- Fees on the Polygon network recently went parabolic.
- A new token called POLS is at the core of the recent fee spike.
- Learn about POLS and how it is sparking a flurry of activity on Polygon.
As an Ethereum scaling solution, Polygon is known for its low fees. However, at some point in the past 24 hours, Polygon network fees experienced an inexplicable 1000% surge that had even Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal asking, “What is going on on @0xPolygon POS chain?”
The answer is an ordinals-like token, POLS. In this article, DailyCoin explains what POLS is and how it sent Polygon fees to the moon.
What is POLS?
POLS (not to be confused with POL, the token set to replace MATIC as the Polygon ecosystem token) is a “PRC-20” token. PRC-20 is a new token standard on the Polygon network inspired by the Bitcoin Ordinals-based BRC-20 standard.
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Like BRC-20 tokens, PRC-20 can be created by editing transaction data to attach a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) in a process known as inscription. BRC-20 tokens were all the rage on the Bitcoin network in Q1 2023, sparking a wave that found its way to the Ethereum network and now Polygon.
How Did POLS Send Polygon Fees to the Moon?
Among the several PRC-20 tokens, POLS has gained the most traction. On Thursday, November 16, efforts to mint the token pushed transactions on the Polygon network past 16 million, per PolygonScan data—the highest number of transactions that the network has recorded in a single day and nearly twice as high as the previous record of 9.1 million formed in June 2021.
The rise in transactions triggered a higher demand for block space, which sent fees parabolic. They surged 1000% from a peak of 489.1 Gwei on November 15 to 5,073.4 Gwei on November 16, per livdir.com’s Polygon Gas Price Chart. At the time of writing, however, Polygon network fees have fallen as low as 70.7 Gwei, suggesting that the excitement surrounding POLS has cooled.
The Calm Before the Storm?
At the time of writing, users have minted only 10.32% of POLS’ 2.1 trillion supply, per data from evm.ink. At the same time, there are other PRC-20 tokens available that could gain traction in the future. All of these suggest that more transactions and gas spikes may lie ahead in the coming weeks.
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All of these come amid a recent boom in DeFi (decentralized finance) activity on the Polygon ecosystem that may only compound things further.
On the Flipside
- While BRC-20 tokens potentially unlock new capabilities for the Bitcoin network like DeFi, the purpose of PRC-20 tokens on Polygon, which already supports the ERC-20 token standard for minting fungible tokens, is unclear.
- The recent swings in Polygon transaction fees make the network less predictable.
- Despite the spike, fees on the Polygon network remained far lower than fees on Ethereum.
Why This Matters
With POLS dominating the conversation within the Polygon ecosystem in the past 24 hours, it is necessary to understand what the token is and how it has led to recent swings in transaction fees.
Read this to learn more about Polygon’s thriving DeFi activity:
Nailwal Likens Thriving Polygon DeFi Activity to Arbitrum’s
Millions of MATIC tokens are flooding exchanges. Find out more:
$70M Polygon (MATIC) Hits Exchanges Fueling Price Dump Fears
