Polygon Launches Layer 2 Token Swap and Decentralized Exchange Aggregator

Ethereum layer 2 aggregator Polygon has expanded its scaling offerings even further with the launch of a new token swap service.

In an announcement on Dec. 15, the Polygon team unveiled Polygon Token Swap, a new feature added to its native wallet enabling instant token swaps.

The new feature, which is powered by 0x API, allows users to exchange different token types internally. This negates the need to use a third-party DEX aggregator to source the best swap rates.

The token swap app does the aggregating by scouring the top decentralized exchanges, before enabling high-speed, low fee swaps according to the announcement.

Layer 2 ecosystem expanding

Polygon currently has just under $5 billion in total value locked according to DeFiLlama. Collateral locked across the Polygon ecosystem has surged 1,440% since the beginning of the year as layer 2 networks gain momentum.

Flash loan DeFi platform Aave has the largest market share on Polygon with $2.2 billion TVL or 44.7% of the total. The Quickswap DEX is the second-largest protocol on Polygon with just under $700 million in TVL.

In terms of the entire layer 2 ecosystem, Arbitrum is still the industry leader with a 42% market share, followed by the derivatives DEX dYdX with 18%.

Recent research from Messari revealed that decentralized exchanges on Arbitrum have enjoyed more initial traction as the ecosystem has expanded. There are currently 12 exchanges deployed on the optimistic rollup-based network and seven of them have more than $50 million TVL.

A slower, white-listed rollout of Optimistic Ethereum has limited the growth of DEXs on that network so far compared to Arbitrum, it concluded. Optimism is currently fifth in the L2 charts with $400 million TVL and a 7.3% market share.

MATIC price reaction

Polygon’s native token, which is still called MATIC, has gained 4.1% on the day to trade at $2.10 according to CoinGecko.

The token has fallen with the wider crypto market retreat over the past fortnight where it has lost 13%. However, it is one of the best performing crypto assets of the year so far and is just 19% down from its May 18 all-time high of $2.62.

On Dec 9, Polygon announced the acquisition of the Mir Protocol for $400 million in tokens and stablecoins. The merger will allow the platform to boost layer 2 transactions even further with Mir’s innovative recursive proofs scaling technology.