Polygon is set to undergo a mainnet upgrade on Sept. 4, 2024, transitioning from its native token, MATIC, to a new token with the ticker POL and fresh smart contracts, following community approval of the proposal.

Post-upgrade, POL will replace MATIC to be the primary token for gas fees and staking within the network during the initial phase. POL is expected to maintain MATIC's existing tokenomics, distribution and total supply.

Subsequent phases may see an expansion of POL’s functionalities, particularly within the AggLayer, depending on community input. 

This follows a testnet migration was released on July 17, which aimed to identify and address potential issues prior to the mainnet transition.

The POL token migration process

For current MATIC holders on the Polygon PoS …