Polygon Monthly Report - October 2023

Introduction

The month of October was full of exciting news and growth throughout the Polygon ecosystem. The Polygon PoS chain, zkEVM, CDK and more scaling solutions have grown in adoption over the past month. In this article, we’ll discuss the latest news and analytics that you don’t want to miss. Let’s dive in!

The Biggest News of the Month

Polygon’s POL is LIVE!

The biggest news over the last month was the announcement of the upgraded Polygon token, POL, going live on Ethereum mainnet. The transition to the new POL token, representing the next generation of hyperproductive tokens, comes after an extensive period of development, community engagement, and the successful launch of a testnet. Let’s quickly recap why POL is important for Polygon’s future:

POL represents the third generation of native tokens, building upon the success of previous iterations. While Bitcoin's BTC initiated the concept of native tokens, it lacked productivity, leaving holders without a significant role or incentives within the protocol. Ethereum's ETH improved upon this by introducing productive tokens, enabling holders to become validators, perform valuable work, and receive rewards.

With POL, Polygon takes the next leap by introducing hyperproductive tokens. Like their predecessors, POL tokens empower holders to become validators and receive rewards. However, the Polygon Labs team states that POL brings many groundbreaking improvements:

Ecosystem Security: A highly decentralized pool of Proof-of-Stake validators enhances security, resilience, and credible neutrality across all Polygon chains. Validators are incentivized to join the pool and secure as many chains as possible, ensuring the overall ecosystem's robustness.

Infinite Scalability: POL facilitates exponential growth and eventual mainstream adoption of the Polygon ecosystem. The validator pool can expand seamlessly to support thousands of Polygon chains while maintaining high levels of security.

Ecosystem support: As the Polygon ecosystem and the industry as a whole are still in their early stages, ongoing support will be necessary for years to come. POL offers a sustainable, in-protocol mechanism to cater to the ecosystem's evolving needs.

No friction: Unlike many blockchain protocols that require users and developers to hold, stake, or consume native tokens for network usage, POL is designed to minimize friction. This approach ensures a seamless user and developer experience, enhancing adoption and engagement.

Community ownership: Polygon values decentralization and aims to be governed by its community. POL holders are granted governance rights, enabling them to actively participate in the decision-making processes that shape the Polygon ecosystem.

For the full breakdown on the POL token, check out our latest article here.

More Exciting News

Polygon Labs Proposes the Polygon Protocol Council!

PIP-29 has introduced a plan to create a Protocol Council, aiming to enhance the governance of the Polygon ecosystem. This initiative represents a significant step toward achieving scalable and decentralized governance or “Polygon Governance 2.0.”

The Protocol Council will consist of 13 community elected members with a specific focus on making changes to smart contracts on Ethereum. These members will utilize a Gnosis Safe contract to implement changes to the Polygon blockchain infrastructure. This council will be responsible for managing the community-driven process for initiating future upgrades, including those proposed in the frontier phase of Polygon 2.0.

The proposed model strikes a balance between community control and the efficiency of council governance, aiming to find the right mix of decentralized decision-making and effectiveness. Future proposals, based on the "Three Pillars of Governance" concept, will expand on how the community can exert both direct and indirect influence over the Protocol Council.

Astar zkEVM is Live on Testnet!

After becoming the leading smart contract chain in the Polkadot ecosystem, Astar Network announced they will be launched their ZK-Powered Layer 2 chain using Polygon CDK. Building on the Ethereum mainnet is expensive; ZK-rollups perform off-chain computations on Layer 2, enabling faster and cheaper transactions while still maintaining Ethereum's security.

The Astar zkEVM offers:

• Security inherited from Ethereum
• High EVM equivalence
• Speed and Scalability
• Reduced transaction costs
• Interoperability with existing EVM tools and chains

Manta Network Using Polygon CDK!

Manta Network announced they will be using Polygon CDK to become a ZK-Powered Layer 2 on Ethereum. The goal of “Manta Pacific” is to become the ZK dApp hub.

ZK proofs mean finality can happen in minutes or seconds, rather than days. With a strong ZK proving implementation that’s already live, CDK leverages the security of math rather than the social-economic incentives of fraud proofs.

Native USDC is Live on Polygon!

Until recently, USDC lived mainly on Ethereum. In August 2023, Circle announced it's moving to six more blockchains, including Polygon. This big move broadens USDC's reach across Web3.

USDC can now be natively used on Polygon, making it super easy to access and use. No more relying on bridged USDC. Now, it's fully redeemable for USD at a 1:1 ratio. A safer and more secure model.

In Case You Missed It

Polygon 2.0 zkEVM Saga has Returned!

The Polygon zkEVM Saga is back after going on pause for the last couple months. The Saga is aimed at giving users the opportunity to explore the zkEVM ecosystem while earning rewards. Join communities, use dApps and learn about everything the zkEVM has to offer to mint your NFTs each week.

Polygon Labs Submitted an ApeCoin DAO Proposal to Launch a ZK Layer 2!

Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder of Polygon, proposed that ApeCoin DAO develop and maintain its own Zero Knowledge powered Layer 2 with the Polygon Chain Development Kit.

This would accelerate the growth and development of the ApeCoin ecosystem and eliminate gas spikes that take place on shared blockchains.

Analytics

Polygon zkEVM Bridge Volume has Reached $250M!

Polygon zkEVM went live on testnet in March 2023. Since then, the chain has experienced rapid growth in many areas, including the bridge itself. Towards the end of October, the zkEVM bridge passed a major milestone of $250M in volume. The chain may still be in its early stages, but the growth has been impressive nonetheless.

Polygon zkEVM TVL Reaches an All Time High!

Polygon zkEVM also reached a new all time high in Total Value Locked (TVL) this month, with over $70M. Within the month of October, the TVL increased over 50% and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Polygon PoS Reaches 3.1B Total Transactions!

The zkEVM chain isn’t the only scaling solution seeing impressive metrics and milestones. The OG Polygon PoS chain has now processed 3.1B total transactions since going live in 2020. To put this into perspective, the PoS chain had processed just 100K total transactions as of October 2020.

Polygon PoS Spikes in Daily Users!

On October 21st, Polygon recorded 733K active addresses in a single day. This is the second highest amount of daily addresses of all time. Although this spike in activity has since come back to normal, it showcases the scalability of the PoS chain and its ability to handle high amounts of activity.

Conclusion

The month of October has been a period of remarkable growth and innovation within the Polygon ecosystem. The number of chains using the Polygon CDK to deploy their own Zero Knowledge Layer 2 continues to increase. The ecosystem has witnessed a series of exciting developments and growth metrics, such as the Polygon zkEVM Bridge Volume, Total Value Locked, and the PoS chain's transaction count.

The future looks exceptionally promising for the Polygon ecosystem, as it continues to drive the evolution of the blockchain industry, setting the stage for further achievements and advancements in the months to come.