What happened

Cryptocurrency Polygon (MATIC 0.89%) charged sharply higher Tuesday, surging as much as 19.2%. As of 12:50 p.m., the token was still up 9.9% over the past 24 hours.

There were several catalysts that helped fuel the cryptocurrency's rise.

So what

Polygon announced in a press release that it entered into a strategic partnership with Wanchain "that will drive further adoption of Layer 2 cross-chain bridges and accelerate the development of interoperable blockchain technology as a whole." 

A person in a darkened office looking at charts and graphs on a computer monitor.

Image source: Getty Images.

Wanchain is a decentralized solution that helps connect isolated blockchain networks. Polygon's Layer 2 blockchain project runs on top of Ethereum (ETH 0.45%) blockchain as a scaling platform, helping reduce congestion on the Ethereum network, and providing faster and less expensive transactions.

Adding Wanchain's Layer 2-to-Layer 2 bridge will enable cross-chain transactions with other isolated blockchain systems. The company's solution already supports a host of cryptocurrency networks and tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC 0.08%), Ethereum, Litecoin (LTC 0.52%), Avalanche (AVAX -0.36%), and Polkadot (DOT), among others.

Now what

This news comes on the heels of a report that suggests that several high-profile venture capital firms are considering an investment in Polygon. Sequoia Capital India and Steadview Capital are among those considering backing Polygon via purchase of its MATIC tokens, in a range of $50 million to $150 million, according to a report that first appeared in TechCrunch.  

This could be a changing of fortunes for Polygon, which has struggled to be taken seriously by the professional investment community. The situation appeared to reach a tipping point earlier this year when Polygon received backing from Mark Cuban. The billionaire investor is also touting the network on his website: "Polygon is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development."

These latest developments point to the growing adoption of Polygon and the utility of its MATIC tokens.