Top Things You Should Know About Matic (MATIC)

Hey guys, I’m back with another comprehensive Q&A piece, this time for the innovative blockchain project bringing scalability to the Ethereum blockchain – Matic (MATIC).
Matic Network describes itself as a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum and its ecosystem of decentralized applications (dapps). Through layer 2 blockchain scaling solutions, innovative tools, and a decentralized developer platform, Matic aspires to enable better decentralized products, services, and applications.
The following piece is similar to my latest articles on OmiseGO (OMG), iExec (RLC), and Kyber Network (KNC), so if you haven’t already seen those, be sure to check them out as well. 
Hope you enjoy!
The list of Q&A is kind of long so first comes the list of questions that I have prepared the answers to:

1. What is Matic Network?
2. Who and When Created the Matic Network?
3. What are MATIC token Use Cases?
4. What are the Dapps atop of the Matic Network?
5. What is Counter Stake?
6. What is Matic’s Dagger?
7. Can you Mine Matic?
8. Where to Store Matic Tokens?
9. Where to Buy & Sell Matic Tokens?

1. What is Matic Network?

Matic Network website homepage

Matic Network is an off-chain/side-chain scaling solution for existing blockchain platforms like Ethereum. It strives to solve the scalability and usability issues of existing blockchains, while not compromising on decentralization.
In doing this, Matic Network aspires to help decentralized applications (dapps) achieve mass adoption by increasing their scalability, functionality, and bettering their user experience. 
The first blockchain platform that Matic Network aims to improve with its advanced scalability offering, without compromising decentralization is Ethereum. Matic chose Ethereum because it has the largest developer community and ecosystem, but is still plagued by scalability and user experience issues.
By integrating Ethereum dapps with Matic Network’s layer 2 scaling solutions, Matic can simplify the interaction between users and the decentralized world.

Matic Network Use Cases

Payments
Matic Network can be integrated into any dapp to vastly improve the speed and cost of payments. With Matic, payment transactions confirm in sub-seconds due to faster block generation times while incurring significantly lower fees.
Payments can be settled on-chain whenever needed but can first be executed near-instantly through Matic. 
Decentralized Exchanges
Matic Network can help decentralized exchanges (DEXes) provide faster and cheaper trades for their users while maintaining their trustless and decentralized nature. 
Gaming Networks
Matic Network can help increase the efficiency/throughput of transactions in gaming networks. It can significantly increase the speed in which buying or selling in-game currencies, collectible items, and digital assets are done.
Third-Party Applications and Developer Platforms
Matic Network can be used in various types of applications and developer platforms to increase not only scalability but functionality as well. 

• Matic can be used to secure personal data
• Matic can power atomic swaps between cross-chain crypto assets
• Matic can power a lending and credit scoring platform
• Matic can be used in an open-identity system while making sure users maintain full control of their private keys
• + Matic can be used in many more types of applications

2. Who and When Created the Matic Network?

Matic Network founders

Matic Network was founded by three talented technologists Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun who launched the project in April 2019.
Jaynti Kanani, Matic Network CEO and Co-founder
Kanani is a full-stack developer and blockchain engineer from Mumbai India. He’s well educated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology and is a core contributor to Matic’s Web3, Plasma, and WalletConnect.
Kanani’s roles at Matic include:

• Laying out the vision for Matic Network
• Building the Matic team
• Defining the Matic Network architecture, consensus mechanism, and overall crypto-economics
• Creating product strategies for mass adoption and Matic Network's growth
• Building developer infrastructure for faster and easy DApps development
• Research towards blockchain scalability
• Forging partnerships

Sandeep Nailwal, Matic Network COO and Co-founder
Nailwal is a blockchain programmer and entrepreneur from Mumbai India, who prior to Matic was the CEO of Scopeweaver, and CTO of Welspun Group.
Nailwal’s roles at Matic include:

• Onboarding decentralized applications on Matic Network to achieve scalability and faster transactions
• Fueling user adoption for Matic Network and its based Dapps
• Designing product/network strategy for long term network velocity
• Design and Deployments of Dapps on Matic Network

