Polygon Upgrades MATIC to POL, Integrates More Features to the New Native Token

Polygon’s anticipated native token upgrade is here, marking a critical milestone for the Polygon 2.0 vision.

The Polygon network successfully introduced its new native asset, POL, in a much-awaited move for the blockchain’s users and onlookers. With that, POL has replaced MATIC—the network’s native asset since its genesis. MATIC holders can claim POL 1:1 if their holdings have not already been converted to POL.

In an X post, the official Polygon account explained, “There is no deadline for users to upgrade. All MATIC on Polygon PoS & staked MATIC on Ethereum will upgrade automatically on Sept 4.” Those holding MATIC linked to Ethereum in their wallets must visit the Polygon Portal Interface to swap for POL using the migration contract. Those holding the token in their centralized exchange (CEX) accounts must also take that measure to convert their MATIC to POL.

Source: Polygon on X

However, Polygon warned users of the consequences of incorrectly calling the migration contract. “Incorrectly calling the migration contract can lead to the loss of funds.” It also asked users not to send any funds to the contract, which would cause irreversible fund loss. Furthermore, some dApps like KyberSwap and CoW Swap have the contract integrated with their platforms, which users may find easier to use when migrating their assets.

POL Will Play a Central Role in Polygon 2.0

The native token upgrade marks a critical juncture in Polygon’s vision for the future, kicking off the Polygon 2.0 era. Polygon 2.0 has been in the talks for a long time, with the POL upgrade launching on its testnet on July 17. Now, with its mainnet upgrade, it will play a central role in Polygon’s AggLayer future. AggLayer, being touted as a modular blockchain ecosystem, will witness POL act as the gas token for more than transaction fees. It will be the way users staking their tokens in data availability layers, sequencers, and more, incentivizing a whole deal of use cases.