The CEO of the Polygon Foundation, Sandeep Nailwal, has published a detailed primer outlining the value accrual mechanisms for the network's native token, POL. This move comes as the token experiences price volatility and mixed on-chain signals, including a surge in daily transaction fee revenue alongside a decline in active addresses.
Nailwal explicitly stated that his intention was to "explicitly restate what has always been true: If Polygon Chain and Agglayer succeed, then POL holders benefit. Full stop." He highlighted three primary benefit streams for POL holders: transaction fees, staking rewards, and future interoperability fees from the Agglayer.
A key focus was on POL's deflationary design. Nailwal noted that 100% of base transaction fees on the Polygon chain are burned. Citing recent network demand, he pointed to a single-day burn of 3 million POL. He argued that an average burn rate of 1.5 million POL per day would translate to an annual deflation of roughly 5% of the total supply, which he claimed would make POL "the most deflationary token in the entire industry."
This announcement follows the recent unveiling of Polygon's "Open Money Stack" initiative by Nailwal and Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron. The long-term framework aims to move "all money onchain" and targets the multi-trillion-dollar global money movement market.
Market data reveals a complex picture. Following Nailwal's initial tweet on January 9, POL hit a weekend high of $0.1842. However, it subsequently erased most of those gains, dropping 6.7% over a 24-hour period according to CoinGecko data. On-chain metrics show Polygon's daily revenue surged from lows of about $13,000 in mid-December to around $200,000 in the past week. Conversely, the active address count has slumped from highs of 2.9 million in mid-December to roughly 489,000. Transaction counts remain elevated, recently hitting 5.9 million in a day.
Analysts have weighed in on the recent price action. Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget, attributed POL's drop to "normal market volatility following an initial surge after the Open Money Stack announcement." He argued that the enhanced utility, burns, and staking mechanisms strengthen POL's fundamentals. Jamie Elkaleh, CMO at Bitget Wallet, echoed that short-term price action shouldn't overshadow Polygon's strategic vision, noting that "fundamentals are improving even as short-term sentiment fluctuates."
From a technical perspective, POL's price recently experienced a decisive breakout from a prolonged bearish structure, rallying over 60% and approaching the $0.18-$0.19 resistance zone. The move was backed by strong volume, with reported 24-hour trading volume surpassing $600 million during the advance. Analysts now note signs of short-term hesitation near this resistance, suggesting a potential cooling phase or corrective pullback toward support levels around $0.15-$0.16.
