Polygon, the Ethereum scaling solution, is set to flip the switch on a major upgrade. The change? Swapping out its MATIC token for a shiny new POL token. It's a big deal. Here's why. The swap kicks off Wednesday. For many users, it'll happen automatically. No fuss, no muss. MATIC isn't small potatoes. It's the 13th largest crypto by market cap, worth about $3.8 billion. That's why folks are watching this move closely. This switch is part of Polygon's "2.0" roadmap. They laid it out last year. The goal? Make POL the top dog across all Polygon chains. In phase one, POL takes over MATIC's job. It'll handle gas fees and staking on the Polygon PoS network. Later, it'll play a bigger role in something called the AggLayer. What's the AggLayer? It's a system for bundling Polygon-built blockchains. Fancy stuff. The Polygon community has big plans for POL. Come 2025, they want it involved in block generation, zero-knowledge proofs, and Data Availability Committees. That's a mouthful. Now, let's talk tokenomics. POL will have a 2% annual emission rate. Some of that goes to validators as rewards. The rest? It fills up the community treasury. Marc Boiron, Polygon Labs' CEO, spilled the beans on why this upgrade was necessary. "We burned the MATIC upgrade keys years ago," he told CoinDesk. "We couldn't make changes to that token." Boiron's excited about the new emissions. He reckons it'll help grow the ecosystem through grants and validator incentives. It's all about decentralization. Polygon's journey kicked off back in 2017. Back then, it was known as the Matic Network. A bunch of Indian developers cooked it up to tackle Ethereum's scaling issues. In 2021, Matic rebranded to Polygon. They expanded their scope beyond just Plasma scaling. The project's been on a tear since then. They've rolled out various scaling solutions and snagged partnerships with big names like Meta and Starbucks. Now, with this token swap, Polygon's writing its next chapter. It's been quite a ride.

Polygon Labs is set to rock the boat in the crypto world. The key developer behind the Polygon Layer-2 network announced a big technical upgrade for September 4. It's gonna replace the current MATIC token with a new POL token. This move is part of Polygon's grand plan. They call it "Polygon 2.0". The company first floated this idea to the community in July 2023. The upgrade's first step is pretty technical. POL will become the native gas and staking token for Polygon's main proof-of-stake chain. Coindesk reported on this development. But that's not all. POL will gradually start securing other blockchains in Polygon's network. This includes something called the AggLayer. Polygon's blog post hyped up the new token. "POL is a hyperproductive token that can be used to provide valuable services to any chain in the Polygon network, including the AggLayer itself," they said. Most MATIC holders don't need to worry. If your tokens are on the Polygon PoS chain, they'll automatically convert to POL. Easy peasy. But there's a catch. Some users will need to do a bit of legwork. If you're holding MATIC on Polygon's zkEVM rollup, centralized exchanges, or the Ethereum blockchain, you'll need to follow specific steps. Polygon's not taking any chances with this upgrade. They've already run tests on July 17. They identified and fixed potential issues before the big day. This shake-up comes at an interesting time. It's happening just before Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 19. Big names in the industry will be there, talking about the future of digital assets and blockchain tech. The crypto world is watching closely. Polygon's move could be a game-changer in the Layer-2 race. It's a bold bet, but only time will tell if it pays off.

The TON Application Chain (TAC) is teaming up with Polygon Labs. Their goal? To make the TON ecosystem play nice with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). It's a big deal. TAC is building a Layer-2 network for TON. This blockchain is known for its ties to Telegram, the messaging app. Why does TON need this Layer-2 integration? It's simple. They want to tap into Ethereum's massive developer community. The new Layer-2 chain will use Polygon's tech. It'll leverage Polygon CDK and Agglayer, an interoperability protocol. This combo will let EVM-compatible decentralized apps (DApps) run on TAC. Pavel Altukhov, TAC's CEO, spilled the beans to CoinDesk. "We're going with Polygon for a few reasons," he said. "EVM compatibility, easy liquidity access, solid support, and their EVM know-how." What's in it for developers? A lot, actually. They can port their Ethereum-based apps to TAC without breaking a sweat. And they'll get access to Telegram's huge user base. Altukhov's pretty stoked about recent developments. He pointed to USDT's integration on TON and the success of Notcoin, a popular Tap-to-Earn game. The numbers are looking good. TON's got 5.8 million monthly active on-chain wallets on Telegram. That's nothing to sneeze at. Here's a kicker: TON recently beat Ethereum in daily active addresses. On June 3, it hit 568,300 DAAs and it's worth noting that Ethereum - second most popular crypto in the world - hasn't seen those numbers since September 2023. The Layer-2 race is heating up. Coinbase launched Base last August. It's built on the OP Stack and has already locked in over $6 billion. Other players like Blast, Optimism, and Arbitrum are in the mix too. With TON joining the fray, things are bound to get interesting. It's a young man's game, and TON's playing to win.

The TON Blockchain ecosystem is set to expand. A new layer-2 network is in the works. It's called the TON Applications Chain (TAC). TAC will use Polygon's technology. This includes Polygon's Chain Development Kit and AggLayer. The Open Platform, a TON-focused investor, backs the project. The announcement came on Tuesday. It was made at the Ethereum Community Conference in Brussels. The new network will be EVM-compatible. This is a big deal. EVM compatibility means easy porting. Ethereum developers can move their apps to TAC with little fuss. And that is very promising as it opens so many doors for the TON ecosystem. The press release outlines TAC's goals. It aims to bring EVM-based decentralized apps to TON. It also wants to attract Ethereum developers to build for Telegram users. TAC could boost TON's capabilities. DeFi apps, gaming, and decentralized identity solutions are on the cards. Polygon's tech is key to this expansion. Pavel Altukhov, TAC's founder, explained the choice. "We chose Polygon for its EVM compatibility," he said. He also cited liquidity availability and deployment support as factors. This move follows a trend. Major blockchain companies have been launching layer-2 networks. Most have focused on Ethereum. Coinbase kicked things off last August. They launched "Base" using Optimism's OP Stack. Others followed suit. Celo and Worldcoin announced similar plans. OKX joined the party in April. They launched "X Layer" using Polygon's CDK. The layer-2 race is heating up, and TON is jumping in with both feet.

The rise of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States has dealt a blow to their European counterparts. Since January, European Bitcoin ETFs have seen net outflows of $500 million, according to Financial Times. This comes despite Bitcoin's 54% price increase, which has spurred global demand. The US ETFs, launched in January, have collectively absorbed $13.6 billion in net inflows. BlackRock and Fidelity's funds, with low management fees of 0.25%, have led the charge. In contrast, Europe's more expensive offerings are struggling to compete. Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust, now an ETF, has lost over half its Bitcoin holdings due to its higher fees. Similarly, Canada's Purpose Bitcoin ETF has seen its holdings drop significantly. European providers are now under pressure to reduce costs to remain competitive. VanEck's European business CEO, Martijn Rozemuller, noted small net inflows for their local Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs since January. Despite the challenges, European crypto ETPs remain relatively large compared to US spot Bitcoin ETFs. The fee war between US and European funds is set to continue, reshaping the landscape of Bitcoin investment products. The success of US Bitcoin spot ETFs underscores the need for competitive fees and efficient market access. As the market evolves, European funds must adapt to retain their relevance.