Polygon

Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, is a scaling solution for the Ethereum network. It is designed to improve the scalability, speed and efficiency of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain by providing an additional infrastructure and security layer.

Polygon operates as a sidechain or layer 2 of the Ethereum network, which means that it runs its own blockchain, but is connected to the main Ethereum blockchain. This allows developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts on the Polygon network, taking advantage of scalability and faster transactions, while still maintaining security and interoperability with the Ethereum network.

The Polygon solution uses a consensus mechanism called Proof-of-Stake to validate transactions and ensure network security. This makes the network more efficient in terms of power consumption and scalability compared to Ethereum's Proof-of-Work model.