What is Polygon? A Beginner's Guide to POL

Polygon started as an Ethereum scaling solution. In 2026, Stripe, Revolut and Mastercard are running payments on it. Here's everything you need to know about POL.

Polygon is a blockchain platform that runs alongside the Ethereum blockchain. As a Layer 2 scaling solution, it provides an easy framework for blockchain projects to build on Ethereum without scalability limitations - making Ethereum transactions quicker and cheaper, and playing a key role in the mass adoption of the network.

Polygon is sometimes referred to as "Ethereum's internet of blockchains" and is one of the biggest advocates of Web3. Its goal is to create an ecosystem where blockchains and decentralised products can interact seamlessly, rendering the wider landscape truly open and borderless.

Real world applications of Polygon: NFTs, banking and more

Polygon started life as an Ethereum scaling solution, but in 2026, it's become something bigger: real payments infrastructure used by some of the world's biggest financial names. Stripe, Revolut, Flutterwave and Mastercard have all chosen Polygon as core infrastructure for stablecoin settlement and payments. Revolut alone has processed over $800 million through the network, and Stripe processed over $75 million in 2025.

Beyond payments, Franklin Templeton adopted Polygon for tokenised real-world assets, helping push the network's RWA total value locked to $1.14 billion by Q3 2025. Polygon is also the most popular single blockchain for gaming, powering 12% of all tracked blockchain games globally.

NFTs are still part of the mix. Polygon remains one of the cheapest platforms for minting and trading digital collectibles, with OpenSea and Rarible both supporting Polygon collections.

To use Polygon, you'll need POL. For NFT purchases, some marketplaces also require Ether in your wallet. To spend Ethereum currencies on Polygon, you'll need to bridge them across using the Polygon Bridge.

What is POL?

POL is the native cryptocurrency of the Polygon network, and if you've been in crypto for a while, you'll know it as MATIC. In September 2024, Polygon officially migrated its MATIC token to POL as part of its Polygon 2.0 upgrade, expanding the token's utility beyond gas fees and staking. The rebrand has been controversial - community sentiment remains divided, with many users still more familiar with the MATIC ticker, and Polygon's co-founder has publicly raised the question of whether to revert the name.

Like MATIC before it, the supply of POL is capped at 10 billion tokens. POL currently trades around $0.09, a long way below its all-time high of $1.29.

Advantages of Polygon

Polygon supports fast and cheap transactions, with fees typically well under $0.01 and block processing times of around 2 seconds. The network processed an all-time high of 204 million transactions in February 2026, demonstrating that usage remains strong. It's also deeply embedded in Ethereum's ecosystem, with major DeFi protocols including Aave, Uniswap and Curve all running Polygon deployments.

Disadvantages of Polygon

Polygon is a Layer 2 solution built on top of Ethereum, so if Ethereum is disrupted, Polygon will be impacted too. The POL token has also had a difficult few years, down significantly from its peak.

Where can I buy POL?

POL is available on all major exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Kraken and Bybit, as well as on decentralised exchanges such as Uniswap. To buy POL, create an account, verify your identity and deposit your local currency. You'll need a wallet that supports POL, such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet or Coinbase Wallet. For larger sums, a cold wallet such as Ledger is recommended.

Our top 3 POL wallets are: