Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, recently engaged with the media to discuss the transition of the native token MATIC to POL.

He confirmed that POL is now live, emphasizing its role as a hyperproductive token incentivizing validators and supporting restaking mechanisms. While this transformation represents a technical upgrade to move away from MATIC's immutable nature, Nailwal explained that renaming wasn't feasible due to MATIC's immutable status. POL is designed to support multiple chains, unlike MATIC, which limited its utility.

The token economics include a 1% annual inflation to incentivize validators and reward holders, with additional support from the Ecosystem Treasury. The goal is to maintain Polygon's competitiveness with major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

POL introduces a staking mechanism akin to Ethereum but expands participation to additional chains within the Polygon ecosystem.

While the community has shown mixed reactions, with some concerned about MATIC's potential devaluation, the token has actually seen a 4.06% increase in the last 24 hours, indicating optimism among community members about the benefits and value of POL.