In a historic shift for the Layer 2 ecosystem, Polygon has overtaken Ethereum in total daily transaction fees generated. According to data from Token Terminal, the network achieved this milestone in mid-February, signaling a massive surge in on-chain activity.
On February 14, Polygon recorded $407,100 in transaction fees, nearly doubling Ethereum’s $211,700. The trend continued into the following day, with Polygon maintaining its lead at $303,923 compared to Ethereum’s $285,480.
The Polymarket Phenomenon
Industry analysts credit this growth almost entirely to the dominance of the prediction platform Polymarket. Matthias Seidl, co-founder of growthepie, noted that Polymarket alone contributed over $1 million in fees to the Polygon network over the last seven days.
The Polygon team highlighted the cultural impact of the platform, noting that a single market dedicated to the Academy Awards (Oscars) saw over $15 million in wagers. Developers stated that Polymarket is becoming a “cultural infrastructure,” with Polygon serving as its foundational layer.
Stablecoins and Microtransactions
Beyond prediction markets, Polygon is seeing record-breaking adoption in other sectors:
- Stablecoin Dominance: The network hit a weekly high of 28 million USDC transactions, surpassing Solana in this metric. The total number of asset transfers reached a record 103 million.
- Micro-payments: Utilizing the x402 protocol, Polygon recorded its highest weekly volume of organic micro-payments, totaling $1.2 million.
- Transaction Volume: The network leads in x402-related activity with 358,000 transactions in just one week.
These figures suggest that Polygon is successfully carving out a niche as the go-to network for high-frequency, low-cost interactions and real-world utility.
