Considering today’s conditions, we can assume that the future will be multi-chain. Rather than a single blockchain gaining complete dominance, it seems more likely that there will be many interconnected networks, each with its own characteristics, assumptions of trust, performance, and security.

Polygon aims to bring this future closer by providing a framework for building scaling solutions compatible with Ethereum. The project’s Proof of Stake sidechain is attracting the attention of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency community. Let’s take a closer look at Polygon.

The long-awaited Ethereum scaling roadmap is finally starting to come to life, and the Polygon project is also involved in these works.

You may have heard of Cosmos and its vision of the “internet of blockchains” through the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC), where messages can be transmitted between the different blockchains that implement this protocol.
Polygon has a similar vision but has tailored the concept to the Ethereum ecosystem in a special way. The main idea is that developers can easily roll out Ethereum compatible scaling solutions or even standalone blockchains.

The project originally started as Matic Network but was rebranded as Polygon as the scope expanded from a single Layer 2 (L2) solution to a mesh of networks.

What is Polygon (MATIC)?

Polygon is a framework for creating Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks and scaling solutions. Polygon is a protocol rather than a single solution. This is why one of the key elements of the ecosystem is the Polygon SDK, which allows developers to create these Ethereum-compatible networks.

Still, you may have heard of Polygon Network as a Proof of Stake (PoS) sidechain and one of the first products to come to life in the Polygon ecosystem. A sidechain is essentially a parallel chain connected to another blockchain.

Sidechains can offer a number of benefits – notably increased transaction volume and lower fees. If you have used the Polygon Network before, you know that this network is extremely fast and very low cost compared to Ethereum. However, some compromises are necessary to achieve this performance. We will talk about this in more detail later on.

Because Polygon supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), existing applications can be ported there quite easily. This can offer users a similar experience to Ethereum, in addition to the high volume and low fee advantages we mentioned earlier.

So what can you do as a user of Polygon? Unsurprisingly, you can do similar things to what you do with Ethereum, but much cheaper and faster. Some of the most popular DeFi applications such as Aave, 1inch, Curve, and Sushi are already available on this network. But there are also some network-specific applications not found elsewhere, such as QuickSwap and Slingshot.

Polygon was developed under the leadership of its founders: Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic.

How does Polygon work?

The Polygon framework supports two main types of networks compatible with Ethereum: secure chains and standalone chains. An example of a secure chain is a rollup, and an example of a standalone chain is a sidechain.

Secure chains benefit from the infrastructure of the chains they are connected to. In this way, they do not need to develop their own security models. In contrast, independent chains have to ensure their own security. This means that secure chains can offer a higher level of security, while independent chains offer more flexibility for specific needs.

Which of these does Polygon Network fall into? The Polygon sidechain is secured by its own validator group (verifier pool) and is required to send checkpoints to Ethereum from time to time. This is why some people think that sidechains are not a “pure” Layer 2 solution. These networks should provide their own security rather than taking advantage of Ethereum’s security. This can be an important distinction, and we’ll talk about it in a bit more detail later when we talk about rollups.

The Polygon platform aims to support different scaling solutions such as zero-knowledge (zk) rollups, optimistic rollups, and Validum chains in the future. With more scaling solutions available, developers will also have more tools to develop innovative applications, solutions, and products. We can also expect them all to be compatible with existing Ethereum tools and wallets like Metamask.

MATIC usage areas

Despite the rebranding, the name of the MATIC token has not changed. This token is used to pay gas and participate in governance in the network. If you want to stake your MATIC tokens, you can do so via the Matic Web Wallet created by Binance Earn or the Polygon team.

Polygon Bridge

Polygon Bridge is the easiest way to move your funds from another blockchain network to the Polygon sidechain. It’s worth noting that because the bridge operation is on the mainnet, you have to pay the mainnet transaction fees.
But once this process is complete, you can enjoy the low fees and fast transactions that Polygon offers. Apart from that, some centralized exchanges (CEX) also allow you to withdraw directly to Polygon Network.

The difference between side chains and rollups

In general, there is no consensus on whether sidechains can be called a Layer 2 solution, similar to rollups. Understanding this difference is essential if you want to explore the multi-chain world and evaluate different profit-loss balances.

Each of these has different assumptions of trust, security, performance, user and developer experience. Rollups are the most promising Tier 2 scaling solutions as secure chains because they derive most of their security from Ethereum.

But the same is not true for other solutions such as the Polygon side chain. This does not mean that sidechains are not secure, but if malicious actors cooperate, they can take control of the network (at least in theory). Although there is not even the slightest indication of the existence of such an intention, it is necessary to mention this possibility. Using a sidechain includes an element of trust in terms of network validators as well as the bridge between the two chains.

It may also be necessary to consider other profit and loss balances. When you use the ETH mainnet, you pay higher transaction fees and transactions are slower, but you can enjoy the strongest security guarantees and the least amount of trust you need to have in any one party.

If you use a rollup, you’ll pay less, have similar security, and faster processing times. When you use a sidechain, you pay even less than you would for a rollup, but you compromise on security.

Which is better in this case? There is no simple answer to this question. All of these can be good for certain uses and complement each other to create an extremely useful ecosystem.

For example, a social media reputation system should have extremely high throughput and ultra-low fees, but security guarantees do not need to be the highest, as there is no vital infrastructure. In this case, security may be compromised for higher performance.

On the other hand, storing a government treasury on the blockchain requires the highest level of security possible and is worth paying more for, especially if transactions don’t need to be super fast.

Developers and project teams are constantly researching and experimenting with how each building block can be positioned in the big picture. Scalability needs to be considered because there can be scaling solutions for many different use cases in different industries.

Last words

Polygon is a framework for building blockchain scaling solutions compatible with Ethereum. Polygon Network; It is a Proof of Stake (PoS) sidechain that has achieved a high level of adoption thanks to its fast, low-cost transactions and compatibility with EVM.

In the future, Polygon aims to offer more scalability solutions such as zk rollups, optimistic rollups, and standalone blockchains that will enable to creation a more vibrant and interconnected Layer 2 ecosystem for Ethereum.