Polygon Labs Details MATIC to POL Transition in New Proposals

• Polygon officially announced the release of three PIPs as part of Polygon 2.0 upgrade.
• POL replaces MATIC as the new native coin in the Polygon ecosystem.
• The token replacement may suggest potential implications for Polygon’s investors.

On Thursday, September 14, 2023, Polygon Labs officially announced the release of three Polygon Improvement Proposals (PIPs) as part of the proposed Polygon 2.0 upgrade. Prominently featured among them is the replacement of MATIC with POL as the new native coin in the Polygon ecosystem.

Last Thursday’s event marked the beginning of the implementation of Polygon 2.0, with the native token replacement suggestive of potential implications for investors on the Polygon Network. Such investors may be concerned about the latest development, considering the recent classification of MATIC as a security token by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Among the three released PIPs is the PIP-17, which details how Polygon Network would adopt POL. The newly created token would replace MATIC as the native gas token and the staking asset of the Polygon ecosystem. PIP-18 focuses on phase 0 of the new upgrade and requires end-users and developers on Polygon to do nothing, as it would implement automatically.

The third phase, PIP-19, also concerns the POL token. It urges compatibility in switching from MATIC to POL on the blockchain. The smart contracts on the Polygon Network will enable the POL token to retain the properties of the existing MATIC.

Polygon’s recent announcement marks a new milestone in the 2.0 upgrade proposal that started in June when the blockchain network announced it would be transitioning to a zero-knowledge (ZK) solution. The following month, Polygon publicized its intention to replace MATIC with POL, explaining that POL would be a “hyperproductive” token enabling holders to become validators.

The announcement in July came shortly after the SEC’s allegation labeling MATIC as an unregistered security. Polygon claimed that its decision to switch from MATIC to POL had nothing to do with the allegation. The blockchain project also denied the SEC’s allegations, pointing out that MATIC was developed outside the U.S.