USDC is a [stablecoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-a-stablecoin) that is pegged to the U.S. dollar on a 1:1 basis. Every unit of this cryptocurrency in circulation is backed up by $1 that is held in reserve, in a mix of cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. The Centre consortium, which is behind this asset, says USDC is issued by regulated financial institutions. The stablecoin originally launched on a limited basis in September 2018. Put simply, USDC’s mantra is “digital money for the digital age” — and the stablecoin is designed for a world where cashless transactions are becoming more common. Several use cases have been unveiled for the USDC. As well as providing a safe haven for crypto traders in times of volatility, those behind the stablecoin say it can also allow businesses to accept payments in digital assets, and shake up an array of sectors including decentralized finance and gaming. Overall, the goal is to create an ecosystem where USDC is accepted by as many wallets, exchanges, service providers and dApps as possible.

Chainlink and the LINK token are among the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market. Considering this, a lot of exchanges have pushed to start offering trades in LINK. One top exchange to [buy Chainlink](https://www.binance.com/en/buy-ChainLink) is Binance. Other exchanges offering trades in LINK include: * [Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/huobi-global/) * [Coinbase Pro](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/coinbase-pro/) * [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/gate-io/) * [Kraken](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kraken/) It is important to consider the fact that investing in cryptocurrency carries risk, just like any other investment. To check Chainlink price live in the fiat currency of your choice, you can use CoinMarketCap’s converter feature directly on the [Chainlink currency page](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chainlink/). Alternatively, use the dedicated exchange rate [converter page](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/). Popular Chainlink price pairs include: [LINK/USD](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/link/usd/), [LINK/GBP](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/link/gbp/), [LINK/AUD](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chainlink/link/aud/) and [LINK/EUR](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/chainlink/link/eur/). You can read more about how to enter the market and how to buy BTC, LINK or any other token on CoinMarketCap’s education portal — [Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/).

As an [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/)-based [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20) token, Chainlink is secured by the proof-of-stake ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos)) consensus mechanism. Unlike the proof-of-work ([PoW](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-work-pow)) consensus utilized by Bitocin, PoS relies on the amount of staked tokens for selecting node validators. PoS protocols were created with the idea to battle the vast power consumption required by PoW systems. PoS models are becoming increasingly popular as they need less electrical power and are easily scalable. While PoW has proven itself a reliable consensus mechanism, Ethereum and all other ERC-20 tokens have been growing rapidly and setting the trend in the space.

During the initial coin offering ([ICO](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/initial-coin-offering-ico)) for LINK in September 2017, Chainlink announced a total and maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 LINK tokens. The current supply is about 453,509,553 LINK tokens, or about 45% of the total supply, as of end-September 2021. The Chainlink price at ICO was $0.11 and a total of 350 million LINK tokens were sold. This represents an over 200X from the ICO price to Chainlink price today. Chainlink price experienced a massive bull run in the period around mid-2019 to mid-2020. Chainlink bulls were colloquially referred to as “LINK Marines,'' becoming a well-known meme in the crypto community. Chainlink price reached an all-time high of $52.88 on May 9, 2021, on the back of an overall crypto market rally, as well as ongoing developments in the Chainlink ecosystem. According to the [ICO documentation](https://link.smartcontract.com/whitepaper), 35% of the total token supply will go towards node operators and the incentivization of the ecosystem. Another 35% of LINK tokens were distributed during public sale events. Lastly, the remaining 30% of the total token supply was directed towards the company for the continued development of the Chainlink ecosystem and network.

At present, Chainlink has been criticized for its dependence on a limited number of trusted nodes despite its efforts to be as decentralized as possible. However, LINK staking intends to remove this concern. LINK staking will introduce rewards and penalties to incentivize the proper operation of the Chainlink oracle network. It will also enhance the ability of node operators to receive tasks and earn fees within the Chainlink network. In this system, participants will lock up their LINK tokens as collateral. This [collateral](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/collateral) can be taxed or “slashed” if a node misreports data. The LINK tokens taxed from dishonest validators will be redistributed as earnings to honest validators. The developers of Chainlink hope that the introduction of this crypto-economic security should make the cost of attacking the network's price oracle greater than the potential profits an attack would generate. This is a similar gamification strategy that blockchain networks, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, depend on. Similarly, LINK holders that do not run their own node can participate in staking by delegating their tokens to a trusted node operator. Chainlink developers estimate that the staking program will offer a 5% return initially from a combination of emissions from the Treasury and fees paid by users of Chainlink's data feeds, and it will ultimately rely on only fees earned by the network. The participation of community members in staking will further incentivize node operators to remain honest. Participants will be able to choose where to delegate their stake through reputation scores given to node operators that consistently provide valid data feeds.

