What is Polygon (POL)?
POL is the native and staking token of Polygon's PoS network, the successor to MATIC. Polygon began in 2017 as Matic Network, founded by Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal and Anurag Arjun, with Mihailo Bjelic joining later. The upgrade from MATIC to POL started in September 2024, and POL now pays gas on Polygon PoS.
- Type
- Native gas and staking token of Polygon PoS
- Launched
- 2024
- Consensus
- Proof of Stake
- Max supply
- No fixed cap
- Swap network
- Polygon
- Sector (Messari)
- Smart Contract Platform
How Polygon works
Polygon PoS is an EVM-compatible chain secured by validators who stake POL; one layer of the system produces blocks while another checkpoints the chain's state to Ethereum at regular intervals. Because it is EVM-compatible, users interact with it through the same wallets and tooling as Ethereum.
What POL is used for
POL pays transaction fees on Polygon PoS and is staked or delegated to validators to secure the network and earn rewards. It is also widely used as a trading pair and in the payments and DeFi apps running on Polygon.
POL supply
POL launched with 10 billion tokens, matching MATIC one-to-one, and has no hard cap. Emissions of about 2% a year go to validator rewards and a community treasury, and the rate can be changed by governance.
Before you swap POL
Wallets and exchanges may still show the asset as MATIC or "POL (ex-MATIC)"; on Polygon PoS the gas token is now POL. Confirm that a destination supports POL on the Polygon network rather than an Ethereum ERC-20 version before withdrawing.