What happened
Cryptocurrency Polygon (MATIC -4.63%) is up over 13% in the last 24-hour trading period, building on its meteoric rise this past year (up nearly 17,600%). As for this most recent jump, traders are piling into the cryptocurrency after a pair of news items today: Blockchain protocol and decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem Uniswap (UNI -7.14%) is now live on Polygon; and the Opera (OPRA 1.47%) web browser is integrating Polygon into its services.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Polygon hopes to be a prominent part of "Web 3.0," a further decentralization of the internet with more advanced open-source services and a full-blown digital economy. Specifically, Polygon touts being "Ethereum's (ETH -4.33%) Internet of Blockchains." As more projects are built using the Ethereum network, Polygon saw the need to build a framework that improves on Ethereum's weaknesses (like slow transaction time and high fees) and to help connect the ever-expanding ecosystem of developers and apps.
Scoring the Uniswap dApp ecosystem is a big deal, but Opera -- which has hundreds of millions of users and has built a cryptocurrency wallet -- is especially significant. Opera users will be able to access dApps like SushiSwap (SUSHI -4.65%), NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, and metaverse platforms like Decentraland (MANA -4.77%) directly from their desktop or mobile device's web browser thanks to the Polygon integration.
Now what
It's still early days for the cryptocurrency universe, but decentralized platforms are working hard to make Web 3.0 an everyday reality for consumers and developers alike. Polygon has skyrocketed this year as more cryptocurrency project developers have flocked to its capabilities. Plus, Opera's decision to fully integrate it into its browsers bodes well for more non-tech worker awareness too.
Tread carefully, though. There's no shortage of cryptocurrency protocols and frameworks out there looking to improve upon the Ethereum network. As measured by market cap (currently $18.5 billion), Polygon is tiny compared to the top 10 cryptocurrencies. But size alone doesn't guarantee this soaring, layer-2 blockchain network will continue climbing indefinitely.
