What should you do
On September 4th, 2024, Polygon Labs will upgrade its system by replacing the MATIC token with a new token called POL. This change is part of Polygon’s “Polygon 2.0” plan, which started last year. The idea to switch from MATIC to POL was first shared in July 2023, with the goal of making POL the main token used across all Polygon networks.
POL will become the new token used for gas fees and staking on Polygon’s main proof-of-stake chain. In the future, POL will also help secure other blockchains within Polygon’s network, including a key part called AggLayer. Polygon describes POL as a powerful token that can be used across the entire Polygon network, including AggLayer.
If you currently hold MATIC tokens on the Polygon PoS chain, you don’t need to do anything—your tokens will automatically convert to POL. POL will then be the token used for gas fees and staking on Polygon PoS without any extra steps needed from you.
However, if you have MATIC tokens on Ethereum, Polygon zkEVM, or centralized exchanges, you might need to take specific actions to convert your tokens to POL. You can use the Polygon Portal Interface to make this switch. A special contract is already set up on Ethereum to help with this process, and while there’s no immediate deadline, the community might set one in the future.
For those with MATIC in self-custody wallets like MetaMask, you’ll need to update your wallet settings to show POL instead of MATIC. If you don’t, your wallet might still display “MATIC” even though it should be POL. You’ll have to manually change the token symbol from MATIC to POL in your wallet settings.
If you hold MATIC as ERC20 tokens in a Ledger wallet, the conversion to POL won’t happen automatically. You’ll need to do this manually using your Ledger device. Be careful of scams offering to do this for you. If you’re unsure how to proceed, you can move your MATIC to a centralized exchange, let them handle the conversion, and then transfer the POL tokens back to your Ledger wallet.
To ensure everything goes smoothly, Polygon tested the upgrade on a testnet on July 17th, 2024. This test helped identify and fix any issues before the full upgrade, allowing users, developers, and infrastructure providers to get comfortable with the new system and ensure everything works as expected.
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