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.
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