Anurag Arjun, Matic Network CPO and Co-Founder
Arjun, also from India, is a tech entrepreneur with his Bachelor's in Computer Engineering and extensive work experience at companies such as IRIS Business, SNL Financial, Dexter Consultancy, and Cognizant Technologies.
Arhun’s roles at Matic include:

• Defining the Matic product roadmap
• Acting as the bridge between Research, Economics and Engineering functions
• Defining technical specs for product features and research elements
• Product and project management across all modules
• Handling integrations with Partner networks and DApps
• API documentation
• Recruiting and maintaining the Matic team
• Third-party developer network buildout and documentation
• WalletConnect integration as a core part of the Matic platform
• Dagger and SQL integration

3. What are MATIC token Use Cases?

Matic token logo

Matic is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain and it has three key use cases within the Matic Network:

• Pay for transaction fees in the Matic Network
• Secure and validate transactions in the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism
• Serve as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Matic ecosystem

Pay for Transaction Fees
Dapps, products, and services utilizing Matic Network to increase scalability and functionality are required to pay for the transaction fees on Matic side chains in MATIC tokens. 
The more users a dapp on Matic Network has, the more transactions there will be, hence more fees paid out in Matic tokens. 
Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Consensus Mechanism
Matic side chains enforce consensus through a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism that enables Matic token holders to participate as validators in the network by staking MATIC tokens. 
As a reward for securing and validating transactions on the network, PoS stakers are rewarded with MATIC tokens.
Settlement Currency
The MATIC token can be used as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Matic ecosystem. For example, someone could provide computational resources and services and earn MATIC tokens in exchange.

4. What are the Dapps atop of the Matic Network?

As of May 27, 2020, Matic Network lists 4 dapps on their website that will be using the Matic Network to power their applications. 
See below, a brief overview of each of them:
Pocket Full of Quarters
This dapp claims to be the future of video games as it will provide the first cross-game token on the blockchain – “Quarters”. Quarters aims to be the universal virtual currency for gaming. 
The Quarters team will be using Matic Network to ensure instant and low-fee transactions in games that use the Quarters token.
Plentix
Plentix is a decentralized blockchain-based platform that connects and rewards participating users quickly and efficiently. It aims to transform the referral economy and it will be using Matic Network to ensure prompt referral payouts on their platform.
BankIT
BankIT is a banking financial services platform that plans to store fiat transactions of their banking network on the blockchain, to provide immutable proof of transactions. BankIT has chosen to integrate with Matic Network due to its advanced scalability features. 
CryptoControl
CryptoControl is an advanced crypto news, data aggregator, and trading platform designed for professional crypto traders and investors. The platform plans to integrate with Matic Network to provide traders with faster settlements at lower rates.

5. What is Counter Stake?

(Source)

Don't confuse with Counter Strike :)

Counter Stake is Matic Network’s incentivized public testnet event where anyone who’s interested in participating in the validation of Matic blocks or testing Matic’s limitations, can do so in a competitive testnet environment with real mainnet MATIC tokens as rewards. 
The Counter Stake event is on-going, with the primary goal of helping people to get involved in the validation of the Matic Network. 
Counter Stake is comprised of three stages; Stage 0, Stage 1, and Stage 2:
Stage 0 - “Setup”
Now complete, in this stage people simply set up their node and got comfortable with the software.
Stage 1 - “Stake on the Beach”
Now complete, in this stage people began staking MATIC to earn rewards for Uptime ($20,000), Bug submissions ($16,000), and Mini-contests ($4,000).
Stage 2 - “The Grand Staking League”
Stage 2 is the final stage of Counter Stake and it’s still on-going. In this stage, validators and Matic community members are encouraged to perform attacks on the network to try and break the system. Both economic attacks and those based on bugs in the code are encouraged. 
Stage 2 has more than 16 million MATIC tokens as rewards for:

• Attacks and bugs (Bug Bounties)
• Maintaining high node uptime
• Setting up sentry nodes, monitoring tools, and other tasks
• Testing the governance mechanism on Matic

6. What is Matic’s Dagger?

(Source)

Matic’s Dagger is the fastest & easiest way to get real-time updates from the Ethereum Blockchain.
Dagger is essentially a tool or engine that can track Ethereum accounts and events in real-time. It can easily be implemented into any dapp to provide developers with the ability to track their own smart contracts, accounts, and transactions. 
With Dagger, dapps are provided with reliable and scalable real-time events. Developers can avoid the risk and complexity of polling for events, and focus on building great dapps.
Developers may want to use Dagger to improve the user experience (UX) of their dapps and make better products overall. Additionally, developers may use Matic’s Dagger to create custom services or integrate with third-party services through IFTTT or Zapier.

Potential Dagger Use Cases

• Send emails to your dapp users when their contracts get created and they are ready to be used.
• Watch and get notified of ERC-20 token transfers from a particular address.
• Receive slack messages when someone withdraws a certain number of tokens.
• Automatically broadcast a new transaction when future block ‘X’ gets created.
• + many more…

7. Can you Mine Matic?

No, you cannot mine MATIC, but you can stake MATIC. 
The Matic Network uses a dual strategy Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism which includes stakers (validators) and block producers. 
MATIC token holders can become validators of Matic Network transactions by depositing (staking) a certain number of MATIC tokens. They then validate transactions, propose checkpoints on the mainchain, and also choose Block Producers through a voting process. 
Block Producers must provide a significant stake of MATIC in order to be considered for nomination. Block Producers enable faster blockchain generation times while ensuring a high degree of decentralization.
Users who participate in the Matic Network by staking MATIC tokens to validate transactions and secure the network are rewarded with newly released MATIC tokens and transaction fees in exchange for their services. 
12% of the total Matic supply (10 billion MATIC) is allocated to a staking fund for rewards. Once rewards run out in the distant future, validators will be rewarded solely by transaction fees. 

8. Where to Store Matic Tokens?

Official Matic Wallet 

The Matic (MATIC) cryptocurrency is built on Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard and is therefore supported by a wide array of reputable cryptocurrency wallets supporting ERC-20 tokens. 
However, Matic Network also features its very own multi-cryptocurrency wallet – Matic Wallet.

Matic Wallet

Matic Wallet is the proprietary mobile wallet of Matic Network. 
It enables you to send, receive, and manage MATIC, ETH, and other ERC-20 tokens from the palm of your hand and also allows you to interact with Web3 based decentralized applications (dapps) powered by Ethereum.
Easy to Use
Matic Wallet has a simplified user interface that’s beautifully designed and easy to use, allowing users to manage all their ERC-20 tokens in one place. 
WalletConnect Integration
WalletConnect is an open protocol that allows users to interact with any Ethereum dapp using end-to-end encryption so that users retain complete control of their funds without risking private keys. 
Trustless and Secure
Matic Wallet is a non-custodial wallet. The wallet never stores the user’s private keys, and the private keys never leave the user’s device. 
Supports Matic Network
Matic Wallet is the only wallet that supports the Matic Network, allowing users to manage and transfer tokens on Matic sidechains. 

9. Where to Buy & Sell Matic Tokens?

Matic (MATIC) can be bought and sold on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis but the most popular way to buy, sell, or trade Matic is through cryptocurrency exchanges.
You can buy MATIC with cryptocurrency or fiat at the following top exchanges. In most cases, you will have to fund your account with fiat, buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, and then use BTC or ETH to buy Matic (symbol MATIC).

• Binance - BTC, BNB, BUSD, USDT
• Poloniex - BTC, TRX, USDT
• Bitcoin.com - BTC, BCH
• IDEX - ETH

In addition to the exchanges listed above, Matic (MATIC) is also traded on a wide array of other exchanges and platforms that enable people to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies.
Hope you enjoyed that read, Let me know if I have missed something in the comments.
Cryptocurrency Blockchain Ethereum (ETH) Polygon (MATIC) Blockchain Scaling
✍️ Originally Posted: Publish0x