What happened
Cryptocurrency Polygon (MATIC +0.00%) charged sharply higher Friday, jumping as much as 14.9%. As of 5:36 p.m. ET, the token has gained 10.6% over the preceding 24 hours. This marked a sharp contrast to many high-profile cryptocurrencies, many of which were in the red.
Several pieces of positive news, pointing to greater expansion and utility, helped fuel the cryptocurrency's rise.
So what
21Shares, an issuer of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), announced that it would list the first product tied to the performance of Polygon on Euronext exchanges in both Paris and Amsterdam. The ETP will track Polygon's MATIC token.
Image source: Getty Images.
This comes just weeks after 21Shares launched Europe's first Polygon ETP, which debuted on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Furthermore, Aurox, a cryptocurrency trading platform focused on decentralized finance (DeFi), plans to introduce a lending platform on Polygon. Aurox Lend, which will be deeply integrated on the Polygon chain, will facilitate more efficient token transactions while providing much greater liquidity, solving several issues associated with DeFi lending and margin trading. Aurox also expects to offer a higher interest rate on Ethereum (ETH +1.43%) deposits.
Now what
Polygon's layer 2 blockchain project runs on top of Ethereum blockchain. It is a scaling platform that was developed to help reduce bottlenecks on the Ethereum network, which has long suffered from congestion and high fees. Polygon alleviates these issues by speeding up transactions and making it more efficient.
This combination of high speed and low transaction costs has attracted a growing number of developers to the platform. As a result, more than 3,000 apps now reside on Polygon, according to data supplied by blockchain development platform Alchemy.
Polygon's adoption shows no sign of slowing. Back in July, it introduced a $100 million fund aimed at supporting projects that pair non-fungible token (NFT) and gaming projects with blockchain technology.
The combination of a growing developer base and wider worldwide access to ETPs tracking the MATIC token's performance will no doubt help boost Polygon's already impressive beachhead in the space.
