Polygon (MATIC) Shows Signs of Potential Growth Despite Market Underperformance

Despite climbing over 17% in the past week amid a broader crypto market rally, Polygon's MATIC token has struggled to keep pace with its peers.

Despite a broader crypto market rally, Polygon’s (CRYPTO: MATIC) token has lagged behind its peers, slipping to the 34th spot in market capitalization rankings.

While other tokens soared over 50% in the past week, MATIC gained only 17%. This underperformance is largely due to Polygon's ongoing transition, which began in September with the rebranding of its MATIC token to POL as part of the major Polygon 2.0 upgrade.

This shift is central to the network's evolution, focusing on zero-knowledge (ZK)-powered Layer 2 chains designed to address Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) scalability challenges.

While the shift aims to bring enhanced token utility and scalability to the network, some investors have remained on the sidelines, waiting to see how the new tokenomics and scalability features will unfold.

However, recent developments show signs of potential growth for Polygon. Popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez (𝖕𝖘yɖɵɖǝ𝗹ᴉƈ ᵐᵉᵐǝs) noted a significant surge in key on-chain metrics, including rising daily active addresses, transaction volume, and whale activity.

In a tweet this week, the pundit highlighted that these indicators often precede a bullish market shift, suggesting growing interest in the Polygon ecosystem.

“Polygon is experiencing an important spike in on-chain metrics, with daily active addresses, transaction volume, and whale activity. These are all signs of growing interest and market participation, which typically suggest a bullish outlook for POL,” he wrote.

Other analysts are also beginning to recognize the potential of POL. Analyst Crypto Insider expressed confidence in the current market conditions for POL, saying that although he had considered waiting for a lower entry point, he is “loading up on POL at these levels.”

He explained that the token is in a strong zone, consolidating under resistance with rising volume, a classic squeeze setup.

The pundit also emphasized the fundamental strength of POL, noting its status as a regulated chain. He pointed out that the token has secured valuable partnerships with Web2 giants even during the bear market.

For instance, former President Donald Trump launched his NFTs on Polygon's blockchain, a sign of its growing mainstream adoption.

“With the new administration potentially offering more regulatory clarity and support for blockchain projects, POL could be positioned for further growth,” he said.

Moreover, analyst Ali Martinez has set ambitious price targets for POL. He recently predicted that the token could see a 167% gain if it reaches $0.89, with an even more dramatic upside potential of 2,387%, projecting a possible rise to $8 per token based on a bullish triangle pattern setup.

At press time, MATIC was trading at $0.44, down 3.54% over the past 24 hours.