Polygon Co-Founder Considers Reviving MATIC a Year After POL Rebranding

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has sparked a lively discussion among the community regarding the project's token branding. He's questioning whether the network should change its ticker back from POL to MATIC.

Key Takeaways

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal is considering whether to revert the network's token ticker from POL back to MATIC.
Concerns have been raised that retail users may be confused by the current ticker and miss the familiarity of MATIC.
While some community members see no issue with the POL ticker, others argue that brand recognition for MATIC is significant.
Polygon's token has significantly decreased in value, now trading 89% below its all-time high reached in March 2024.

Polygon Co-Founder Considers Reviving MATIC a Year After POL Rebranding

On Wednesday, Nailwal shared his thoughts, mentioning that he personally prefers the POL designation. However, he has consistently received feedback indicating that the original MATIC ticker held greater recognition, particularly among retail users who now feel lost about the asset's status.

“The counter-argument I keep getting is: the guy in the Philippines running a sari-sari store, or an Uber driver in Dubai, knew MATIC… and now he has no idea where it went,” he expressed.

To gauge community sentiment, Nailwal posed the question on X, wondering if people think reverting to MATIC would be beneficial. “I’m genuinely curious what the broader community thinks, because this feedback keeps coming up,” he noted.

Cointelegraph reached out to Polygon for additional comments, but had not received a reply at the time of publication.

Source: Sandeep Nailwal

Polygon Token Falls 89% from Its Peak

On September 4, 2024, Polygon transitioned its MATIC tokens to POL, presenting this change as an upgrade. Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron explained to Cointelegraph that POL offers enhancements beyond what MATIC provided.

While MATIC generated income solely through gas fees and staking, the new POL token will earn fees from additional activities like securing data availability or decentralizing a sequencer.

Polygon Token’s One-Year Chart. Source: CoinGecko

According to data from CoinGecko, the Polygon token reached its highest value of $1.29 on March 13, 2024. Currently, the token is priced at around $0.13, which is approximately 89% lower than its peak.

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Mixed Reactions Within the Polygon Community

Opinions on Nailwal’s post showed a division among community members. Some users felt that the ticker wasn’t significant, while others emphasized the importance of brand recognition.

An X user named martijnde_boer encouraged Polygon to continue developing its fundamentals, arguing that those are more important than the token's name. This sentiment was echoed by another user who stated that POL had already achieved a level of acceptance. “I believe POL has already overcome the hardest part, which is initial acceptance. Stick with POL,” they wrote.

Conversely, several community members argued that early users tie the project closely to MATIC, and retail familiarity plays a vital role. “We haven’t really seen a new wave of retail entrants into the markets, so going back to Matic might actually be the play here,” suggested Mo Ezeldin.

As the debate continued over the ticker change, one user proposed an alternative name: PGON. “MATIC was the version most OGs remembered it by, but it probably feels less intuitive for new market participants. Maybe ‘PGON’ or something would’ve done the trick?” the user commented.

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