Chain features
Until 2021, the Polygon network was called the Matic Network.Matic Network is a platform for scaling Ethereum. This means that Matic is not a separate blockchain - rather, it is an add-on to Ethereum that allows users to access the functionality of the second cryptocurrency.
The Matic Network solved the problems of Ethereum network congestion and offered a second-tier solution - instead of conducting transactions directly on the Ethereum network, they were first handled by Matic itself. This was due to Plasma technology. Only then did the transactions enter the main Ethereum network. This allowed the Matic Network to reach speeds of 7,200 transactions per second (TPS). For comparison - in Ethereum this figure is about 15TPS.