Chainlink is one of the first networks to allow the integration of off-chain data into smart contracts. With many trusted partners, Chainlink is one of the major players in the data processing field. Due to the integration of off-chain data, Chainlink has attracted the attention of numerous trusted data providers, including Brave New Coin, Alpha Vantage and Huobi. Data providers can sell access to data directly to Chainlink, thus monetizing the information they have. As a decentralized network, Chainlink allows users to become node operators and earn revenue by running critical data infrastructure required for blockchains’ success. Chainlink uses a large collection of node operators to collectively power a wide range of decentralized Price Feed oracle networks live in-production, which currently secure billions in value for leading DeFi applications like [Synthetix](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/synthetix-network-token/), [Aave](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aave/), [Compound](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/compound/) and more.

[Sergey Nazarov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergeydnazarov/) is a co-founder and CEO at Chainlink Labs. He graduated with a degree in business administration from New York University, with a focus on philosophy and administration. His professional career began as a teaching fellow at NYU Stern School of Business. In 2009, Nazarov co-founded ExistLocal, a peer-to-peer marketplace for authentic local experiences. In 2014, he also co-founded CryptaMail, a completely decentralized, blockchain-based email service. In 2014, Nazarov teamed up with [Steve Ellis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveellis0606/) and launched SmartContract, a platform that brings smart contracts to life by connecting them to external data and widely accepted bank payments. SmartContract was one of the entrepreneurial ventures that led Sergey Nazarov to the founding of Chainlink. Steve Ellis graduated with a degree in computer science from New York University in 2010. Right after graduating, he became a software engineer at Pivotal Labs. In 2014, he co-founded the Secure Asset Exchange, a company facilitating easy web access to a decentralized asset exchange.

Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a [blockchain](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/blockchain) abstraction layer that enables universally connected [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract). Through a decentralized [oracle](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/oracles) network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement. The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, [node](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/node) operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network. To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of [Chainlink](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-chainlink).

Weeks after the release of Dogecoin Core version 1.14.6, core developer Michi Lumin announced the launch of Libdogecoin, a C-library of the network’s building blocks. Libdogecoin would allow developers to build Dogecoin-compliant products “without needing to worry about the deeper specifics of the crypto functions.” This means that less technical members can easily design products that comply with Dogecoin standards. Since the update is a pure library, it will not provide a “runnable” node facility. However, Libdogecoin will support multiple languages, including Python, Node.js and Ruby.

You can sell or [buy Dogecoin](https://www.binance.com/en/buy-Dogecoin-Doge) at any exchange that offers the digital currency, store it on an exchange or in a Dogecoin wallet, and tip Dogecoin in any communities that accept Dogecoin. For the latest list of exchanges and trading pairs for this cryptocurrency, click on our [market pairs tab](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/).

Dogecoin has been used primarily as a tipping system on Reddit and Twitter to reward the creation or sharing of quality content. You can get tipped Dogecoin by participating in a community that uses the digital currency, or you can get your Dogecoin from a Dogecoin faucet. A Dogecoin faucet is a website that will give you a small amount of Dogecoin for free as an introduction to the currency, so that you can begin interacting in Dogecoin communities.

Dogecoin differs from Bitcoin's proof-of-work protocol in several ways, one of which is by using Scrypt technology. The altcoin has also a block time of 1 minute, and the total supply is uncapped, which means that there is no limit to the number of Dogecoin that can be mined. You can [mine Dogecoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/how-to-mine-dogecoin) either solo, or by joining a mining pool. A Doge miner can mine the digital currency on Windows, Mac or Linux, and with a GPU. As of 2014, you can also mine Litecoin in the same process of mining Dogecoin, as the processes were merged.

Dogecoin (DOGE) is based on the popular "doge" Internet meme and features a Shiba Inu on its logo. The open-source digital currency was [created by](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/dogecoin-a-stunning-surge-a-crushing-blow-a-surprise-comeback) Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon and Jackson Palmer from Sydney, Australia, and was forked from Litecoin in December 2013. Dogecoin's creators envisaged it as a fun, light-hearted cryptocurrency that would have greater appeal beyond the core Bitcoin audience, since it was based on a dog meme. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several tweets on social media that Dogecoin is his favorite coin.

It is possible to [buy Tron](https://www.binance.com/en/buy-TRON) from dozens of the exchanges it is listed on - including Poloniex, Bancor, KuCoin, Binance, Bitfinex, Coinbene and others. However, it is not supported by Coinbase. Learn about converting your[ fiat to Bitcoin here](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/) — the perfect gateway to purchasing altcoins.

