Polygon (MATIC) continues to grow but is it safe?
Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a slew of projects that are being launched on Polygon (MATIC) which shows that the Layer 2 protocol continues its good run amidst a surge in interest on Polygon from users and developers alike.
This presents a very good and rosy picture about the Polygon ecosystem as more and more developers pile in on the network to develop their Dapps and this is good for the developers and the network in the long run. But how good is it for the users? That is the question that is uppermost in the minds of those who are watching the various blockchain networks grow.
While there has been some very good news with TrustWallet announcing support for Polygon which is likely to boost its usage.MyEtherWallet (MEW) has also announced that it now has Plygon support in its mobile wallet, along with cross-chain caoabilities which helps the users and developers to move funds between their Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain wallets bringing in cross-chain capabilities in the wallet which is likely to be the key for the blockchain ecosystem to continue to grow in the long term. Binance has also announced direct withdrawals of Polygon (MATIC) tokens which is again some very good news for those who hold these tokens.
But along with this good news, comes the news that there are teams that launch prediction markets and binary options on the Polygon network. Those who are in the FX industry for long would know that binary options were one of the key items that reduced the credibility of the FX market a few years back, albeit temporarily until the regulators hit back with full force and shut down every BO broker out there.
Now the ghost of binary options seems to be back in a different shape and form. Binary options are those markets where a user is expected to predict one of 2 possibilities concerning an instrument or a market. It could either be a bet on whether the price would go up or down or it could be whether the price would touch a specific price point etc. Users would bet on such binary outcomes and as long as they are right, they win else they lose. This led to a surge in this market with users betting against other users or against the broker himself (in many cases) which led to unfair practices on all sides (both users and brokers).
All these activities were unregulated in most cases leading to gullible investors and traders being cheated of their hard-earned money through scams. Now we are seeing such products being built on blockchain and to be fair, Polygon is not the only network to have such products. It is time that the blockchain networks take a stand against such products and make sure that they don’t allow their network to be used for any and every product, regulated or unregulated. This will help to keep the overall ecosystem clean and would not tarnish the name of blockchain as a whole.
