Polygon(MATIC)isfacinganuncertainfuture.MATICisbeingmigratedtothenewPOLtoken,facingdelistings.Despitethis,awhalewasseenwithdrawingMATICfromCoinbase. PolygonremainsoneofthetopL2chainswithafirst-moveradvantage.However,theMATICtokenisfacingheadwindsonthemarket.Thetokenisintheprocessofswappingandisstillseekingdirection. Despitethepriceweakness,awhalehasbeenaccumulatingMATICforthepastfewdays.Thewhale’swalletaccruedmorethan18.79MMATIC,valuedat$6.2M.ThewhalewithdrewMATICfromCoinbaseinthepastthreedays,storingthetokensinahighlyliquidwalletalsocontaining$54MinEthereum(ETH). AnEthereumwhalehasbeenaccumulatingMATICinthepastfewdays.|Source:Nansen WithdrawingMATICfromCoinbasewasnotdoneforthesakeofmigration.CoinbasehasarrangedtomigratefromMATICtoPOLbyautomaticallyswitchingallbalances.Instead,thewhalehasstoredMATICwiththepotentialforfutureappreciation.NativeMATIConthePolygonchainwillconvertautomaticallytoPOL,andisnotatariskforlosses. Thewhale’swallethasinvestedinoneofthemostsuccessfulroundsofEthereum-basedprojects,includingthetopDeFiprotocols.Polygonisamongthisgenerationofprojects,thoughitisnowstrugglingtofinditswayamongmoreactiveL2chains. Polygonstillcarriesmorethan$1Binvaluelocked,withactiveversionsofUniswapandAave.ThePolygonL2chainalsocarriessignificantinflowsofmorethan$732MfromEthereum.Thechainhasrobustlegacyliquidity,butfacesheadwindsfromthefastandwideadoptionofBase.Duringthe2021bullmarket,PolygonservedasimilarroleasBase,carryingthewaveofNFT,gamingandDeFiprojects. WillMATICorPOLrecovertoahigherpricerange? Afteryearsoftrading,MATICisnowbacktothelevelsbeforeits2021rally,rangingbetween$0.35and$0.40.MATICbehavesasautilitytoken,peakingat$2.87.Duringitshistory,MATICsawpredictionsofapricerangeabove$5andashighas$10. Polygonwasalsokeytothe2021gamingboom,hostingsomeofthehottestWeb3games.Afterafewyears,theformertopappsonPolygonarelessactive. In2024,themainappsupportingPolygontrafficremainsPolymarket,thepredictionhubrunninghotduringtheUSPresidentialelectionseason. PolymarketisthemaindriveroftrafficonPolygon,basedontheUSelectionsseasonbets.|Source:Dappradar DespitedemandforMATICtopayforgasfees,thetokenremainsnearitslowerrange.OpeninterestforMATICisstillnearthree-yearlows,withnosignsofrecovery.Evenatthislowpricerange,MATICtradersarecautiousaboutshorting.MATICisstillseenasapotentialbreakouttoken,witharelativelylowentrypoint. MATICisalsostuckwaitingforitsmigrationtoPOLona1:1basis.Untilthen,theassetlacksmomentumforabiggerpricemove.ExchangesalreadydelistedERC-20versionsofMATIC.Holdersofthoseversionsneedtogothroughthespeciallycreatedmigrationsmartcontract.ThereisnodeadlineforfullyswitchingtoPOL,whichwillbecomePolygon’smaingastoken. ThepartiallymigratedPOLtokenstradeataround$0.32,stillworryinginvestorsafteryearsofsliding.Forsome,Polygonmayhavetolaunchanentirelynewasset,asbothMATICandPOLfailtosparkinvestmentdemand.MATIChasbeendownmorethan40%sinceJune,andabandonedtheyearlyMarchpeakat$1.15. Polygonalsofacestheproblemofbeingalegacychain.TheonewayoutisthepotentiallaunchofPolygon2.0,asazero-knowledgeL2.Fornow,PolygonisstillnotatrulydecentralizedL2chain,failingthedefinitionofatrueZK-rollup. TheotherproblemisthatPolygonisalsobleedingusers.Inthepastthreemonths,activedailyusersontheoriginalPolygonchainfellfrom1.2Mdowntoaround450K.OtherchainsofferthesamefeaturesasPolygon,withoutthedemandtoholdMATICforgasfees.PolygonZKEVMisgrowinganewuserbaseandmarksevenloweractivityinitsbetamainnetversion. Polygonisstilloneofthecheapestchainsintermsofgasfees,withaslowas$0.002pertransaction.Despitethis,ifPolymarketslowsdown,Polygonwillstartturningintoaghostchain,furtherdraggingdownthepriceofMATICorPOL. cryptopolitan.com