Polygon PoS Network – How It Works
Polygon PoS (Proof of Stake) is a Layer 2 scaling solution built alongside the Ethereum mainchain. It provides EVM-compatible smart contract execution with near-instant finality, gas fees under $0.01, and sustained throughput of 45–60 transactions per second — making it one of the most widely used blockchains for DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and payments.
How Polygon PoS Works
Polygon PoS uses a set of validators elected by the community to produce blocks every ~2 seconds. Validators stake POL tokens as collateral and earn transaction fee rewards. The sidechain periodically checkpoints its state back to Ethereum mainnet, providing an additional layer of security through Ethereum's consensus.
Network Statistics
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Active Addresses | 156 million+ |
| Daily Transactions | 2–4 million |
| Avg Gas Fee | $0.001 – $0.02 |
| Block Time | ~2 seconds |
| Native Token | POL |
POL Token
POL (formerly MATIC) is the native token of the Polygon ecosystem. It is used to pay gas fees on every Polygon network address transaction. POL is also staked by validators to secure the network. The token contract address on Ethereum mainnet is 0x7D1AfA7B718fb893dB30A3aBc0Cfc608AaCfeBB0.
EVM Compatibility
Because Polygon PoS supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), developers can deploy Solidity smart contracts without modification. Ethereum addresses, tools like Hardhat and Truffle, and dApps like Uniswap all work natively on Polygon with minimal changes.
Quick Reference: Polygon Network Address Parameters
Network: Polygon Mainnet | Chain ID: 137 | RPC: https://polygon-rpc.com | Token: POL | Explorer: polygonscan.com