaling by the community. What it does is take the heavy, slow, and costly operations from the Ethereum main network and makes them very affordable. Transactions are done in such a way that the cost is just a few fractions of a cent. However, just calling it "cheap Ethereum" is not enough. It has evolved from just being a simple side network to a complex system with advanced technologies, such as Zero-Knowledge, partnerships with big companies, and a huge new plan called Polygon 2.0.

The‍‌‍‍‌ Basics of Polygon

First things first - what is "Polygon" anyway? Because frankly, it is pretty confusing. Polygon is the one that provides the different Ethereum-compatible blockchains with a set of the toolkit. You can think about it as a list of different scaling options.

However, the thing is that most of the time, people mean only one thing when they refer to "Polygon," i.e. the Polygon PoS (Proof of Stake) Chain.

The PoS chain is a "sidekick" of Ethereum. It does the heavy lifting of transactions in a blink of an eye and then "checks in" with Ethereum every so often to maintain security. So, the mechanism can boast of handling millions of transactions every day with the average transaction cost being between $0.01 and $0.05. Just in case you've forgotten, Ethereum can go crazy, and the transaction fee can be $100+ during a busy time.

Polygon: The speedy sidekick scaling Ethereum, connecting chains, and evolving to Polygon 2.0 with new tech and tokens.

The network is undergoing a massive transition at the moment. It is moving from its previous MATIC token to a new POL token. Besides the new name, it is changing from scratch how the network's economy will be functioning to facilitate the Polygon 2.0 concept. In short, it is a universe of chains linked together and powered by ZK ‍‌‍‍‌technology.

The Evolution of Polygon

Polygon‌‍‌‍‍‌ is not a "just happened" kind of project. Its tale is a wise combination of right time, excellent technology, and even better ‍‌‍‍‌branding.

Founders‍‌‍‍‌ and the Story Behind the Project

Polygon initially was created by four people in 2017 with the name "Matic Network": Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and later Mihailo Bjelic.

These were not the type of academic researchers who isolate themselves in their ivory towers to write papers. Instead, they were makers who identified a problem: In its quest to be extremely decentralized, Ethereum became a platform that was hardly usable by regular people. While some projects were engaging in the theoretical exercise of writing whitepapers, the Polygon team was actively closing deals with companies like Reddit, Starbucks, and Nike.

A smart decision. Technology is of no real value if it is not used by ‍‌‍‍‌anyone.

From‍‌‍‍‌ Matic Network to Polygon: Rebranding and Expansion

The project initially was called Matic Network. The plan was to have a basic scaling solution through a technology called Plasma, an early and now-discontinued scaling concept. Although the MATIC mainnet was launched in 2020 and was successful, it was only one of many small scaling projects.

Nevertheless, in February 2021, they decided to change the name to Polygon. It was a wise move.

From Matic to Polygon: A bold rebrand into Ethereum’s Swiss Army knife.

It was much more than just a new name. It was, in fact, a different business plan altogether. 'MATIC' was just one product. 'Polygon', which can be literally translated as 'many-sided', was the platform for all products. Their new mission statement was to be the "Swiss Army knife" of the Ethereum developers. Besides the PoS sidechain, they would also offer ZK-rollups, Optimistic rollups, or any other scaling technology that might be the case in the future. They were no longer just a single product; they were a modular framework.

The rebranding coincided perfectly with the 2021 bull run, which was basically the reason for the high Ethereum gas fees. A cheap alternative was desperately needed, and Polygon was the one that had the solution ready with a nice new brand and a big, ambitious plan. The timing couldn't have been ‍‌‍‍‌better.

How Does Polygon Work? (The Technical Deep Dive)

Let me separate the marketing fluff from what actually happens. Polygon PoS isn't just a copy of Ethereum - it uses a unique two-layer setup that balances speed and security.

