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POL is the native token of the Polygon ecosystem, replacing MATIC. It serves as the gas and staking token on Polygon PoS, and is designed to support the network’s expansion as an aggregated network of blockchains. Like MATIC, POL is built on OpenZeppelin’s ERC-20 implementation and supports EIP-2612 for signature-based permit approvals.

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Governance proposals behind POL

Community-driven governance shaped POL’s design and functionality. The relevant proposals are:
  1. PIP-17: Polygon Ecosystem Token (POL)
  2. PIP-18: Polygon 2.0 Phase 0 - Frontier
  3. PIP-19: Update Polygon PoS Native Token to POL
  4. PIP-25: Adjust POL Total Supply
  5. PIP-26: Transition from MATIC to POL Validator Rewards
The initial supply of POL is 10 billion tokens, matching the MATIC supply on a 1:1 basis at migration.
For migration instructions, see the MATIC to POL migration guide.

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Emission

POL has an ongoing emissions schedule. The original proposal set a 2% annual emission rate, with 1% to the community treasury and 1% to validator rewards. Community consensus via PIP-26 revised the validator reward percentage to:
  • 2% for year four (2023-2024)
  • 1.5% for year five (2024-2025)
  • 1% thereafter
This results in an effective 2% annual POL emission beginning after June 2025. The emission rate can be changed through governance by upgrading the EmissionManager contract, but cannot exceed the mintPerSecondCap defined in the primary POL smart contract.

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How POL is minted

The EmissionManager smart contract initiates minting using the INTEREST_PER_YEAR_LOG2 constant to calculate an annual emission rate compounded per year. The contract distributes newly minted tokens to the StakeManager and Treasury contracts. The EmissionManager is upgradeable, allowing governance to change its behavior.

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Token migration and reversal

POL migration from MATIC operates on a 1-to-1 conversion. A migration contract accepts MATIC and provides an equal amount of POL. The full supply of MATIC can be upgraded through this contract. After migration, MATIC is held in the migration contract. It is not burned. The migration contract includes an “unmigration” feature that allows users to convert POL back to an equivalent amount of MATIC. Governance controls whether this feature is enabled, providing flexibility in response to network conditions or security concerns.

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Bridging behavior

With community approval, the bridge was modified to use POL as the native token:
  • Bridging POL to Polygon PoS: you receive an equal amount of native POL on Polygon PoS.
  • Bridging native tokens from Polygon PoS to Ethereum: the bridge disburses POL.
Existing contracts that relied on receiving MATIC from the bridge and now receive POL instead may have locked funds. Developers must verify their contracts handle the token change correctly.

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Governance and security

The POL contracts are governed by the Polygon decentralized governance model. Community proposals follow the PIP process. Security measures include rate limits on minting and the ability to lock or unlock features such as unmigration.

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Implications for dApp developers

Developers generally will not encounter breaking changes from the MATIC to POL transition, because the token implements the same ERC-20 interface. However, any contract that relies on receiving MATIC from the bridge needs to be checked and updated to handle POL. If you have questions, reach out via the Polygon R&D Discord.
Read the blog post on the POL migration for a detailed explanation of the token, its properties, and what the migration means for the ecosystem.

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Avoiding scams

Always verify contract addresses through official sources. Exercise caution with any claims about “swaps” or “transfers” from unverified sources, as the token migration has attracted fraudulent activity.