Polygon is a blockchain network designed to help Ethereum work better. Ethereum is powerful but can get slow and expensive when many people use it. Polygon makes transactions faster and cheaper by acting like a support layer on top of Ethereum.
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History & Name
Originally, Polygon was called Matic Network. It started in 2017. In 2021, after growing its technology and ecosystem, the team changed the name to Polygon. The native token is called MATIC (soon changing to POL under the Polygon 2.0 upgrade) used for fees, staking, and governing the network.
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How Polygon Works
Polygon uses a method called Proof-of-Stake (PoS), which means people can lock up Polygon tokens to help secure the network (validators) and earn rewards.
It supports different scaling technologies, including sidechains, rollups, and modular tools. These allow developers to build decentralized apps (dApps) which work faster and cheaper.
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Key Advantages
Lower fees: Transactions cost much less than on Ethereum mainnet.
Faster speed: More transactions can be processed per second.
Compatibility: Since it is Ethereum-compatible, developers can easily move apps from Ethereum to Polygon.
Growing ecosystem: Many DeFi, NFT, gaming apps use Polygon.
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Why It Matters
Polygon helps solve big problems in Ethereum: high transaction costs and slow speeds. By doing so, it makes it easier for ordinary users and developers to use blockchain tech without paying a lot. It plays an important role in making Web3, NFTs, and DeFi more usable for more people.
