Polygon

Polygon is what is known as a layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum. The Polygon network is primarily designed to introduce capabilities that go beyond the base functionalities of Ethereum. Integrations such as Security as a Service, dedicated and scalable blockchains, and full Ethereum compatibility are what Polygon offers up front. But the layer 2 solution can do much more!

How Polygon came about

Polygon was originally introduced as Matic Network in October, 2017, and was only renamed to Polygon in 2021. Matic Network was originally co-founded by Jaynti Kanani, Anurag Arjun, Sandeep Nailwal, and Mihailo Bjelic. The native cryptocurrency on Polygon is still called MATIC, which is a fully tradable cryptocurrency. Along with trading, MATIC is used to pay for fees, staking, and any voting governance that takes place on the Polygon network.

There is a maximum supply of ten billion MATIC tokens that will ever be minted (with over 75% of them already issued).

Along with the creation of sidechains and blockchains that exist outside Ethereum’s main chain, Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake consensus protocol is what has allowed the layer 2 solution to quickly become an alternative solution for cheaper and faster transactions.

- Another benefit to Polygon is that it consumes far less energy than Ethereum. The transaction throughput (how many transactions are verified at a time) is much higher than Ethereum’s because the network relies on Proof-of-Stake and DeFi mechanisms to verify transactions. The result is that Polygon’s validators energy consumption is orders of magnitude less than Ethereum’s.

Despite having a native cryptocurrency in MATIC, and operating on a Proof-of-Stake protocol, users can still use Ethereum with a Polygon smart contract and later withdraw the ETH onto the Ethereum main chain. Thus, Ethereum users can take advantage of Polygon for a host of opportunities.

Polygon use cases

The primary use case for Polygon is to connect projects to the Ethereum blockchain. In order to accomplish this purpose, Polygon is often used to deploy existing blockchain networks as well as develop custom blockchains. And because Ethereum is the “programmable blockchain”, many projects look to fully interface with its capabilities.

Polygon can be used to enable full communication between Ethereum and another blockchain, making them compatible with the main chain. At the moment, Ethereum runs on a proof-of-work system which is robust but cumbersome, but offers stronger security than less prominent blockchains can generate. When blockchains and projects are connected to the established blockchain via Polygon, the project is usually considered to be more reliable, or more legitimized. These projects can also offer lower transaction fees and faster interoperability than they would if developed directly on Ethereum.

Secondary use cases

An out-of-the-box use case for Polygon is if you wish to use a more environmentally friendly cryptocurrency network. Even though Polygon already has an incredibly low energy consumption level, the platform has an inspiring goal to become “[carbon neutral and climate positive](https://cointelegraph.com/news/polygon-commits-to-going-carbon-neutral-in-2022)” in 2022. If they achieve this feat, Polygon will be the first blockchain to be known as “climate positive.”

As exciting and enticing as Polygon’s environmental initiatives are, perhaps the hottest application of Polygon is bridging projects and assets between Ethereum and Polygon. Decentralised Financial (DeFi) applications are some of the most common projects developed with Polygon. Some popular DeFi applications that utilise Polygon include Aave, Curve Finance, and Sushiswap. The other popular project type that is often established using Polygon is non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Polygon and NFTs

Polygon is one of the most popular cryptocurrency networks for NFT enthusiasts since the transaction fees and overall network speed are highly advantageous when compared to that of Ethereum. Not only can users mint NFTs for much cheaper (low to zero transaction fees), the process is far faster thanks to Polygon’s high throughput.

Unfortunately, Polygon’s blockchain isn’t autonomous like other blockchains, meaning it does rely on the security of Ethereum. If anything happens to Ethereum, Polygon might suffer as a result.

Polygon on Fayre

Fayre’s NFT marketplace is designed to be as inclusive as possible which is why it has multi-chain features to allow anyone to mint and trade NFTs with their favourite blockchain. Polygon is one of Fayre’s chosen blockchain’s in the multi-chain because it is highly useful for low to zero transaction fees. Ethereum is also part of Fayre’s multi-chain, meaning fans and brands can mint, buy, sell, and trade NFTs using ETH, but pay for transaction fees using MATIC and Polygon throughput.