MATIC Price Soars as Ethereum Scaling Solution Polygon Gains Popularity
The native token of the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon, MATIC, has seen an impressive price appreciation of more than 28% since the beginning of 2023. MATIC’s popularity has been driven by its use case as a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, providing faster and cheaper transactions, increased scalability, and security through staking. One of its primary functions is to power the protocol through a gas-based mechanism used to pay network fees. The Polygon network recently underwent a key hard fork that addressed the spikes in the network’s gas fees and disruptive chain re-organizations.
Usefulness for dApps
Being a popular solution for Ethereum scaling, MATIC is especially useful for dApps that often struggle with high transaction fees and slow transaction speeds on Ethereum. Additionally, MATIC has a strong community and developer base, which has helped to drive its adoption and usage.
MATIC is also used for network governance, where users can vote on Polygon Improvement Proposals (PIPs). Unlike other cryptocurrencies with unlimited supply, the supply of MATIC is limited, adding to its scarcity and value.
Partnerships and Milestones
Polygon’s partnership with Nubank, which was announced recently, is being seen as a positive development for the network. Popular TV network SHOWTIME also announced a collaboration with Polygon and Spotify. Additionally, Polygon informed users that Ethereum’s Merge had dramatically reduced its carbon dioxide emissions. Polygon reached a new milestone on November 15, with the number of unique addresses reaching 191.2 million.
Investment Opportunities
The increase in MATIC’s price can be attributed to the growing popularity of the Ethereum network and the enthusiasm that companies have shown in implementing their Ethereum-based dApps using Polygon. This has made Polygon an attractive investment opportunity for those looking to invest in blockchain technology. The unique features of Polygon have made it a go-to solution for dApp developers looking to scale their projects, and its growing popularity and adoption are likely to drive the value of MATIC higher in the coming years.
Data from CoinMarketCap showed that at press time, MATIC was trading at $1.17, up by 5% in the last 7 days. The altcoin had a market capitalization of $10.8 billion, with its 24-hour trading volume as high as $208 million.
While MATIC’s YTD chart may suggest a buy signal, it is important to look at other factors while making an investment decision. The Ethereum Merge that took place on September 15 may be a reason for the decline in the daily volume of MATIC, with both market cap and daily volume on a downtrend.
In 2021, MATIC’s price went soaring thanks to the increasing popularity of Ethereum and surging activity in NFTs and play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity. On 12 May 2021, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated crypto worth $1 billion to India’s Covid-19 relief fund set up by Nailwal. This seemingly unrelated event caused MATIC to surge by 145% within the next 48 hours. By the end of the year, MATIC’s market cap hit a whopping $20 billion, with the altcoin touching its all-time high of $2.92 on 27 December.