POL, which has upgraded from MATIC, is currently being bet on by many to turn the tide in 2026. Frankly speaking, there is a plausible logic behind this.

First, there is some exciting technical news. Polygon is promoting the Gigagas plan, aiming to push network throughput beyond 100,000 transactions per second — this number sounds exaggerated, but considering the demands of global payments and on-chain real-world assets (RWA), there is indeed room for imagination. Simultaneously, the aggregation layer (AggLayer) is even more interesting; POL is no longer just a token for a single chain but acts as a connector for multiple Layer 2 networks, solving the blockchain fragmentation problem.

The deflationary mechanism is also quietly taking effect. The network burns about 1 million POL daily as basic fees. If this pace continues, approximately 3.5% of the total supply could be destroyed annually. It may not seem like much, but over the long term, this continuous deflationary pressure is definitely worth paying attention to.

As for the token price, opinions vary. The optimistic view is: if the market conditions and ecological applications (such as the payment tool Open Money Stack) truly expand on a large scale by 2026, POL could potentially return to $1, or even surge to the $2 to $4 range. However, all of this depends on whether technological breakthroughs can be practically implemented; a perfect plan on paper is useless without real-world application.

Ultimately, 2026 will be a watershed moment for POL — transforming from a simple scalability solution into a truly infinitely expandable ecosystem. The technical fundamentals are solid, but whether it can create a wave ultimately depends on whether the application layer can truly explode.