TRON uses a consensus mechanism that is known as [delegated proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/delegated-proof-of-stake-dpos). TRX owners can freeze their cryptocurrency in order to get Tron Power, which means that they can vote for “super representatives” who serve as block producers. These block producers receive TRX rewards in exchange for verifying transactions, and these rewards are then distributed among the people who voted for them. According to TRON, this approach helps its blockchain to achieve higher levels of throughput.

TRON has a total supply of just over 100 billion tokens — and at the time of writing, about 71.6 billion of these are in circulation. When a token sale was held in 2017, 15.75 billion TRX was allocated to private investors, while an additional 40 billion were earmarked for initial coin offering participants. The Tron Foundation was given 34 billion, and a company owned by Justin Sun got 10 billion. All in all, this meant that 45% of TRX supply went to the founder and the project itself, while 55% was distributed among investors. Critics argue that this is a much higher ratio than what has been seen with other cryptocurrency projects.

TRON has positioned itself as an environment where content creators can connect with their audiences directly. By eliminating centralized platforms — whether they are streaming services, app stores or music sites — it is hoped that creators won’t end up losing as much commission to middlemen. In turn, this could also make content less expensive for consumers. Given how the entertainment sector is increasingly becoming digitized, TRON could have a headstart in applying blockchain technology to this industry. The company also says that it has a talented and experienced developer team, based around the world, that has been drawn from major companies such as Ripple Labs. Last but not least, whereas some other blockchain projects can be opaque about their plans for development, TRON offers a point of difference by delivering a roadmap that shows its intentions for the coming years.

TRON was founded by Justin Sun, who now serves as CEO. Educated at Peking University and the University of Pennsylvania, he was recognized by Forbes Asia in its 30 Under 30 series for entrepreneurs. Born in 1990, he was also associated with Ripple in the past — serving as its chief representative in the Greater China area.

TRON (TRX) is a decentralized blockchain-based operating system developed by the Tron Foundation and launched in 2017. Originally TRX tokens were [ERC-20](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/erc-20)-based tokens deployed on [Ethereum](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/), but a year later they were moved to their own network. Initially, the project was created with the aim of providing full ownership rights to makers of digital content. The main goal is to help content creators (who receive only a small part of the income) and encourage them with more rewards for their work. How: invite content consumers to reward content makers directly (without intermediaries like YouTube, Facebook or Apple). The TRON software supports [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract), various kinds of blockchain systems, and decentralized applications aka dApps. The cryptocurrency platform uses a transaction model similar to [Bitcoin (BTC)](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/), namely UTXO. Transactions take place in a public ledger, where users can track the history of operations. Therefore, the platform was built to create a decentralized Internet and serves as a tool for developers to create dApps, acting as an alternative to Ethereum. Anyone can create [dApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps) on the TRON network, offer content, and in return receive digital assets as compensation for their efforts. The ability to create content and share it openly without hesitation regarding transaction fees is an undeniable advantage of TRON.

As one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the world in terms of market capitalization, you shouldn’t have much difficulty in finding a major exchange to [buy Cardano](https://www.binance.com/en/buy-Cardano) on including Binance, Bittrex, eToro, and HitBTC. If you’re struggling to find a trading pair that unites ADA with your local currency, check out this guide on[ how to convert fiat into Bitcoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/how-to-buy-bitcoin/) — giving you a gateway to buying altcoins." To check Cardano price live in the fiat currency of your choice, you can use CoinMarketCap’s converter feature directly on the [Cardano currency page](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cardano/), or the dedicated exchange rate [converter page](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/). Popular Cardano price pairs include: [ADA/USD](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/usd/), [ADA/JPY](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/jpy/), [ADA/KRW](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/krw/), [ADA/CNY](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/cny/), [ADA/GBP](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/gbp/) and [ADA/AUD](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/ada/aud/).

