Why Polygon (MATIC) Crypto Is Trading 59% Higher Today

Polygon MATIC/USD soared 59.22% to $0.4637 in the early hours of Friday at press time.

What Happened: The coin, previously known as Matic Network, has risen 135.95% in a seven-day trailing period.

On Thursday, the rebranded coin launched on Coinbase, which sent it soaring. 

MATIC, SKL and SUSHI are now live on https://t.co/bCG11KMQ6s and in the Coinbase iOS and Android apps. Coinbase customers can log in now to buy, sell, convert, send, receive, or store MATIC, SKL and SUSHI. https://t.co/bfBNjNtMAB

— Coinbase (@coinbase) March 11, 2021

Polygon, an interoperability and scaling framework for the Ethereum ETH/USD blockchain, is somewhat akin to Polkadot DOT/USD. 

Like DOT, MATIC also envisions a solution spanning interconnected blockchains, but for the ETH platform. Polygon touts itself as “Ethereum’s internet of blockchains.”

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DOT traded 1.57% lower at $36.36 at press time, while ETH traded 0.72% higher at $1,797.07. The apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD was up 2.24% at $56,775.83.

Why It Matters: Cryptocurrencies like ENJIN ENJ/USD have soared and social media is attributing high fees on the ETH network as the reason for gains. 

Last week, the average fees for transacting on ETH blockchain passed $20 levels, according to CoinDesk. 

Polygon has become the latest to join the fray of coins trying to address ETH’s fee and technological limitations.

So-called ETH killers like DOT, Cardano ADA/USD, Solana SOL/USD, and Fantom FTM/USD saw record gains this year as they strive to challenge the supremacy in the smart contract arena.