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Key takeaways
- Polygon (MATIC) has underperformed the rest of the crypto market in 2023 but the AI price model expects more positive price action after the Bitcoin halving takes place
- Polygon 2.0 will completely overhaul the network infrastructure over time, which could help to drive bullish sentiment around the project heading into 2024
- The MATIC price prediction algorithm expects a +268% gain post-halving, which would represent a new all-time high for Ethereum’s leading scalability solution
MATIC price prediction post-halving: AI forecasts new all-time highs within the next 12 months
The current price of Polygon (MATIC) is $0.858 following a -3.95% move in the past 24 hours.
Polygon is the leading layer-2 scalability solution for the Ethereum ecosystem and currently has a market cap of $6.88 billion. MATIC, the network’s native token, has underperformed the rest of the crypto market during 2023, rising just +13.25% YTD compared to the total crypto market cap (TCAP) which has risen +104.78% in the same time frame.
With the next Bitcoin halving event right around the corner, an AI model has forecasted a significant surge for MATIC in 2024. The Bitcoin halving has provided a historical catalyst for bullish price action across the crypto markets, and the AI algorithm expects this trend to continue after the next halving takes place in April 2024.
The MATIC price prediction model has certainly reinforced the bullish sentiment. MATIC has been forecasted to hit a high of $3.16 by November 2024 — roughly 7 months after the Bitcoin halving takes place. This would be a +268% gain from the current price and a new all-time high for MATIC.
A look at the fundamentals: What key developments could drive price movements for MATIC heading into the Bitcoin halving?
Polygon Labs has formed a series of high-profile partnerships that look set to drive consistent demand towards the layer-2 blockchain. Global brands such as Adidas, Stripe, and Adobe have launched their own Web3 products on the Polygon network, with Amazon Web Services also recently launching a Polygon-based solution for developers.
Perhaps most notably, a complete overhaul of the Polygon protocol is taking place through the migration to Polygon 2.0. Polygon 2.0 will be a multichain ecosystem that has a brand-new native token called POL. The overhaul involves migrating Polygon consensus to a zero-knowledge proof system.
Polygon 2.0 has been designed to “bring Ethereum to internet-scale” by creating a network of interconnected blockchains that can seamlessly handle up to 9,000 transactions per second (TPS). It will use a unique virtual machine that is compatible with existing Ethereum dApps called zkEVM.
Polygon Labs aims to offer “unlimited scalability and unified liquidity” through Polygon 2.0, as both zkEVM and the new POL token are set to work in tandem to improve the efficiency and interoperability of the chain.
Polygon 2.0 will be an ecosystem of interconnected blockchains, as per the official Polygon roadmap
Price analysis: Could MATIC be gearing up for a surge as we speak?
MATIC has been a relatively slow mover during 2023, which could be pinned on a variety of factors. Firstly, the launch of Optimism (OP) in 2022 and Arbitrum (ARB) in 2023 means that there are some new scalability solutions on the block that Polygon needs to compete with — both in terms of attracting mindshare among investors and in terms of attracting dApp developers.
Regardless, MATIC has turned a negative year into a positive one thanks to its recent price action. The native utility token had initially found itself in the red for 2023 following a major retracement from its yearly high, as MATIC dropped from $1.57 in February to $0.49 in September. At this point, MATIC was -34% down YTD.
Since then, a bullish period for the wider crypto markets has brought MATIC back into the green for the year. A +77% move from the September low means MATIC is now retesting a key resistance level on its macro structure, and it may seek to break out from this level in early-2024 after a brief consolidation over the coming weeks.
MATIC has failed to break through the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement level twice in recent weeks. Price chart via TradingView
The bottom line
Polygon finds itself in a strong position heading into the bull market as the leading scalability solution for the Ethereum ecosystem. Despite the emergence of a variety of new L2s, Polygon remains the top dog in terms of its market cap and total number of users. The network effects gained from this positioning could serve it well over the coming years, as dApp developers find existing liquidity especially attractive when deciding which network to build on.
Indeed, a selection of high-profile brands have chosen to build their Web3 products on Polygon already. This factor could help to drive consistent users to Polygon and help it to build its own brand awareness among mainstream markets. Both of these factors could play an important role heading into a post-halving bull run.
Ultimately, Polygon Labs has been hard at work developing a major overhaul of the underlying network that could make it stand apart from alternative L2s over time. Despite MATIC soon being replaced by POL during the Polygon 2.0 upgrade, the price prediction algorithm still expects a significant surge for MATIC by the end of 2024 that would bring the cryptocurrency to brand-new all-time highs.
In total, the MATIC price prediction after the Bitcoin halving takes place is $3.16 by November 2024 — a +268% gain from the current level.