On Sept. 12, Cardano released its highly-anticipated Alonzo upgrade. Following the upgrade, the blockchain network can now support a wide range of crypto applications, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and smart contracts. According to the project’s founder Charles Hoskinson, Alonzo aims to introduce “programmability” to the network. He likened the upgrade to when JavaScript was introduced to web browsers and the transition from static web pages to the likes of Facebook and YouTube. Alonzo is named after American mathematician Alonzo Church, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of computer science. In addition to supporting NFTs and smart contracts, Cardano can now be used for decentralized exchanges. In general, Alonzo puts Cardano in the same class as Ethereum, the world’s leading blockchain which supports other applications other than its native Ether token. Smart contracts, for instance, are one of the cornerstones of the decentralized finance sector — and Cardano now supports smart contracts. In February 2022, the number of Cardano wallets broke the three million milestone. Since December 2020, it has surged by 1,200%, from 190,000 to over 3,000,000. This coincided with an increase in smart contracts following the Alonzo Upgrade, and Cardano surpassed the 1,000 smart contracts milestone on Jan. 27, 2022. Another indicator of the ecosystem's explosive growth is developer activity: Cardano boasted the most developers contributing to its Github, beating out more developed blockchains like [Solana](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana/). On average, more than 50 contributions are submitted to its repo per day. However, the network is still struggling with implementing its [smart contracts](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract), and users had complaints about a sluggish launch of its [SundaeSwap](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/sundaeswap/) decentralized exchange in January 2022.

Cardano is secured through an “environmentally sustainable, verifiably secure” PoS protocol that’s known as Ouroboros. The project says that Ouroboros improves upon the security guarantees that are delivered by a PoW consensus mechanism while using substantially less power — claiming that it is four times more energy efficient than Bitcoin. It is described as a blend of unique technology and mathematically verified mechanisms, with behavioral psychology and economic philosophy thrown in for good measure. Overall, the objective of Ouroboros is to achieve sustainable and ethical growth. An incentive mechanism means that participants in the network are rewarded for their involvement.

There is a maximum supply of 45 billion ADA — but at the time of writing, there was a circulating supply of about 31 billion. Five rounds of public sales of Cardano tokens were held between September 2015 and January 2017. Cardano price during its pre-launch sale was $0.0024, which represents an over 1000x return, given Cardano price now. Approximately 2.5 billion ADA was allotted to IOHK once the network launched. Meanwhile, an additional 2.1 billion ADA was given to Emurgo, a global blockchain technology company that served as a founding entity of the Cardano protocol. Last but not least, 648 million ADA was given to the not-for-profit Cardano Foundation, which aims to promote the platform and increase levels of adoption. Overall, about 16% of ADA’s total supply went to the project’s founders, with the remaining 84% being split among investors.

Named after late Bulgarian mathematician Vasil Dabov, a prominent contributor to Cardano, the Vasil hard fork is touted as one of the most highly-anticipated upgrades for Cardano. The hard fork is the third development epoch of Cardano and is supposed to introduce several upgrades to the blockchain’s smart contract programming language Plutus and the network’s capacity. The event was originally billed to happen in June 2022, but has been postponed a number of times. Vasil will introduce five critical mechanisms to improve Cardano’s scalability and usability — CIP-31, CIP-32, CIP-33, CIP-40 and diffusion pipelining. CIP-31, aka “reference inputs” will introduce a new kind of input that would allow developers to look at the result of an output without having to spend it. This would optimize transaction throughput and increase concurrency. The CIP-32 proposal aims to enable inline datums. Rather than attach datum to datum hashes, which is the current state of things, CIP-32 would allow developers to attach datums to outputs. By implementing this update, devs can code scripts that directly point to the input, making room for simpler and quicker communication of datum values between users. The Cardano Improvement Proposal 33 would allow reference scripts to be attached to outputs. As a result, the reference scripts are used to satisfy the validation requirements in place of the spending transaction. These reference scripts will make the validation process more efficient and reduce the size of transactions. Meanwhile, CIP-40 features a brand-new type of output to transactions called collateral outputs, aimed at improving the overall scalability of the network. Diffusing pipelining is Cardano’s consensus layer scaling solution. The improvement proposal will see more DApp deployment by overlaying some of the steps that a block needs to go through as it moves across the chain: this would allow for concurrent transactions.

Cardano is one of the biggest blockchains to successfully use a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which is less energy intensive than the proof-of-work algorithm relied upon by Bitcoin. Although the much larger Ethereum is going to be [upgrading](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-dive-into-ethereum-2-0) to PoS, this transition is only going to take place gradually. The project has taken pride in ensuring that all of the technology developed goes through a process of peer-reviewed research, meaning that bold ideas can be challenged before they are validated. According to the Cardano team, this academic rigor helps the blockchain to be durable and stable — increasing the chance that potential pitfalls can be anticipated in advance. In 2020, Cardano held a Shelley upgrade that aimed to make its blockchain “50 to 100 times more decentralized” than other large blockchains. At the time, Hoskinson predicted that this would pave the way for hundreds of assets to run on its network. The Alonzo hard fork launch in September 2021 will bring an end to the Shelley era, and usher in the Goguen phase. Users can develop and deploy smart contracts on Cardano, allowing native decentralized applications (DApps) to be built on blockchain. Cardano price broke the $3 mark and hit an all-time high of $3.101 on Sept. 2, 2021, ahead of the launch.

