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A guide to Polygon, the EVM-compatible network anchored to Ethereum. Learn how Polygon Chain works, what changed with the POL token, and how AggLayer and CDK fit in.
Polygon is an EVM-compatible blockchain anchored to Ethereum that executes transactions off Ethereum mainnet and periodically posts state to Ethereum for security. It started as Matic Network in 2017 and rebranded to Polygon in 2021. Today Polygon Chain (often still called Polygon PoS) is the live production network, while Polygon Labs builds related infrastructure around it.
In short, Polygon lowers cost and raises throughput for Ethereum-compatible apps without requiring developers to rewrite Solidity code.
If you already use Ethereum mainnet and want lower cost without leaving the Ethereum address format, this guide covers what Polygon keeps, what it does differently, and where trade-offs remain.
Polygon Chain is not a rollup that posts every transaction batch to Ethereum for data availability. It is a sidechain that runs its own consensus and anchors state to Ethereum through checkpoints. That design is faster and cheaper than posting full data to Ethereum, but it means security depends on Polygon validators, not only on Ethereum.
The docs describe a dual-layer architecture:
Validators run both Bor and Heimdall. They stake on Ethereum, not on Polygon itself. The minimum is 10,000 POL and the active set is capped at 105 validators. The validator dashboard lists around 3.5 to 3.6 billion POL staked as of 2025 to 2026.
With Heimdall v2, deterministic finality on Polygon itself takes about 2 to 5 seconds via a milestone mechanism. Validators vote on the longest common sequence of Bor block hashes since the last milestone, and agreement by two thirds of stake finalizes it.
Checkpoints are different. A checkpoint is a Merkle root of Bor blocks submitted to contracts on Ethereum at governance-controlled intervals. Checkpoints are required only for bridging back to Ethereum. For activity that stays on Polygon, milestone finality is what matters. For a withdrawal to Ethereum, you wait for the relevant checkpoint to be submitted and verified, then you submit a proof against the exit queue on Ethereum.
POL replaced MATIC as the native gas and staking token on September 4, 2024, at a 1 to 1 rate.
POL is used for gas, for staking to secure the network, and for governance over the Community Treasury. Bridges now disburse POL rather than MATIC, so contracts that expected MATIC from the bridge must be checked.
The original article framed zkEVM as the flagship Layer 2. That is no longer accurate.
For practical purposes, think of Polygon as Polygon Chain for public settlement, plus CDK plus AggLayer for connected appchains.
Use official sources and check live dashboards before you plan capacity. Figures shift with upgrades.
Polygon Chain notes over five years of production and 99.99 percent uptime.
Treat the low fee and high capacity numbers as best case under light load. Actual cost depends on Bor gas price, batch checkpoint timing, and Ethereum fees for bridging.
| Area | What is good | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Fees and speed | Average fees near $0.002 and confirmation in 2 to 5 seconds on Polygon itself. EVM execution is fast enough for payments. | Fees still vary with Bor congestion. Ethereum bridging adds its own gas cost. |
| Developer fit | Full EVM compatibility. Solidity, Hardhat, Foundry, viem, and ethers.js work by pointing at the Polygon RPC at polygon-rpc.com. | Contracts that assumed MATIC from the bridge must be updated for POL. Test on Amoy testnet first. |
| Ecosystem and liquidity | Large wallet base, thousands of dApps, deep stablecoin liquidity cited at over $3 billion, Polymarket launched exclusively on Polygon. | Liquidity is still fragmented across chains. AggLayer aims to unify it, but cross-chain routing adds complexity. |
| Security model | Checkpoints anchor state to Ethereum and provide a withdrawal proof. Staking on Ethereum adds economic security. | Sidechain trust. Security depends on the 105 validators and their honesty and liveness, not solely on Ethereum. Nakamoto coefficient around 4 means a small number of entities hold significant stake. If Bor or Heimdall stalls, apps stall. |
| Decentralization and ops | Small active validator set enables speed. 10,000 POL minimum lowers the barrier relative to some chains. | 105 validators is small compared with Ethereum. Most validation is operated by professional providers. Governance and upgrade keys still matter. Review audit history and checkpoint governance via PIPs. |
| Bridging | Portal bridge at portal.polygon.technology handles Ethereum to Polygon and back with a well documented flow. | Polygon to Ethereum withdrawals must wait for a checkpoint and require a proof submission on Ethereum. Keep large exits on the canonical bridge and use third party bridges only for small, time sensitive moves. |
| Future direction | CDK and AggLayer provide a path to appchains that share liquidity instead of splitting it. Open Money Stack adds wallets and fiat ramps in one integration recently expanded via Coinme and Sequence. | zkEVM, the earlier ZK flagship, is sunset. Teams that built on it must migrate. Long term value of POL now depends on adoption of AggLayer and CDK, which is subject to governance. |
In MetaMask or any EVM wallet, add Polygon Mainnet. Chain ID is 137. RPC is https://polygon-rpc.com. Symbol is POL. If it still shows MATIC, update the network symbol manually.
On Polygon Chain you need POL, not MATIC. If you hold MATIC on Ethereum, migrate 1 to 1 at portal.polygon.technology/pol-upgrade. If you hold MATIC on Polygon Chain after September 2024, it is already POL though your display may lag.
Use the Polygon Portal at portal.polygon.technology to move assets from Ethereum to Polygon. Send a test amount, confirm it arrives, then send the rest. Keep some POL for gas.
A wallet confirmation is a Bor soft confirmation. For Polygon to Polygon activity, milestone finality in seconds is sufficient. For Polygon to Ethereum moves, wait for the checkpoint and keep the transaction hash. Block explorers and the validator dashboard show checkpoint status.
For fiat on- and off-ramps, Polygon now routes through the Open Money Stack partners including Coinme for cash rails. Compare fees and know your custody model before you deposit.
Point Hardhat or Foundry at the Polygon RPC and deploy compiled Solidity. No custom compiler is needed on Polygon Chain. Check gas accounting, since fees are paid in POL.
Search for any code that handles native token receipt from the bridge. If it checked for MATIC, update it for POL. Run tests on Amoy and verify with a real bridge round trip.
Ethereum to Polygon messages take minutes. Polygon to Ethereum messages require a checkpoint and proof, so do not build logic that assumes synchronous callbacks.
A single Bor producer per span means downtime can delay inclusion. Provide a retry path and do not assume instant inclusion under load.
Use Polygon Chain if you want public liquidity and immediate users. Use CDK if you need private blockspace, access controls, or custom throughput and can justify operating a chain. Agglayer connectivity is included with CDK and is also available to other chains.
Docs call it an EVM-compatible blockchain anchored to Ethereum via checkpoints. It uses its own validators and does not post full transaction data to Ethereum like a rollup. Many trackers list it as a sidechain. Security rests on Polygon validators plus Ethereum-anchored checkpoints, not only on Ethereum.
MATIC was the native token before September 4, 2024. POL now serves as gas and staking token on a 1 to 1 basis. Initial supply is 10 billion POL. MATIC on Polygon Chain converted automatically. MATIC on Ethereum migrates via the Portal contract. Stakers and delegators on Polygon PoS did not need to take action at the time.
No. The sequencer was sunset on July 3, 2026 after an announcement in June 2025, and the network no longer produces blocks. Use Polygon Chain, or a CDK chain if you need a ZK-based appchain. If you held funds on zkEVM at sunset, recovery is via the claims interface at zkevm-claims.polygon.technology and bridging through the Agglayer interface should have been done before the cutoff.
Miden is a separate ZK rollup incubated by Polygon Labs, using STARKs and the Miden VM rather than the EVM. It focuses on parallel execution and privacy features, and is distinct from the sunset zkEVM.
AggLayer is the cross-chain settlement layer that connects chains with pessimistic proofs, unified liquidity without wrapped tokens, and atomic operations. Polygon CDK is the toolkit for launching custom chains that ship with Agglayer connectivity. First AggLayer components went live in February 2024, with formal AggLayer launch notes in 2024 and expansion through 2025 to 2026.
Docs cite around $0.002 average fee and sub-5 second finality with capacity near 3,800 TPS. Real fees on explorers have shown $0.01 or more in busy periods, and observed TPS is often in the low hundreds. The Bhilai and Heimdall v2 upgrades delivered 1,000 plus TPS and about 5 second finality in 2025, with a follow on upgrade targeting 5,000 TPS.
Longer than a normal transfer. You must wait for Heimdall to submit the checkpoint that contains your burn or exit transaction, then you submit a proof against the contracts on Ethereum. Milestones do not replace checkpoints for this path. Allow minutes to hours depending on checkpoint interval and Ethereum load.
Yes for gas and for staking. If you are bridging from Ethereum, you will need POL on Polygon for fees after the bridge completes. Fund a small amount first. Some paymaster or EIP-7702 flows can sponsor gas, but the network fee itself is still paid in POL.
Sources: polygon.technology and about page (stats, timeline, product scope, and zkEVM sunset notice), docs.polygon.technology POS overview, architecture overview, Bor, Heimdall v2, POL token and MATIC to POL migration pages, CDK overview, Agglayer overview, PIP-17 to PIP-26 and PIP-43 to PIP-62, Polygon Portal migration interface, forum announcement on sunsetting zkEVM Mainnet Beta (June 11 2025), and PolygonScan charts. Stats quoted as reported on those pages as of August 2026.
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