The crypto market has sold off this month, fueling the debate about whether the bull run is coming to a halt. Industry leaders such as Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) have shed a fair share of their values in the past month. However, there have been a few anomalies, of which Ethereum’s aggregator Polygon  (CCC:MATIC-USD) takes the cake. With multiple use-cases and recent positive developments, it’s clear that MATIC-USD is here to stay.

The crypto sector has been incredibly profitable for its investors in the past couple of years. Despite the hefty gains, plenty of upside remains with the sector. However, investors must spot promising assets early to develop a robust portfolio like stocks. Altcoins such as MATIC-USD have solid use-cases and fundamentals, which points to an incredible growth runway ahead.

Polygon is essentially a proxy play on Ethereum. It is an ‘Ethereum scaling solution,’ acting as a settlement chain to allow users to transact significantly lower fees. Consequently, projects are jumping at an incredible pace on the Polygon blockchain. Therefore, Polygon is a surefire winner in the crypto business.

Rebranding

Polygon’s new look, post-rebranding, is much more ambitious. Before the rebrand, the network was an exclusive scaling solution for the Ethereum network. However, today it offers a wide array of scaling solutions virtually any blockchain can connect to.  Therefore, the network is more versatile and operates more like a one-stop-shop checkpoint.

Polygon’s ecosystem of scaling solutions is highly customizable and comes with several modules which can be tailored according to developer needs. Moreover, the platform aims to become an integral part of Web 3.0. The phenomenon essentially involves a more decentralized internet with a multitude of open-source services.

Polygon’s efforts are already paying dividends for its investors. Recently, blockchain protocol Uniswap went live on the platform. Moreover, the Opera browser will also be integrating with Polygon on its platform.

Polygon’s expansion efforts couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Ethereum will be transitioning to a proof of stake mechanism, making its platform significantly more efficient than in the past. Once the transition is complete, it is estimated that the transactions per second will scale from 30 to 100,000 on the network. Therefore, Polygon needed to reduce its dependence on Ethereum and offer a more comprehensive service.

Risks

Naturally, with any cryptocurrency, several risks need to be considered. Polygon has done well to expand its real-world utility; however, it is likely to feel the effects of Ethereum’s update next year. The upgrade will take Ethereum’s throughput to unfathomable heights, which may render Polygon’s solutions ineffective. However, I still expect its scaling solutions will still be of great value to users on the Ethereum network.

Furthermore, with Polygon’s expanded suite of solutions, it now faces competition from some of the most powerful networks in the crypto market. Most of these cryptos offer a powerful solution to address scalability issues.  For instance, you have Polkadot (CCC:DOT-USD) , which deploys parachains similar to Polygon to reduce throughput problems.

Nevertheless, Polygon offers an incredible solution, and with several new projects jumping on the platform, it points to a highly encouraging time ahead. However, its team must continue innovating and offering a more attractive product as we advance.

Final Word On MATIC-USD

The Polygon rebrand was the need of the hour for the network, as it has helped it drastically improve its use-cases. The network has limited its dependence on the Ethereum network and now offers a more robust framework that can support other blockchain networks. The onus is on the management to continue improving its solutions to stay ahead of its peers. Hence, MATIC-USD is a strong buy at this point.

On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque held a LONG position in Ethereum. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines