Polygon Debuts a New POL Token Contract on Ethereum
- Polygon noted that the POL token will replace MATIC.
- MATIC holders have four years to move to the new token.
- On-chain data shows a decrease in the supply of ETH tokens on centralized exchanges.
Ethereum scaling solution Polygon has announced a new token contract for its POL token on Ethereum. The launch is part of its updated roadmap and new ecosystem. Polygon currently uses the MATIC token as its native token. However, the team announced that Polygon will not support two tokens. So, the POL token will replace MATIC. In addition, MATIC users have four years to move to the new token.
Polygon created the POL token on October 25 at 09:06 a.m. UTC. The team explained that the POL token would “power a vast ecosystem of zero-knowledge-based Layer 2 chains.” The launch of the POL token opens the door for the implementation of other parts of the Polygon 2.0 roadmap, including the creation of a new shared liquidity protocol for all Polygon networks, building a new staking layer for the Polygon community, and upgrading the current Proof of Stake (PoS) network to zkEVM layer 2.
According to the Polgyon team, Polygon networks are yet to begin using the POL token. As of now, the Polygon community still uses the MATIC token for staking on Polygon PoS and Polygon zkEVM as well as to pay gas fees on the PoS network. The team added that app developers, validators, and users do not need to trade in their MATIC for POL yet.
Polygon Labs originally announced that it was creating a new layer-2 ecosystem in late June. It dubbed the new ecosystem “Polygon 2.0.” Last month, the team revealed that Polygon 2.0 would use POL as its new token. However, POL was still a proposal at the time and had not been added to Ethereum.
In other news, data from on-chain data aggregator Santiment shows that the amount of Ethereum available on exchanges has suffered a huge decrease. The decreased level of ETH on centralized exchanges has not been seen since 2015.
The massive withdrawals of ETH from exchanges came as the token moved past the $1,850 price mark for the first time in over two months. Santiment data shows that new whales have purchased Ethereum tokens worth $98.06 million in recent days.
Ethereum has surged by more than 12% since Sunday. It appears the growth is triggered by renewed anticipation for Bitcoin. The crypto community is hyped about the possibility of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF application this year.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