Architecture:‍‌‍‍‌ Bor and Heimdall

The network is divided into two parts which collaborate:

Bor (The Block Producer Layer): This can be likened to the factory floor. Bor nodes take your transactions and bundle them into blocks. The underlying code is from Ethereum but has been optimized for speed. The block time is approximately 2 seconds. When you use a Bor node to send tokens to a friend, it is the Bor node that processes the transaction.
Heimdall (The Validator/Checkpoint Layer): They are the managers. Heimdall nodes verify the blocks that Bor has made. It is constructed on Tendermint (the same technology as Cosmos). Every 30-45 minutes, Heimdall generates a "checkpoint" - a condensed version of all the recent blocks - and publishes it to the Ethereum mainnet.

The issue is that although your transaction is "fast" on Polygon, it does not obtain full "Ethereum-level finality" until that checkpoint is ‍‌‍‍‌made.

Bridge‍‌‍‍‌ Mechanisms: PoS vs. Plasma

If you want to move money to Polygon, you have to use a bridge. A couple of main types exist, and understanding the difference between them could spare you a week of waiting:

PoS Bridge: This is the kind of bridge that 99% of people are aware of. It is quick and adaptable.

Deposit: Around 7-8 minutes
Withdrawal: 30 minutes to 3 hours (it depends on when the next checkpoint is)
Security: The security depends on Polygon validators and a multisig contract (I will explain the risks later)

Moving funds to Polygon? The PoS Bridge is fast for deposits, slower for withdrawals.

Plasma Bridge: This is the old one, based on Plasma scaling.

Security: It is "trustless" because it uses the security that comes with Ethereum to verify withdrawals
The problem: You have to wait 7 days to withdraw. The reason is that nobody wants to wait a week to get their money back. Therefore, hardly anyone uses this ‍‌‍‍‌anymore.

Polygon‍‌‍‍‌ 2.0: zkEVM, Plonky2, and the AggLayer

We refer to Polygon PoS as a sidechain, thus it has security limitations. Polygon 2.0 is the remedy. It is gradually shifting everything to ZK-Rollups.

zkEVM: With this technology, developers can execute Ethereum smart contracts on a ZK-rollup without making any changes to the code. Amazing, isn't it?
Plonky2: This is the component that makes Polygon unique. It's a mechanism that can generate one complex Zero-Knowledge proof in a matter of milliseconds using normal computer hardware. This is what makes ZK technology affordable in reality.
The AggLayer (Aggregation Layer): This is the ultimate thing. It's a protocol that links several ZK-chains thereby creating one unified bridge. For example, you may take a token from Chain A and use it to purchase an NFT on Chain B in a matter of seconds, thus sharing liquidity across the entire ‍‌‍‍‌system.

MATIC‍‌‍‍‌ to POL: Utility, Staking, and Migration

The Polygon ecosystem is undergoing a major change in how the tokens work. POL is taking over from MATIC one-to-one.

What Does POL Have to Offer?

One of the main things that POL can do is to boost the productivity of the system way beyond normal levels.

MATIC (old): The token could only be staked in a way that secured the Polygon PoS chain.
POL (new): Apart from doing so on the main PoS chain, the token can also be staked on as many "Supernets" (app-specific chains) or the zkEVM as one wants.

The catch? Validators will be able to select multiple roles (validating transactions, generating ZK proofs, organizing data) on multiple chains simultaneously and thus, be able to claim the rewards from all of them.

How to Stake MATIC/POL

Most of us won't participate in the validating part. It's a very complicated and costly task that involves running a server for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, you can still play the role of a 'delegator.' This is the simple method, and it's the way through which you can get a return on your MATIC/POL.

By holding a MATIC/POL token and staking it, one can reasonably expect a yield of about 4%-6% per year. Here's how to do it in a secure manner:

Where: Visit the official Polygon Staking Dashboard. Warning: Do not interact with random links that come up in your Google search results; phishing is very common.
Process: Enable the interaction of your wallet (MetaMask) that has MATIC/POL on the Ethereum Mainnet. Staking is performed on Layer 1 (Ethereum), not on the Polygon chain. You will have to pay for the transaction in ETH
Choose a Validator: Locate someone whose uptime is high (99%+) and whose commission is fair (5-10%). Be careful of validators offering you 0% commission as they could be unstable or increase their fees without notifying you.
The "Gotcha": There is an unbonding period. Withdrawal of your stake may take around 80 checkpoints, i.e. 3-4 days. At this time, you cannot access your tokens immediately.

Stake MATIC/POL safely with step-by-step guide.

It's quite safe since your tokens are always in your wallet. You are simply giving the right to use their "staking power" to that validator. The validator is the one who does all the heavy work, and you receive a small part of the staking reward the validator gets, less their commission. It's a way to obtain ROR with MATIC/POL while making the network more secure.

Where to Go

On Polygon PoS: For most users holding MATIC on the Polygon chain, the upgrade happens automatically through a hard fork.

On Ethereum (L1): If you have MATIC on Ethereum or any other exchange that is centralized, you are better off using the migration portal to switch over to POL yourself, or simply waiting for your exchange to do it for ‍‌‍‍‌you.

Real-World‍‌‍‍‌ Use Cases & Data

How about we take a look at the real figures? Late 2024 or early 2025 data from DeFiLlama, PolygonScan, and Token Terminal shows:

TVL (Total Value Locked): For the most part, Polygon is the top-tier DeFi platform for liquidity with TVL fluctuating between $800 million and $1.2 billion in terms of liquidity.
Stablecoin Supply: The Network is a significant player in the real world of payments and money transfers as it has over $2 billion worth of stablecoins (USDC, USDT) locked in it.
Daily Transactions: There are around 3 to 4 million transactions daily on the network, which also reaches its peak during NFT drops or gaming events.
Daily Active Users: The network counts daily active wallets from 300k to 500k. On a lot of days, it is on a par with or even surpasses Ethereum mainnet in just the number of users.

Enterprise Adoption (Case Studies)

Reddit: Through Polygon, "Collectible Avatars" were created. Consequently, more than 20 million NFTs were minted and millions of people who bought new wallets didn't understand that they had used blockchain technology.
Starbucks Odyssey: A gigantic loyalty scheme in which "stamps" (NFTs) were exchanged on Polygon. The program has changed its scope since then, but it was a solid demonstration that the technology is scalable in big corporations.
Grab: The "Uber of Southeast Asia" via Web3 wallet integration and Polygon payments conducted a pilot with millions of users in Singapore.

Comparison: Polygon vs. Arbitrum vs. Optimism vs. zkSync

How does Polygon stack up against the other big players?

Comparison table: Polygon PoS vs. Arbitrum One vs. Optimism Base vs. zkSync Era

Challenges and Risks (The Critical Stuff)

At CoinMinutes, we promote transparency as one of our core values. Polygon carries several risks that a wise investor should consider before investing a large portion of their savings.

Security Risks: The Multisig & The Bridge

L2Beat (a platform that tracks Layer 2 security) states that the Polygon PoS bridge is managed by a 5-of-9 Multisig.

In simpler terms: There are nine people who together have the keys to the bridge contract. If five of them agree, they can upgrade the contract right away.

The risk: If someone were to obtain these five keys, or in a hypothetical case where the team is under forced instruction by a government, the billions in the bridge could be taken out or made inaccessible. This is a "trusted" setup, unlike the "trustless" bridges of true rollups.

Incidents and Stability

Heimdall Halt (2022): A bug in the upgrade caused the Heimdall layer to go into a stall. Bor, which depends on Heimdall for consensus, was thus unable to produce checkpoints for 11 hours. Although no money was stolen, it was a very big interruption.
The $24B Bug (2021): A white-hat hacker discovered a critical vulnerability that allowed him to put almost all of the MATIC tokens at risk. Polygon paid a record $2.2 million as a bounty for the fix before the hacker could exploit the vulnerability. This demonstrates that they are serious about security, but it also implies that there are bugs.

The $24B bug: A white-hat hacker saved Polygon’s funds.

Centralization

The PoS chain has 100-105 validators at most. That is, the number of validators is minuscule compared to the hundreds of thousands of Ethereum validators. To make it worse, a large portion of the stake is very often under the control of the top 10-15 validators (mostly large exchanges like Binance) that are responsible for highly centralized situations.

