Polygon (POL) Exchange

About POL

POL is the native gas and staking token of Polygon 2.0, a proof-of-stake Layer 2 network that processes Ethereum-compatible transactions off-chain before settling on Ethereum mainnet. Validators stake POL to secure Polygon PoS and earn block rewards; delegators assign their stake to chosen validators — not to a single centralised sequencer. The token replaced MATIC in a 1:1 migration that reached 99% completion by September 2025, according to Polygon Labs.

POL tokenomics

Polygon launched with an initial supply of 10 billion POL, inheriting the existing MATIC circulating base. Unlike hard-capped models, POL operates with a programmatic annual emission rate governed by an on-chain Emission Manager contract. Approximately 10.64 billion POL are in circulation as of October 2026, according to CoinGecko.
Initial supply — 10 billion POL, migrated from MATIC at a 1:1 ratio; Ethereum-held MATIC requires manual migration through Polygon Portal
Annual emission rate — 1% per year for validator rewards under PIP-26 from July 2025, according to Polygon's developer docs; community governance may adjust or freeze this rate
Emission split — 50% to the Polygon PoS staking contract for validator rewards, 50% to a community treasury funding developer grants and ecosystem growth (1% each, a combined 2% a year)
Staking rewards — validators and delegators earned 3.81% APR in Q2 2025, with $1.23B locked in the staking contract, according to Ainvest
“Hyperproductive” design — staked POL can simultaneously secure multiple Polygon-connected chains, allowing validators to earn protocol fees from several networks with a single stake position
Emission governance — the Emission Manager contract controls the mint rate with a per-second cap; the community retains the right to reduce, freeze, or redirect emissions through on-chain votes

What determines POL's value

POL's primary demand driver is gas fee consumption across Polygon PoS, where every on-chain transaction requires POL for execution. By March 2025, Polygon PoS hosted 45,000 deployed dApps, according to Ainvest. That activity creates continuous baseline demand for POL as a working asset — validators hold it staked, users hold small balances for fees, and protocols require it for governance participation.

The secondary mechanism is AggLayer, Polygon's cross-chain interoperability infrastructure. As more chains connect through AggLayer, POL's role expands from a single-chain gas token to a shared security asset across the wider Polygon network — each additional chain increases the fee income available to validators staking POL across multiple networks simultaneously.