Cardano was founded by Charles Hoskinson, who was also one of the co-founders of the Ethereum network. He is the CEO of IOHK, the company that built Cardano’s blockchain. In an interview for[ CoinMarketCap’s Crypto Titans series](https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/05/11/charles-hoskinson-on-the-power-of-crypto-working-from-home-and-mongolian-hunting-falcons-2/), Hoskinson said that he got involved in cryptocurrencies back in 2011 — and dabbled in mining and trading. He explained that his first professional involvement in the industry came in 2013, when he created a course about Bitcoin that ended up being taken by 80,000 students. As well as being a technology entrepreneur, Hoskinson is also a mathematician. In 2020, his technology company donated ADA worth $500,000 to the University of Wyoming’s Blockchain Research and Development Lab.

Cardano is a [proof-of-stake](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/proof-of-work-vs-proof-of-stake) blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change. To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of [Cardano](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/cardano). The open-source project also aims to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals” — helping to create a society that is more secure, transparent and fair. Cardano was founded back in 2017, and named after the 16th century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. The native ADA token takes its name from the 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer. The ADA token is designed to ensure that owners can participate in the operation of the network. Because of this, those who hold the cryptocurrency have the right to vote on any proposed changes to the software. The team behind the layered blockchain say that there have already been some compelling use cases for its technology, which aims to allow decentralized apps and smart contracts to be developed with modularity. In August 2021, Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of the Alonzo hard fork, causing Cardano price to surge, gaining 116% in the following month. On Sept. 12, 2021, the Cardano ‘[Alonzo](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-cardanos-new-testnet-launch)’ [hard fork](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/hard-fork-blockchain) officially launched, bringing [smart contract](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) functionality to the blockchain. Over 100 smart contracts were deployed in the following 24 hours after the launch. Cardano is used by agricultural companies to track fresh produce from field to fork, while other products built on the platform allow educational credentials to be stored in a tamper-proof way, and retailers to clamp down on counterfeit goods.

Being one of the projects that contributed a lot to the development of the Ethereum ecosystem, MATIC is popular among online exchanges focused on DeFi. The top exchanges where you can buy, sell, and trade MATIC currently are: * [Binance](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/) * [Coinbase Pro](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/coinbase-pro/) * [Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/huobi-global/) * [KuCoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kucoin/) To check Polygon price live in the fiat currency of your choice, you can use CoinMarketCap’s converter feature directly on the [Polygon price page](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon/). Alternatively, use the dedicated exchange rate [converter page](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/). Popular MATIC price pairs include: [MATIC/USD](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/matic/usd/), [MATIC/GBP](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/matic/gbp/), [MATIC/AUD](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/matic/aud/), [MATIC/EUR](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/matic/eur/) and [MATIC/JPY](https://coinmarketcap.com/converter/matic/jpy/). If you are new, you can find our simplified guide for purchasing crypto, project deep dives and more educational content on [CoinMarketCap Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/).

As a[ Layer 2 solution](https://coinmarketcap.com/headlines/news/ethereum-layer-2-scaling-solution-optimism-preliminary-mainnet-january-15/) utilizing a network of proof-of-stake validators for asset security, staking is an integral part of the Polygon ecosystem. Validators on the network will stake their MATIC tokens as collateral to become part of the network’s PoS consensus mechanism and will receive MATIC tokens in return. Members of the network who do not wish to become validators can delegate their MATIC tokens to another validator, but will still take part in their staking process and earn staking rewards. In addition to the proof-of-stake checkpointing, Polygon uses block producers at the block producer layer to achieve a higher degree of decentralization. These block producers give finality to the main chains using checkpoints and fraud-proof mechanisms.

MATIC tokens are released on a monthly basis. MATIC currently has a circulating supply of 4,877,830,774 MATIC tokens and a max supply of 10,000,000,000 MATIC tokens. At its initial private sale in 2017, 3.8 percent of MATIC’s max supply was issued. In the April 2019 launchpad sale, another 19 percent of the total supply was sold. The MATIC price was $0.00263 per token, and $5 million was generated. The remaining MATIC tokens are distributed as follows: * Team tokens: 16 percent of the total supply. * Advisors tokens: 4 percent of the total supply. * Network Operations tokens: 12 percent of the total supply. * Foundation tokens: 21.86 percent of the total supply. * Ecosystem tokens: 23.33 percent of the total supply. According to the release schedule, all the tokens will be released by December 2022.