As of September 4, MATIC, the native cryptocurrency of the Polygon network, officially began its migration to POL. The migration was initially announced on July 18, with Polygon describing it as “an exciting and long-awaited upgrade”.

The importance of this change goes beyond the operational changes. POL, the result of community consensus and collaboration, represents the potential of open-source protocols to evolve based on the input of a global community. In light of this reality, below we reflect on the growing importance of community-led development in the cryptocurrency space, especially in networks aligned with Ethereum.

The Community-Led Creation Process

The process that led to POL began in September 2023, when a group of Polygon programmers published an article proposing the new token. The authors – Mihailo Bjelic, Mudit Gupta, Will Schwab, Daniel Gretzke, Dhairya Sethi, Ankit Maity, Harry Rook, and Mateusz Rzezowski – presented POL as a “hyper-productive token”. Designed to empower its holders to expand the network’s capabilities, the proposal quickly became popular.

The article was enthusiastically read by 8,000 readers, many of whom contributed questions, suggestions, and proposals for improvements. As such, the final form of POL emerged through a system of “informal consensus”, which was not achieved through formal votes, polls, or unanimity. In contrast, consensus was reached through a “humming process”. In this way, MATIC holders could express their support or concerns in governance calls and open forums on social networks.

This collaborative process highlights the importance of decentralization for the Polygon community, expanding the possibilities for collaboration in building the future of the network.

The Update

The change from MATIC to POL introduces new possibilities that differentiate it from other popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. These are categorized as unproductive assets because they do not allow their holders to influence the development of the protocol. However, POL, like MATIC, was created to allow its holders to play an active role in the development of the protocol.

Furthermore, POL, unlike MATIC, allows validators to access an unlimited number of chains. It also offers a variety of rewards. Therefore, this update expands the possibilities for holders to participate, as well as the ability to earn rewards and functionality on the Polygon network.

Open-Source Communities in Cryptocurrencies: Why They Matter

The successful migration to POL underlines the crucial role that open-source communities play in improving blockchain networks. Polygon has taken an essential step to ensure that its platform remains flexible and innovative.

This will likely contribute to its long-term sustainability, as staying aligned with the investor community can increase its resilience in the face of future changes in the industry.

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