New blockchains continue to appear in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, causing everybody to ponder if they surpass Ethereum, one of the leading blockchains in the current market.
Polygon, on the other hand, is relatively new to the blockchain industry. However, the platform is evolving at a significant rate. It has over 8000 monthly operational teams, with 65% integrated entirely on the platform, compared to 35% of Ethereum.
This guide intends to help you understand the key differences between Ethereum and Polygon, along with the pros and cons of each blockchain, so it becomes easier to understand why it’s worth investing in either blockchain.
Overview of Ethereum and Polygon
Ethereum and Polygon are the two most widespread blockchain projects and proof-of-stake networks for all on-chain users to engage with the metaverse via GameFi in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or trade with DeFi.
While Ethereum is a worldwide, open-source platform that supports dApps and smart contracts, Polygon is the first-ever, well-structured, user-friendly platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development.
Despite this, a lot of investors often get confused with respect to the difference between the two blockchains. Let’s take a look at the two blockchains one by one.
Ethereum
Ethereum is well-known for being the blockchain that revolutionized everything in the entire blockchain ecosystem since it was first launched in 2015.
Besides introducing a fully programmable blockchain that allowed people to develop dApps, it inspired various other Layer-1 (L1) and Layer-2 (L2) blockchains that emerged much later. All blockchains that followed after its launch used Ethereum’s technology to create optimized networks with more enhanced and significant benefits to users.
On the other hand, the Ethereum blockchain introduced novel concepts like decentralized applications, tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi). This is why Ethereum stands as the true leader of web3 developments.
Ethereum follows a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, and its primary features comprise the following:
- Token generator
In the blockchain ecosystem, all digital assets are categorized as tokens. Any real-world asset that cannot be divided into additional parts can be tokenized.
For instance, it’s impossible to sell a music video or an artwork in half. Hence, these kinds of real-world assets, whether they’re a song or a piece of art, can be converted into NFTs and bought and sold.
- The new free internet
Today, we can acquire access to free internet services simply by providing our personal details. Still, Ethereum enables you to access any ecosystem’s dApps with a wallet without requiring personal information. Moreover, it allows you to be in complete control of your assets.
- A new financial world order
Ethereum’s key charm is that it offers a real solution to unbanked users who borrow, receive, send, and lend money worldwide and around the clock without needing an ID. This, known as DeFi, receives new adopters every day.
Suffice to say, at this point, Ethereum offers more features than Polygon. However, there’s no guarantee, as in the blockchain ecosystem, anything can change in the future.
Polygon
Polygon is the secondary scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain. It enables developers to connect their smart contracts (that are compatible with Ethereum) to Polygon.
This particular blockchain fills in the space with the current Ethereum blockchain network, which faces challenges with relatively high fees and slow transactions without compromising security.
Polygon is the L2 blockchain that supports Ethereum by offering cheaper and swifter transactions. Being an L2 blockchain, Polygon looks forward to solving a vast array of the scalability issues that the Ethereum blockchain encounters.
By using second-layer solutions like zkRollups, Optimistic Rollups, and Plasma, Polygon aims to minimize cost and boost transaction throughput.
Moreover, it’s designed to work harmoniously with Ethereum, permitting developers to deploy their decentralized applications on the network without changing their codes. With Polygon, users get a consensus based on Proof of Stake (PoS).
In addition, this PoS blockchain offers the following enhancements to make up for certain limitations that Ehereum faces, such as:
- Interoperability
It allows cross-chain protocols to give and take information between Polygon and other blockchains.
- EVM compatibility
This is an essential feature of the Polygon blockchain as it allows the developers of Ethereum to launch their dApps in just a few clicks, with cheaper and swifter transactions.
- Security modules
This indicates that Polygon operates as a highly customizable blockchain to allow cross-chain connections without compromising security.
Why Invest in Either Ethereum and Polygon?
Now that Ethereum and Polygon have been highlighted, it’s time to evaluate their differences in the form of pros and cons to help you decide which blockchain is worth investing in.
Pros of Ethereum
- Ethereum emphasizes its features and enhancements more, making it one of the leading blockchain app development platforms.
- It comes with a stateful architecture that makes it ideal for app development.
- The blockchain hardly encounters any problems and is one of the most efficient and stable blockchain platforms.
Cons of Ethereum
- Ethereum requires considerable processing power, which limits the scope for numerous users to take part in this. However, it permits miners worldwide to partake in the consensus.
- It has a relatively slow transaction processing speed.
- Ethereum only processes a limited number of transactions per second, ranging between 13-15, due to its massive lot of people waiting to verify their transactions.
- Due to the high processing power requirement, it often takes a toll on performance. Even then, it ensures enhanced security.
Pros of Polygon
- If you take on the Polygon network, you can earn significant rewards like Matic. Moreover, the consensus can be achieved faster since it offers a combination of technologies.
- It is more secure due to the validation system’s results.
- It offers a parallel experience to that of the Ethereum blockchain but with more efficient and faster transactions.
- This blockchain is designed to scale with the rising volume of transactions. Due to its hybrid environment, it has the fastest speed of 65,000 transactions per second.
Cons of Polygon
- With the developments in Ethereum 2.0, the blockchain may not be needed as the second layer.
The usage of both platforms depends on the kind of apps that’ll be created. Both Ethereum and Polygon are highly renowned and have a lot of recognition in the market thanks to their usability and the kind of applications they offer.
Besides, as the crypto market space continues to boom, a significant increase in the usage of both Polygon and Ethereum can be expected. Users can invest their time into NFTs and DeFi using these platforms, which are trending high.
Conclusion
With increased competition and crypto completion, Polygon is gaining fame quickly. It is a relatively new blockchain. What matters the most is that it’s steadily growing and attracting more attraction from the community.
However, Ethereum still has a robust hold over the market of NFTs and DeFi, given it was the first blockchain to grow NFTs.
Even now, developers prefer Ethereum for it. If you’re looking for a reliable blockchain platform with all the essential features and security, Ethereum is your best bet. However, if you are looking for swifter speed and affordability, Polygon is worth investing in. Ultimately, it’s entirely the users’ choice as to which platform they wish to use for NFT and DeFi.
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