What is POL and why is upgrading from MATIC important for Polygon?

On September 4, 2024, Polygon announced a historic milestone by officially transitioning its native token from MATIC to POL. This is not just a simple name change but a comprehensive upgrade of the ecosystem to reshape the future of this leading Ethereum scaling network.

What is POL - From Basic Token to Multi-Utility Ecosystem Tool

Polygon positions POL as a “super-efficient token” — a significant evolution from MATIC. While MATIC is used for basic functions such as transaction (gas fee) and staking on the PoS network, POL is designed to take on a broader role within the entire Polygon ecosystem.

Specifically, POL will support not just a single blockchain but the entire interconnected network through the new AggLayer technology. In the future, as Polygon adopts zero-knowledge rollups technology, POL has the potential to secure multiple chains simultaneously, not just one.

Transition Process - Easy or Complex?

To better understand this migration, distinguish your MATIC storage location:

If MATIC is stored on the Polygon PoS network: The process is fully automated at a 1:1 ratio, requiring no action from users.

If MATIC is on the Ethereum mainnet: Users must manually perform the conversion via the Polygon Portal Interface. This process has no deadline, but communities can vote to set future deadlines.

For users on zkEVM or exchanges: Token bridging back to Ethereum is necessary before the switch, or depend on the exchange to perform the process automatically. Hardware wallets may require additional instructions from Polygon.

New Tokenomics - Opportunity or Risk?

One of the most significant changes lies in the issuance model. POL will have an annual emission rate of 2% over the next 10 years, a stark contrast to MATIC’s limited supply. Half of this emission will go to validators as network security rewards, the other half into a community treasury.

This treasury plays a key role in decentralized governance. The Polygon community will have a real voice in allocating funds to support developers, builders, and new projects within the ecosystem.

How is the market reacting?

Since the announcement, POL has faced price pressure. As of January 12, 2026, POL is trading at $0.15, down 8.44% in the past 24 hours. Its market cap currently stands at $1.63 billion with approximately 10.57 billion tokens in circulation.

The interesting part is the discrepancy between circulating supply and total supply. Some analysts point out that data on CoinMarketCap has not fully reflected the ongoing migration from MATIC to POL, which affects market cap rankings.

Analyst Ali Martinez warns of a “descending triangle” pattern forming on POL’s chart, with a key support level at $0.34. If this level holds, POL could recover to $0.94, but if broken, it may correct down to $0.19.

What do experts say?

Daria Morgen, Head of Research at Changelly, believes the immediate impact will be small, but meaningful changes will emerge over time. Thanks to backward compatibility, all current applications will continue to operate smoothly, while POL gradually boosts transaction speed and security.

Tim Zinin, founder of Botanica, shares a similar optimistic outlook but emphasizes long-term potential. Once fully integrated, POL will streamline transactions and make the network more efficient. With ZK technology combined, Polygon will have a multi-layered defense system, harder to breach.

However, Zinin also expresses caution regarding POL’s continuous emission model. If MATIC is a solid long-term investment due to its limited supply, POL’s ongoing emissions could create inflationary pressures. While necessary to reward validators, it also opens up risks of manipulation that investors should monitor carefully.

Vadym Grusha, CEO of Trustee Plus, is very excited about the community-driven governance model. He believes this self-sustaining structure, combined with Polygon 2.0’s vision, could create one of the most innovative, user-controlled ecosystems in the crypto space.

Future Outlook

The transition from MATIC to POL is a strategic move as competition in layer 2 solutions intensifies. POL represents Polygon’s maturity — evolving from a simple scaling network to a decentralized, secure, multi-chain ecosystem capable of integration across many chains.

However, as with any developing market, investors should trade cautiously. Price volatility continues, and factors such as tokenomics, emission models, and inflationary pressures must be closely monitored. The golden rule always applies: never invest more than you can afford to lose.