Gold-linked Tokens and Polygon Buck Crypto Downtrend

Partnerships with Web2 companies may have saved Polygon’s MATIC from market chaos

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

FTX’s disaster has caused the market to be filled with fear of uncertainty and doubt (FUD), and major cryptocurrencies related to Sam Bankman-Fried have suffered as a result, but Polygon (MATIC) and tokens backed by gold, have outperformed.

The price of Polygon’s MATIC token has gone up by 6% over the past week. By comparison, it’s competitor, Solana has seen the price of its token SOL dip by 46 %.

In addition to stablecoins, traders looking for a safe haven have turned to PAX Gold (PAXG) issued by Paxos, which has seen an 8.2% price increase.

Chris Kline, chief revenue officer and co-founder of Bitcoin IRA told Blockworks that MATIC is more hyper-focused and specialized than other cryptocurrencies, which may have allowed it to protect itself during market fluctuations.

“Polygon’s MATIC token is used to pay transaction fees and participate on the network,” Kline said. “Although MATIC, like all other cryptocurrencies, is 60%+ lower than its all-time highs of 2021.

MATIC’s price has likely outperformed thanks to the announcement of Polygon’s partnership with Instagram last Thursday, where creators will be able to make their own digital collectables and sell them on the platform. 

Loading Tweet..

As drama unfolds with FTX and other crypto communities, Polygon developers have been actively working on building products to integrate Blockchain technology with Web2. 

In fact, yesterday, Polygon revealed that it was working with Disney to develop a proof of concept for exclusive digital collectables. 

Loading Tweet..

Tapping into the creator economy space may have been the reason that the Polygon token has held up during the cryptocurrency meltdown.

“The value added to the creator economy is unmatchable and championing verifiable digital ownership on a platform with such reach will help us further our goal of onboarding the next billion users to Web3,” Sandeep Nailwal, the co-founder of Polygon said in a tweet. 

This sentiment is shared by Harsh Rajat, CEO at Push Protocol who told Blockworks “the reason the price of MATIC has been trending upwards and will likely continue to do so is because the number of wallet addresses continues to do so as well.”

Adding that, “the number of unique wallet addresses is the simplest indicator in the health and growth of a network, and it’s clearly thriving on Polygon as more addresses are being added every day despite a downturn in the market.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

allora-image.png

Research

Decentralized AI coordination networks solve crypto's growing architectural mismatch: applications built on trustless infrastructure shouldn't depend on centralized intelligence providers. By turning model outputs into competitive marketplaces, protocols like Allora are building the permissionless intelligence layer that AI-powered DeFi and autonomous agents require.

article-image

Ethereum rolls out Fusaka, setting the stage for a stronger blob fee market and renewed deflationary potential

article-image

Futuristic DeFi is stuck inside the computer. An old idea might be its escape hatch

article-image

Money market indicators are flashing liquidity stress again as crypto underperforms equities

article-image

From passageways to penumbras: a history of private life

article-image

BTC’s Asia-session move and Ethena’s weaker yields reflect a market adjusting to tighter yen funding and softer derivatives carry

article-image

What Monad’s launch, MegaETH pre-market pricing, and the Berachain refund story say about today’s infra market