Polygon (MATIC) Skyrockets 16,263% in Whale Activity Ahead of Major Upgrade

As a seasoned analyst with years of experience in the crypto space, I find myself intrigued by the surge in whale activity on Polygon, as denoted by the significant increase in large transaction volume. Having witnessed numerous market trends and shifts over the years, it’s always fascinating to see patterns emerge that could potentially hint at institutional interest or major developments.


In simpler terms, Polygon – a platform designed to improve transaction speed and reduce costs by working together with the Ethereum blockchain – has experienced a massive 16,263% increase in large transactions, which typically indicates active participation from big-time players or ‘whales’ within the cryptocurrency market.

Based on data from IntoTheBlock, the large-scale transaction volume of Polygon’s MATIC token reached approximately $58.25 million over the past 24 hours. This represents an astonishing increase of over 16,263% compared to the transaction volume recorded the day before.

Labels high-value transactions as those that involve a transfer exceeding $100,000. The Large Transaction Volume provides an estimation of the total sum exchanged by major investors (whales) and institutional entities on a given day.

A rise in the number of significant transactions typically indicates increased trading by institutional investors, who may be either purchasing or offloading assets.

The increase in whale behavior corresponds with the excitement building up for the shift from MATIC to POL, a significant update that Polygon plans to implement on September 4th.

At the time of writing, MATIC was up 6% in the last 24 hours to $0.445.

MATIC upgrade looms

The Polygon Network will migrate its gas token from MATIC to POL on Sept. 4, 2024.

In simpler terms, as the Polygon network undergoes an update, Matic will transition to become the native fuel token (referred to as gas token) for Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS). This means that transactions on the Polygon PoS network will be powered by POL and secured through incentives given to validators. After the upgrade, all transactions on this updated network will automatically utilize POL as the gas token, so MATIC holders don’t need to take any additional steps.

Validators would also be rewarded in POL for securing the network and processing transactions.

In this role, POL serves as both a gas token for transactions within the network and a staking token, thereby balancing incentives to maintain the network’s reliability and efficiency. The technical construction of POL is designed to be compatible with the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Constructed on OpenZeppelin’s ERC-20 standard and adhering to EIP-2612, POL effortlessly integrates with existing tools and platforms within the Proof of Stake (PoS) network.

The migration from MATIC to POL is facilitated by a smart contract, migrating MATIC to POL on a 1:1 basis, allowing users to continue transacting on Polygon. The Polygon bridge will also support POL, allowing tokens to flow seamlessly between Polygon PoS and Ethereum.

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2024-08-20 18:50