How to Buy, Store, and Bridge MATIC Safely

Where‍‌‍‍‌ to Buy MATIC

Centralized Exchanges (CEXs): Basically, this is the simplest way for a beginner to get MATIC. MATIC can be found on any big international exchange, e.g. Coinbase, Kraken, or Binance, and you can purchase it with dollars, euros, or whatever.
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs): MATIC is also purchasable at a DEX such as Uniswap (Ethereum network) or QuickSwap (Polygon network). This is a little bit more advanced as a crypto wallet with some money should already be in your possession.

How‍‌‍‍‌ to Store MATIC

It is very important to keep them in safe storage. Please, do not keep your coins on the exchange. I can't emphasize this enough. If the exchange is hacked, your MATIC will be stolen. So, get a personal wallet.

Hot Wallets: These are software wallets such as MetaMask or Trust Wallet. They don't charge you and are good for small amounts that you want to utilize on dApps.
Cold Wallets: These are hardware devices either from Ledger or Trezor. They take your keys off the internet. If you are putting in money worth a few hundred dollars, then I strongly recommend you get one of these. This is the security ‍‌‍‍‌standard.

Cold wallets from Ledger or Trezor are strongly recommended to keep your MATIC/POL safe.

How to Bridge Safely

You can't just send your Ethereum (ETH) directly to a Polygon app. You have to 'bridge' it over. There are two options for you when wanting to move funds:

Official PoS Bridge: The best and most secure way to transfer large amounts. To go back to Ethereum, it takes from 30 minutes to 3 hours, and to do it, you need to pay ETH gas fees for the transaction.

Third-Party Bridges: Examples of such platforms are Hop Protocol, Across, or Orbiter Finance.

Pros: Way faster (in minutes) and less expensive. You can also use them to directly move assets from one L2 to another without the need for Ethereum.
Cons: An additional layer of risk in terms of smart contracts is their disadvantage. If, for instance, Hop Protocol is compromised, you run a risk of losing your funds even though Polygon is unaffected.

Here’s a 5-minute guide of the bridging process:

Get a wallet like MetaMask.
Add the 'Polygon Network' to it. (Just Google 'add Polygon to MetaMask,' it's a one-click process on many sites).
Go to the official Polygon Bridge website. Connect your wallet.
You'll pay one big Ethereum gas fee to send your ETH (or USDC, etc.) from the 'Ethereum Mainnet' to the 'Polygon Network.' This part is expensive.
Wait a few minutes. Your tokens will disappear from your Ethereum wallet and magically appear in your Polygon wallet.
That's it! Now you can use apps like QuickSwap. Your fees will now be paid in MATIC and will be almost free. (Make sure you have a tiny bit of MATIC in your wallet for gas).

Regulatory‍‌‍‍‌ and Tax Considerations

This is the frightening part, but it can't be avoided. The U.S. SEC has identified MATIC in lawsuits as an asset that they consider to be an unregistered security. Essentially, it is a huge legal risk of the project looming over it. Moreover, taxes are unavoidable. If you sell, trade, or even use your MATIC to purchase an NFT, it is considered a taxable event. You should maintain records and consult a tax ‍‌‍‍‌professional.

The‍‌‍‍‌ Future of Polygon

The ultimate goal is the AggLayer. Polygon 2.0 intends to stop being a single "chain" and start being an "ecosystem."

By linking the PoS chain, the zkEVM, and enterprise "Supernets" with the help of a shared ZK-bridge, they want to achieve infinite scalability. The move to the POL token and the successful implementation of the Type-1 zkEVM prover are two very important things for their success. In fact, by doing this, Polygon would almost completely solve the problem of fragmentation of Layer 2s, thus enabling liquidity to flow freely amongst hundreds of different chains as if they were one.

Polygon 2.0: From one chain to an interconnected ecosystem.

Continue‍‌‍‍‌ Your Crypto Journey with CoinMinutes

Polygon is a major player, however, it is undergoing the most significant change in its history - moving from a low-cost sidechain to a secure ZK-network. It provides great utility to users who cannot afford Ethereum, but users need to have trust in the team and multisig signers.

The crypto world is very volatile. What was the winner of yesterday could be the has-beens of today. At CoinMinutes, we are always updating ourselves with the on-chain data, security audits, and roadmap changes which you don't have to do. Keep coming back for more straightforward ‍‌‍‍‌guides.