Polygon (MATIC) Boosts Network Capacity 83% as USDC Volume Hits Top Spot

Polygon (MATIC) has cranked its network capacity up 83% over the past few weeks, pushing peak throughput to 2,600 transactions per second as enterprise payment demand hits record levels. The Layer 2 network now claims the top spot across all chains for USDC transfer volume.

Six separate gas limit increases—from 60 million to 110 million—drove the expansion. At full capacity, that's enough headroom for 224 million transactions daily.

Enterprise Money Is Actually Moving

The upgrades aren't theoretical. Polygon points to live payment flows from fintechs including Tazapay, which settles cross-border B2B payments across 173 countries, and Revolut, which integrated the network for stablecoin transfers.

Transaction fees remain around $0.002 even at current demand levels—a critical factor for payment processors running tight margins on high-volume flows. Settlement finality clocks in under two seconds.

The network has processed $2.3 trillion in cumulative value at 99.99% uptime, according to Polygon Labs. For enterprises, that track record matters more than benchmark numbers.

Builds on October's Rio Upgrade

This capacity expansion follows the Rio upgrade that went live on October 8, 2025, which introduced a new block production model called Validator-Elected Block Producer. That overhaul targeted roughly 5,000 TPS in the near term with near-instant finality.

The current 2,600 TPS represents about 10% of Polygon's stated "GigaGas" goal—a roadmap targeting over 100,000 TPS by late 2026.

Polygon also leads in emerging stablecoin volume across Asia-Pacific markets, positioning the network for growth in regions where traditional banking rails remain fragmented.

POL Holds Despite Broader Weakness

The native POL token trades at $0.105, down 4.46% over 24 hours amid broader market pressure. Still, the token defended the $0.10 support level on February 23 as network activity metrics stayed elevated.

Last week, Polygon briefly overtook Ethereum in daily transaction fees, hitting above $300,000 driven partly by AI agent micro-payments—a use case that demands cheap, fast settlement.

Polymarket activity added to network load, with the prediction market hitting all-time highs around Super Bowl betting and new five-minute markets. That kind of concentrated, high-frequency activity stress-tests payment infrastructure in ways synthetic benchmarks don't capture.

What Traders Should Watch

The gap between chains with payment narratives and chains actually processing enterprise volume keeps widening. Polygon's bet is that fintechs choosing infrastructure now will stick as switching costs compound.

Next catalysts include continued progress toward the GigaGas targets and any major fintech integrations. If USDC volume dominance holds through Q1, expect that metric to feature prominently in Polygon's institutional pitch.