As blockchain start-up Polygon gets a massive funding of $450 million through a private sale of its native MATIC token in a funding round led by Sequoia, SoftBank and Tiger Global, the Web3 start-ups in India believe that it’s the new beginning for the crypto world in India.
Although this is not the first time but the size, nature and timing of the deal is leaving crypto enthusiasts upbeat.
First and foremost, the deal is massive that values Polygon at $10 billion despite the fact that the company doesn’t have any revenue to show, at least as of now. And then, this is perhaps the first time that a blockchain company, and not a crypto exchange, got an emphatic thumbs up from investors.
And importantly – the government is giving strong feelers lately that strong diktats to regulate crypto trading would soon be issued in India. Lately RBI’s deputy governor T Rabi Sankar rooted for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in India. During such a time — when pessimist investors wouldn’t be surprised even if the forthcoming bill on cryptocurrency regulation ensues an end of road for crypto trading in India — this massive funding round is more than enough to cheer the blockchain enthusiasts.
One senior official at a top crypto exchange opined that the success of Polygon will encourage several blockchain entrepreneurs to build new Web3 products in India instead of in Abu Dhabi, Singapore or US.
What is Polygon?
Polygon is Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development platform that enables developers to build and scale blockchain-based applications for projects related to decentralised finance (DeFi), Web3, metaverse, among others. It has more than 7,000 decentralised apps (DApps) built on its platform and over two million daily users.
Polygon’s native crypto token is Matic – which is listed on most crypto exchanges. And on the day the funding was announced, the market cap of Matic was nearly $13 billion.
"Web3 builds on the early Internet's open-source ideals, enabling users to create the value, control the network and reap the rewards. Ethereum, scaled by Polygon, will be the bedrock of this next stage in the Web's evolution," said Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal in a statement issued after the funding.
As the platform boasts of two million active users, the Matic token will likely get an impetus after more and more Web3 apps are developed there. Consequently, holders of MATIC token — investors and founders — will have an incentive to make the platform stronger and efficient.
The Matic token was trading 7 percent lower at $1.67 per token on Friday, as per the Coin Market Cap data.
There is no doubt that the news of funding is seen quite differently from what meets the eye, both by the investors and industry watchers alike; the Web3 technology is still believed to be taking its baby steps.
How it eventually unfolds and what shape it would take is a question which only a few can answer.