POL (ex-MATIC) Faces Continued Bearish Pressure Amid Payment Network Growth
POL is trading at approximately $0.09 with a 24-hour trading volume of $57.5 billion, representing a -1.60% price decline in the last 24 hours and a -18.30% price decline in the past 7 days.
Recent Price Action and Technical Developments
POL hit a record low near $0.084 on February 6, 2026, yet a key momentum indicator hints at waning selling pressure. On February 3, 2026, POL's price action showed a sharp intraday rebound after hitting oversold extremes, with altcoins like POL gaining up to 13% in 24 hours following a "low-liquidity weekend selloff."
POL broke below its 30-day moving average ($0.131) and RSI indicates oversold conditions, testing the critical $0.10 support. Despite technical oversold conditions, the rally was quickly met with selling, resulting in a net 24-hour loss, confirming the underlying bearish structure remains intact.
Positive Fundamentals Amid Price Weakness
A bullish chart pattern emerges as stablecoin payment volume on Polygon exceeds $39 billion as of February 8, 2026. Polygon is gaining significant traction in payments, now holding the second-highest monthly USDC addresses after Solana, with major platforms like Tazapay, Revolut, and Moonpay facilitating billions in stablecoin volume in January, driving network fee growth.
Polygon's burn mechanism removed 25.7 million POL (≈0.24% of total supply) in January 2026, marking one of the largest monthly burns since the POL transition, driven by a spike in network activity, with daily active accounts briefly reaching 750,000–800,000.
2026 Roadmap and Technical Milestones
Polygon aims to achieve 100,000+ transactions per second via validator optimizations and AggLayer integration as part of its Gigagas Throughput Target for 2026. The AggLayer is expected to reach full maturity in 2026, focusing on unifying liquidity and enabling seamless cross-chain interactions for institutional and consumer apps.
Previous upgrades like Madhugiri (December 2025) already increased throughput by 33% to ~1,400 TPS, demonstrating incremental progress.
Market Sentiment and Outlook
Bitcoin dropped 5.68% in a week, dragging altcoins lower as extreme fear grips traders, with the Fear & Greed Index at 11. With a price decline of -18.30% in the last 7 days, POL is underperforming the global cryptocurrency market which is down -8.30%.