Polygon, an Ethereum support layer, has secured a hefty $450 million investment via Sequoia Capital. The fund vies to go toe to toe with competitor Andreessen Horowitz, yet another venture capital fund that seeks to bolster the Web3 internet and blockchain capabilities through aggressive funding.
When compared to Bitcoin's network, Polygon can do a host more blockchain-based transactions, including support for applications like the various decentralized finance (DeFi) services and the highly volatile yet thriving world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens). As such, Polygon doesn't simply stop at just peer-to-peer transactions.
It acts as a proof-of-stake blockchain and a "Layer 2" for the Ethereum network, lessening the overall load across the main Ethereum blockchain. Polygon essentially ensures transactions are swift and regulated without adding any additional processing fees into the equation. Thus far, the Polygon blockchain has nearly 2.7 million active users each month and has completed well over a billion transactions.
With the rise of blockchain-based transactions, Ethereum itself is taking steps to improve upon its own network via an aptly named Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. While some posit this evolution to be a direct conflict to Polygon and its own efforts, the network vies to only enhance transactions further and sees growth even well beyond Ethereum's forthcoming 2.0 update.
In fact, Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, expects the Blockchain network to evolve into a decentralized version of Amazon Web Services, so as to enhance and situate themselves on the Web3 internet ideal. Web3 is the concept by which is the next step in our internet capabilities. Where today we live and work across the Web2 formula, tomorrow vies to see Web3, taking blockchain, cryptocurrency, and metaverse concepts and folding them all onto the worldwide net.
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Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia haven't been the only venture capitalists investing millions into these burgeoning endeavors. Tiger Global, SoftBank, and Galaxy Digital have thrown bills at the Web3 concept, as well, seeing not only the growing interest surrounding these fields but the inevitable truckloads of cash presented by their future potentialities.
Polygon's own cryptocurrency token, matic, proves to be a desirable form of asset as the company sold units of said token to investors over issuing any additional shares. Despite the still-dwindling cryptocurrency market, Polygon's investors see an ever-increasing value in the network's token as the blockchain grows its user base.
Of the $450 million afforded via Sequoia, $100 million will go to an "ecosystem fund" to boost resources for future projects on the Polygon network. The remaining $350 million will remain in safe keeping as "buffer money" for whatever additional resources Polygon may need at a given notice. With only 240 people thus far on the Polygon team, its still-evolving platform necessitates some hefty reserves.
The rise in cloud-based video gaming has likewise caught the eye of Polygon, which scooped up former YouTube executive Ryan Wyatt to help build out a dedicated gaming studio under the guise of the blockchain network.
"You're seeing a lot of really great developers leaving major established studios to come create blockchain games," Wyatt explains to CNBC. "We're going to open up a whole new type of gaming experience with people that are developing games on the blockchain. Over the next two or three years, we're going to point to examples of high-polish, triple-A games that are built on Polygon."
Despite the excitement, Google itself has only recently begun to deprioritize its own cloud gaming platform, Stadia. Heavy hitters Microsoft and Amazon are likewise in the ring, fueling growth via Game Pass xCloud and Luna offerings, respectively. Assorted blockchain-based games are likewise a dime a dozen, including Axie Infinity, THNDR, Skillz, and the metaverse-specific Decentraland and Sandbox. Fusing these concepts with cloud gaming only seems like a fitting next-step in corralling high-tech gaming for the cloud infrastructure.
The group sees itself at a $2 billion valuation. Polygon doesn't consider itself as a typical "company," given its foothold in the largely anonymous cryptocurrency space. Decentralization is a key aspect of blockchain-based commodities and projects, thus regulations surrounding them are largely more critical and volatile.
For its part, Polygon vies to ensure safe practices and reliable transactions throughout its network and the $450 million support granted by Sequoia will only expand upon its efforts into the Web3 formula and beyond.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Ryan Epps
