# 9.1 What is Polygon ($MATIC)?

**Polygon Breakdown**

&#x20;**What is Polygon ($MATIC)?**

Polygon is a cryptocurrency that provides a technological platform enabling layer-2 scaling solutions for the Ethereum blockchain. Polygon acts as a faster and more efficient blockchain, running concurrently alongside Ethereum.

*‘Polygon is like the wipers on a car, they don’t prevent the car from being fully operational, but when removed, the car cannot be used in the rain; Meaning that polygon unlocks a formerly uncharted environment for Ethereum to operate within.’*

Polygon was created to bring mass adoption to the Ethereum platform, by enhancing all the Web3 use cases. It caters to the diverse needs of developers by providing tools to create scalable decentralized applications (dApps), that prioritize performance, user experience (UX), and security. MATIC is an ERC-20 token, meaning that it’s compatible with other Ethereum-based digital currencies and is used to govern and secure the Polygon network and to pay network transaction fees.

Polygon utilizes proof-of-stake. The PoS mechanism is a common consensus algorithm that evolved as a low-cost, low-energy consuming alternative to PoW (Proof of Work). It involves the allocation of responsibility in maintaining a public ledger to a participant node proportional to the number of virtual currency tokens held by it. The proof-of-stake method requires network participants to stake their MATIC in exchange for the right to validate Polygon network transactions. Successful validators on the Polygon network are rewarded with MATIC tokens. This comes with the drawback in that it incentivizes coin hoarding instead of spending. However, it ensures that all transactions executed on the network are verified beforehand, preventing unlawful use, as well as granting the potential to expand on a 2 layer authorization model. This model can also be utilized for the purchase and distribution of onchain data by requiring organizations to become validators of the network.

* The polygon platform, fueled by the MATIC token, was launched to connect and grow Ethereum-compatible projects and blockchains
* MATIC tokens are used to govern and secure the Polygon network and pay transaction fees
* Polygon uses a modified proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to efficiently operate the platform

[More on the Polygon Network](https://blog.polygon.technology/polygon-the-eco-friendly-blockchain-scaling-ethereum-bbdd52201ad/)

#### **Polygon- an eco-friendly model**

[https://blog.polygon.technology/polygon-the-eco-friendly-blockchain-scaling-ethereum-bbdd52201ad/](https://digiconomist.net/ethereum-energy-consumption/). (28) The two largest PoW blockchains would be ranked 27th in the world in terms of annual energy consumption, if they were a country: exceeding the usage of Sweden, Vietnam and Argentina.

It is clear that PoW uses huge portions of the global sustainable energy budget each year. By contrast, [Polygon’s validators approximately consume 0.00079TWh of electricity yearly with an approximate continuous draw of 0.00009GW](https://blog.polygon.technology/polygon-the-eco-friendly-blockchain-scaling-ethereum-bbdd52201ad/),(29) orders of magnitude below the energy consumption needed to operate the major PoW blockchain networks.

In other words Polygon is one of the most energy efficient blockchains with the aim and intention to be the leader in offsetting carbon emissions in the blockchain environment.

![](https://1793572582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FdXKVi5QjMzslalmrRL5I%2Fuploads%2FHFaMnCSulWLaisrV037B%2F13?alt=media)

<https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator> Source for diagrams
