Polygon’s MATIC: From Developer Boom to Market Challenge

• Polygon’s network has enjoyed new features that are attracting developers to build on the platform, this not only paints a bullish outlook for the native token MATIC but ensures utility.
• MATIC has struggled to rally in recent days and faces further challenges ahead as MATIC holdings inflows in exchanges increase.

The Polygon network is on the precipitate of a major move but the bullishness or bearishness of its native token MATIC remains undetermined. In 2023, Polygon was one of the key projects focused on building. Throughout the year, the development team focused on upgrades and releasing new features. This has been evident with increasing adoption and the steadily growing number of developers.

A recent report shows that the network ranked 2nd in terms of the number of new developers, sitting only behind Ethereum. Additionally, the network holds the 39th position at press time with 4,409 GitHub commits, as per the gathered data. Despite these developments, MATIC prices struggled to rally, owing to the wider bearish trend in the market.

However, developer activity has decreased by 45.86% in the past month compared to the last, signaling a decreasing interest from developers. MATIC on the other hand had a strong start to the year, but prices have flatlined in recent days.

At the time of press, MATIC is exchanging for $0.7529. In the last 24 hours, the altcoin has lost nearly 5% of its value, extending its weekly losses to 15%. With a market cap of just under $7 billion, the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution has drifted outside of the top ten coins in the market and is now the 16th-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap.

Unsurprisingly, trading volume has plummeted in recent days. Santiment data shows a decline in MATIC’s volume. As of 11th January, there was $800 million in volume but has since dropped to around $313 million by 17th January. At the time of press, the volume has made a recovery and stands at just over $500 million.

Notably, bankrupt crypto lender Celsius has transferred part of its MATIC holdings to various exchanges. This signals an imminent sell-off that puts MATIC under massive pressure, and could visit lower lows.

Polygon 2.0 Could be a Catalyst for MATIC Rally

As CNF reported last year, Polygon unveiled ambitious plans to rebrand the network. Polygon 2.0 proposes new features and capabilities poised to revamp and restructure the entire architecture of the Polygon ecosystem. Following these plans, market sentiments are largely bullish for network developers, Polygon traders, and crypto investors.

In addition to the network revamp, Polygon has unveiled POL, the next technical proposal of Polygon 2.0; the upgraded token of the Polygon protocol.

This technical development could be a major boost for the token as it renews interest among investors. The wider market bullish outlook could also play a role in ensuring the token remains on an upward trajectory in the long term.

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