Blockchains I Polygon

Polygon is becoming an increasingly important blockchain these days. This is because the blockchain is incredibly scalable, supports smart contracts, and can work well with Ethereum's blockchain (ETH).

For starters, what is Polygon?
Chances are you haven't heard of the Matic Network before. This is the name that Polygon still had until Feb. 9, 2021, when the team behind this project decided to change its name. This is also why Polygon's token is currently still called MATIC (colloquially Polygon Matic).

Polygon is a blockchain that has many affinities with Ethereum. Namely, the blockchain provides support for smart contracts, allowing developers to develop an application (a decentralized application, also called a Dapp) and cryptocurrency on Polygon's blockchain.

Yet Polygon is seen by many people as an ecosystem, rather than just a blockchain. This is because Polygon has developed a framework that allows anyone to easily and quickly start their own blockchain network. This is one of the reasons why many beginners start with MATIC. Very little is needed to start their own blockchain. If you already have some experience with programming, it is not difficult to switch to the MATIC blockchain.

Features of Polygon
Scalable. Polygon's blockchain is incredibly scalable. This allows it to process transactions by the minute, without users having to wait a long time for the transaction to be processed. The high scalability also ensures that transaction costs remain relatively low, even though the blockchain is akin to Ethereum;

Secure. Polygon has ensured that developers can develop an App on Polygon without worrying about security. This has the big advantage of eliminating the need for developers to think about the security and scalability of the blockchain they want to use. This saves time for developers.

Collaboration with Ethereum. Polygon uses the same techniques as Ethereum, allowing applications to work seamlessly between these two ecosystems.

The goal of Polygon

• The long-term goal is to enable an open, borderless world where users can make use of various decentralized products and services without first having to navigate through intermediaries.
• Polygon is using a variety of technologies to achieve this broader vision, including:
• POS Chain: Polygon's main chain is an Ethereum sidechain known as the Matic POS Chain, which adds a Proof of Participation (POS) security layer to blockchains launched on Polygon.
• Plasma Chains: Polygon uses a scaling technology known as plasma to move assets between the base chain and sidechains via plasma bridges.
• ZK Rollups: An alternative scaling solution used to merge a large number of off-chain transfers into a single transaction.
• Optimistic Rollups: A solution that works on top of Ethereum to facilitate near-immediate transactions through the use of Proof of Fraud.

Polygon plans to integrate more than one scaling solution, in line with its goal of minimizing barriers to entry by trying to keep transaction costs to the bare minimum. By taking a multi-pronged approach to the scale problem, Polygon is hedging its bets in case another scale solution fails to achieve its goal.

Who uses the Polygon ecosystem?

Zapper

• The platform of Zapper provides more overview between all your crypto assets. It is a portfolio to which you can link all your wallets. Then you have a good overview of the cryptocurrencies you own.
• In fact, Zapper also offers features that make it possible to swap or stake tokens. You can also store NFTs in Zapper's portfolio, and see what the unrealized returns of your tokens are.
• It is possible to link wallets from other blockchains to Zapper as well, allowing you to manage not only tokens running on Polygon in Zapper's portfolio.

Balancer

• Balancer is an AMM protocol for DeFi projects. AMM stands for Automated Market Maker and is used by DeFi applications for swapping tokens.
• A DeFi application does not use an order book, as a central exchange does. Instead, the price will have to be determined by the AMM, after which tokens will be swapped directly between the pool and users. This is done through trading pairs and the provision of liquidity by the users in the specific liquidity pool.

Paraswap

• On Paraswap's platform, you can swap different tokens. Just to be clear, a 'swap' means that you can 'swap' one crypto for another.

Beefy.finance

• Users can get better yield farming returns through Beefy.finance.
• Yield farming, simply put, is making your cryptocurrencies available to a DeFi platform, creating more liquidity. They can use these cryptocurrencies to operate the platform. For example, a liquidity pool is needed to swap tokens.
• With yield farming, you can earn money for the cryptocurrencies you temporarily lend to the DeFi application. How high the earnings are is different for each application and each cryptocurrency.
• Beefy.finance's protocol ensures that you can get the best possible revenues with your tokens. The protocol does this by automatically reinvesting the revenue without you having to worry about it yourself. This means that Beefy.finance does the work for you.
• Because it is an automated protocol, it knows exactly which investments it can best make.

Fulcrum

• Fulcrum is a platform intended for lending and margining trading various cryptocurrencies, including the tokens running within Polygon's ecosystem.
• There are several platforms on other blockchains that do the same thing. Here you can lend cryptocurrencies to other users, for which you receive a nice interest rate. Those borrowing money will first have to put up collateral.
• This collateral ensures that lenders have the security of getting their tokens back. Those borrowing crypto pay fees in order to pay the lender's interest.