Polygon is one of the most popular Layer-2 scaling solutions designed for the Ethereum blockchain. It is a decentralized scaling platform that supports Ethereum dApps but offers higher efficiency in terms of speed and costs to developers and end users.
Layer-2 scaling solutions like Polygon have grown in adoption and usage due to the high network congestion and gas fees plaguing the original Layer-1 Ethereum network. In comparison, transactions on the Polygon network take place faster and cheaper.
As a result, Polygon has become one of the most prominent and sought-after platforms for developing Ethereum-compatible Web3 dApps. As of September, the Polygon ecosystem supports more than 50,000 dApps across DeFi, NFT, games, DAO, B2B, CEX, social, and more categories.
MATIC is the native token of Polygon and is among the top cryptocurrencies by market cap. Represented as Polygon (MATIC), its value has catapulted in recent years as more dApps scale on the network and developers continue to launch more innovative projects on its infrastructure.