Polygon to Test Burning 100 Million POL on Testnet Ahead of Community-Driven Quarterly Burns

Polygon (POL) is preparing a structure allowing anyone in the community to execute quarterly burns of 100 million POL at once, following an initial burn. Sandeep Nailwal, CEO of the Polygon Foundation, announced on X that the related contract is operational on testnet and awaiting final approval from the Polygon Security Council.

The new mechanism replaces direct execution by a specific operator with a community-triggered process where anyone can call the contract to initiate the first burn. Subsequent burns will be executed quarterly by community members based on accumulated network fees. The burned amount ties directly to base fees collected on the Polygon network, which flow into the contract and accumulate POL.

Nailwal noted that the network has been deflationary since January, though he did not confirm a timeline for mainnet deployment or the first burn. The current phase is testnet operation and awaiting security council approval. This 'permissionless burn' approach shifts execution authority from a single entity to an open contract call structure.

Polygon's existing token structure already includes fee-based burns, as detailed in the 2024 PIP-25 report, which described burning POL equivalent to past MATIC burns. The community forum stated this was intended to align POL supply with previous MATIC circulation. This new plan broadens burn execution from a single operator to the community while maintaining pre-deployment approval processes.

Polygon has also been advancing other structural changes including its POL conversion and staking framework, which proposes distributing priority fees to stakers—a move that will require community review before implementation.