Polygon, a leading layer-2 scaling solution, found itself in a paradoxical situation in 2025: despite its network usage and adoption soaring to record-breaking levels, its native token, POL, saw negligible price gains. This intriguing disconnect has ignited considerable anticipation for 2026, with CEO Sandeep Nailwal confidently predicting a "resurrection" driven by a strategic shift towards deflationary tokenomics and continued, robust network expansion.
A New Era of Scarcity: The Deflationary Push
At the core of Polygon's bullish outlook for 2026 is a significant pivot towards deflationary tokenomics. CEO Sandeep Nailwal points to the network's "S-curve" growth, characterized by a substantial surge in fees primarily directed towards token burns. Over the past three months, Polygon's daily fees and revenue have impressively increased by 425% to $115,000. This has resulted in the daily burning of approximately 1 million POL tokens. Should this rate be sustained annually, an estimated 3.5% of POL's total supply would be permanently removed from circulation, introducing considerable deflationary pressure. Historically, a direct correlation exists between increased scarcity and price appreciation, a trend Polygon aims to leverage. Further contributing to this scarcity, 3.6 billion POL tokens are currently staked, with stakers and validators collectively earning a 1.5% reward, effectively reducing the circulating supply even more.
Unprecedented Network Adoption Fuels Demand
Beyond its deflationary initiatives, Polygon's foundational strength is evident in its rapidly expanding ecosystem and user engagement. The network achieved a remarkable milestone in 2025, processing an unprecedented 1.4 billion transactions. This figure is a clear indicator of widespread adoption, with daily transactions consistently stabilizing above 5 million and occasionally spiking to 7 million. Crucially, this growth is supported by a burgeoning user base, with weekly active addresses exceeding 15 million and daily active addresses consistently hovering between 700,000 and 1 million. Such synchronized growth in both addresses and transactions strongly signals increasing network usage and a genuine, organic demand for the Polygon asset.
Charting POL's Path in 2026
Entering 2026, POL has already begun to exhibit promising signs of recovery, having seen a 21% jump in a recent week. The altcoin's Stochastic Momentum Index has decisively moved into the positive zone, signaling strong upward momentum as it successfully clears previous losses. With a powerful combination of significant adoption, reduced token scarcity driven by aggressive burns and staking, and a positive price trend, the sustained implementation of these deflationary measures could indeed propel POL toward a substantial positive run. While the token faces short-term resistance at $0.15 and eyes a long-term target of $0.17, its current trajectory suggests a potential departure from its prior underperformance, setting the stage for a compelling and potentially transformative 2026.
