Why is Polygon so Popular With dApps?
Polygon has created one of the leading blockchain networks. Its vision follows that of the Satoshi standard, one of complete and pure decentralization. It does this by using validators distributed worldwide, many of whom are security experts, and their job is to monitor and improve the security and robustness of the network. They are able to identify vulnerabilities and feed them back to Polygon, which due to its agile nature can make almost spontaneous updates.
Using Polygon, teams and developers can build their own Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks and scaling solutions. Polygon’s framework is based on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus model, where miners are rewarded for staking their holdings rather than by guzzling huge amounts of energy to solve complex riddles, as is the case with the Proof of Work chains, like Bitcoin. Polygon builds side chains that run parallel to Ethereum, which bring faster and more competitive transactions for Ethereum dApps. Polygon can handle thousands of transactions per second, which makes it much faster than Ethereum which brings around 15 transactions per second.
All of the transactions are grouped together and validated and then sent to the Ethereum main chain, which gives Polygon its security elements. A user that wants to use polygon must lock up his ERC-20 tokens in an ERC-20 smart contract, then a corresponding number of tokens is minted in Polygon. The user gets access to his Polygon tokens and can use them across any of the apps across the entire Polygon ecosystem. Then once he’s done with them, the Polygon tokens are burned and he can gain access to his ERC-20 tokens again.
Because of the way it works, teams can easily import their apps using Polygon’s SDK and make their apps ready for use across Ethereum at a fraction of the cost of using Ethereum directly. This goes to explain why some of the leading protocols have chosen to build on the Polygon network. These include SushiSwap, Aave, Gains and many more. Here’s a glimpse into the variety of project types running on Polygon:
SushiSwap
SushiSwap is a leading app that sits on Polygon, somewhat of a one-stop-shop for invested allowing them to swap, earn, stack yields, lend, borrow, leverage all on one decentralized, community-driven platform. It offers the trading of over2398 pairs and has a mind-blowing TVl of $154.86b.
Aave
Aave is an open-source liquidity protocol allowing users to earn a passive yield on their locked-in tokens for both deposits and borrowing assets. It currently has over $25 billion locked in value and is not custodial. Depositors bring liquidity and borrowers can borrow tokens from the protocol
Gains
Gains Network is developing an entire ecosystem for finance, starting with a first of its kind leveraged decentralized trading platform. It gives its traders access to leveraged contracts across a wide selection of crypto assets and non-crypto assets including forex, stocks, commodities and indices. If offers leverage of up to 150x on cryptos and up to 1000x on forex
Final Word
For fans of Ethereum that want a faster, cheaper way to transact, then Polygon is probably the choice for them. In Polygon’s own words, “We envision an open, borderless world. A world in which people and machines collaborate and exchange value globally and freely, without gatekeepers or intermediaries. A world in which communities thrive, unconstrained by artificial borders and archaic regulations. We will strive to empower everyone to effortlessly join this new, better world.”
