Crypto observers are setting their sights on Polygon (MATIC) this month as the cryptocurrency undergoes an upgrade that some think could negatively impact the token’s price, at least in the short term.
The Polygon Napoli upgrade
Polygon blockchain is undergoing a significant transformation with the Napoli upgrade, which promises to provide better scalability and performance for users.
Last week, Polygon announced the completion of the Napoli hard fork upgrade, which aims to provide users with a superior experience and improve the Polygon network’s overall functionality. The Napoli update, which went live (on March 27) on the Mainnet, also aims to allow developers to take advantage of increased on-chain activity on the platform and expand the network.
The Napoli update also bids farewell to the long-serving Ethereum Goerli Faucet and Mumbai testnet scheduled to be taken offline on April 13. In their place, Ethereum Cancun and Amoy testnet have been launched to provide a broader range of support, bring multiple benefits to nodes, improve developer experience, and improve the overall health of the Polygon platform.
The Napoli upgrade is also set to enhance network parallelization and make major improvements to opcode performance and storage management. The integration is anticipated to be part of Polygon’s upcoming Feijoa upgrade, which is planned to be released in May.
Users are urged to prepare for the ongoing changes to continue using the network effectively.
Polygon (MATIC) price
Analysts, like Coincodex, are predicting a correction in the MATIC price as the upgrade undergoes its updates.
Of late, MATIC’s price action has been bearish, according to Coincodex. With a price drop of -11.80% in the last seven days, Polygon has been underperforming the global digital asset market, which is down -4.60%.
According to Coingecko, The trading volume of MATIC has been $347,497,703 in the last 24 hours, representing a drop of 25.50% from the previous day and signaling a recent decline in market activity. The recent bearish trend is noticeable as Polygon recorded 14/30 (47%) green days with 8.37% price volatility over the last 30 days.
In the chart above according to Coinmarketcap, it’s easy to notice that Polygon continues to struggle like many other crypto markets. The current price of MATIC is around $0.921, down from local highs witnessed in the early part of this year.
Coincodex predicts that MATIC will surge its price by 8.17% and reach $ 0.993928 by May 3, 2024. Other market observers reinforce this prediction by anticipating that the MATIC price could jump by 20-40% a few months after the Napoli upgrade.
The major upgrade could address the scalability issues in the Polygon blockchain and allow the network to potentially process up to 100,000 transactions per second. Such capacity could propel Polygon to the status of the best platform for decentralized applications.
Furthermore, the increased capability of transaction processing and reduced transaction fees brought by the Napoli upgrade could attract a wave of new users and developers to the polygon ecosystem. This increased adoption would boost demand for MATIC, positively influencing its price.
However, the token could have more consolidation throughout this year before a breakout later in the year.
What is Polygon (MATIC)?
Polygon, formerly Matic Network, is a layer 2 blockchain solution that lives on top of Ethereum. The blockchain aims to be a scaling solution to the Ethereum layer 1 blockchain, allowing for lower fees and faster transactions.
- Three Mumbai-based software developers founded the Matic Network in 2017 but rebranded it to Polygon in 2021.
- Polygon’s layer 2 blockchain resolves Ethereum’s scalability by speeding up transaction processing while keeping the costs down for the Ethereum layer 1 network.
- MATIC is the native token of the Polygon network used for digital payment, store of value, and staking purposes.
- Polygon network is the home of several DeFi services. The two biggest DeFi platforms, Aave and Compound, run on the Polygon network. Polygon’s capability to provide interoperable and scalable infrastructure enables users to interact seamlessly across various DeFi platforms.
- Polygon also provides an ideal environment for decentralized applications, NTFs, metaverse, decentralized exchanges, web3 applications, and gaming services.
Conclusion
The Polygon Napoli upgrade is poised to transform the Polygon ecosystem, with significant implications for MATIC’s market performance.
While expert predictions for MATIC update paint a bearish-bullish picture, users should remain aware of potential risks and challenges associated with such a major upgrade.
Users are encouraged to stay ahead, practice the right strategies, and navigate wisely through the crypto storm.
