Polygon Surges 19% Amid Upgrade Anticipation

Polygon (POL) has experienced a significant rebound, rising to $0.19 amidst the anticipation of the zkEVM sunset and various ecosystem partnerships. The upcoming Heimdall v2 upgrade, scheduled for July 10, 2025, is expected to slash transaction times and address long-standing technical issues, which has sparked bullish sentiment among traders. The upgrade is considered a make-or-break moment for Polygon, as it promises to deliver on its promise of 5-second finality, which could drive further price increases.

The rally comes despite Polygon’s planned zkEVM sunset, with on-chain data showing 1.6 million daily active addresses and a DeFi TVL of over $1 billion holding strong. Technical analysis suggests more upside if the upgrade delivers on its promise of 5-second finality. This milestone follows Polygon’s Bhilai hardfork on July 1, 2025, which dramatically increased throughput to 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) and integrated Ethereum’s Pectra EIPs for enhanced account abstraction. With these upgrades, Polygon solidifies its position as a high-performance scaling solution just as adoption reaches new heights.

Polygon has nearly completed its token migration, with 92.7% of the 10 billion MATIC supply transitioned to POL by the end of Q1 2025. On-chain metrics reveal 1.6 million daily active addresses, 3.2 million daily transactions, and 11.12 million P2P stablecoin addresses in H1 2025, reflecting a 47% increase in transactions and a 25% rise in active addresses over the past 30 days. Furthermore, DeFiLlama data reports $1.066 billion in DeFi total value locked, driven by Aave and Uniswap, underscoring the network’s strength ahead of the upgrade.

Polygon maintains its rank as the third-largest chain in the NFT industry, recording a trading volume of between $16 million and $25 million over the past 30 days. The Courtyard collection, featuring Pokémon NFTs, has driven this surge, attracting significant interest from collectors. Partnerships with Polymarket, integrated with X on June 6, 2025, and Ronin Network, which adopted Polygon’s CDK for zkEVM gaming, enhance adoption, while Franklin Templeton’s tokenized funds and Flipkart’s Web3 expansion in India bolster real-world asset (RWA) leadership. PolygonScan data reports $23.3 million in NFT sales last month, with a 35.63% increase in buyer count, though wash trading plummeted 97.45% to $34,545.

Despite the planned 2026 zkEVM phase-out, Polygon’s focus on PoS scalability, supported by 95.1 million transactions in 30 days, positions it for sustained growth in Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem. Institutional adoption of Polygon’s modular infrastructure is accelerating, with enterprises increasingly utilizing tools such as the Chain Development Kit (CDK) and the new Type 1 zkEVM to build scalable Layer 2 solutions.

As of July 9, the chart data for POL/USDT shows a textbook ascending triangle pattern on the 4-hour timeframe, signaling bullish momentum ahead of the upgrade on July 10. This bullish formation developed through consistently higher lows meeting a flat resistance near $0.200. The market tested this ceiling multiple times from June 28 through July 7, confirming its importance. Price action established its base at $0.176 on June 22. The asset then built higher lows, creating a rising support line. This structure pushed prices steadily upward against the overhead barrier.

The pattern’s characteristics remain clear. Buyers demonstrated increasing aggression with each higher low. Meanwhile, sellers maintained consistent pressure at the $0.200 resistance. These dynamics formed the classic ascending triangle setup that typically precedes breakout moves. On July 8, POL/USDT successfully broke out, accompanied by a sharp increase in volume, a classic confirmation of bullish intent. The price climbed to a local high of approximately $0.215, coming close to a projected target of $0.225. The MACD indicator displays a bullish crossover, as the MACD line surpasses the signal line and both trend upward in positive territory. This supports the momentum behind the breakout and suggests further upside potential if volume sustains.

The volume footprint data revealed a clear buying imbalance, with a Delta reading of +657.6K and total buy volume reaching 1.44 million USDT, significantly exceeding the sell volume at 778.05K. These confirmed buyers were firmly in control during the breakout. Even during minor pullbacks, like the one around 10:15, the Delta remained positive at 268.92K, suggesting continued bullish interest. A brief dip occurred near 10:45, reflected by a negative Delta of -151K, but the next candle saw buyers step back in—albeit with less intensity than before. POL/USDT has delivered a classic ascending triangle breakout, backed by strong volume and momentum. While the price remains bullish above the $0.200 breakout level, some short-term pullbacks are possible as traders take profits.