Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, was originally a layer-two scaling solution but has now progressed into infrastructure, building a multi-chain ecosystem consisting of Ethereum-compatible blockchains - the Internet of Blockchains. Polygon was launched in 2017 in India and its website claims that it is created by a “decentralized team of contributors”. However, a core team of four co-founders is highlighted: Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, Anurag Arjun, and Mihailo Bjelic.
Initially, the Polygon team took part in contributing to the Ethereum ecosystem. Some of their work included the Plasma MVP, Dagger, and the WalletConnect protocol. Then, the launch of the project was followed by a move to an independent network in 2019. Polygon allows developers to access an assortment of modules, which can be operated to build their own blockchains that are applicable to the Proof of Stake sidechain and are able to benefit from it. The said sidechain provides a higher transaction speed, performing 7,432,973 transactions per day, and lower fees. Polygon’s Plasma framework, which is built onto its PoS, also allows it to take in an unlimited number of DApps.
On May 17, 2022, Polygon Nightfall Mainnet Beta, a new blockchain solution for enterprises, went live. Polygon Nightfall allows organizations to benefit from blockchain technology without revealing sensitive information, for example to its competitors. With the help of Optimistic-ZK technology, transactions can still be verified, but the contents of these transactions remain private.