POLY is the Ethereum blockchain-based token of the Polymath Network, a decentralized platform that issues and manages security tokens, which are tokens that are compliant with securities laws. POLY can be swapped for POLYX, the native token of Polymesh, on a 1:1 basis. Polymesh is an institutional-grade public permissioned blockchain for regulated assets that went live in October 2021.

POLY started as an Ethereum token in February 2018 at 2 cents. That was during the 2017/2018 initial coin offering boom, and POLY’s price soared to its all-time high of $1.59 just 11 days after trading in the token began.

The hype around crypto faded away the following year, and POLY fell to 2 cents by September 2019. When crypto rose again in 2021, POLY reached a high of 93 cents in October. By June 2022, when the 2021 bull cycle had ended, POLY had fallen to 25 cents.

POLY launched with a fixed, capped supply of 1 billion tokens. According to data from Messari, private investors bought 23% of the supply in January 2018 for 120,000 ETH (then worth $58.7 million) in a private presale; all of those tokens had been introduced into public circulation by February 2022.

A further 15% went to the founding team. That supply was temporarily locked up, and all the founding team’s tokens had been released by February 2022. Advisers received 2% of the supply in August 2018, and Polymath airdropped 1% to the public in January 2018. The remaining 51.3% was reserved by Polymath and will be released periodically until January 2024, at which point all 1 billion tokens will be in circulation.

Polymesh, a proof-of-stake blockchain designed by Polymath, launched in October 2021. Its native token, POLYX, received the classification of utility token by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). As of June 2022, POLYX’s price was 19 cents.

Polymath offers a “white label” service for launching cryptocurrency tokens that represent ownership over securities – investment contracts, such as stocks and bonds, real estate or artwork. It is meant for financial-services companies that want to harness the power of the blockchain without angering regulators.

The network helped to create ERC-1400, the most widely used Ethereum token standard for security tokens. Polymath’s platform helps issuers to comply with local regulations by allowing them to handle the issuance, distribution and management of security tokens. Polymath’s token, POLY, is used to pay for the smart contracts that manage securities tokens.

October 2021 marked the launch of Polymesh, a blockchain purposely built for security tokens. It’s optimized for compliance, know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, settlement, cross-border regulations and governance.

This new blockchain is powered by a native coin called POLYX, which holders of POLY can convert on a 1:1 basis. It’s used for staking, governance and to pay for transaction fees.

Polymath was founded in 2017. The company released its first Ethereum smart contract in January 2018. In May 2018, it introduced a testnet for ST-20 tokens. Those tokens went live on the project’s main network in August 2018, and in July 2019, the platform was upgraded to comply with the ERC-1400 token standard.

The $59 million Polymath raised in its token sale for POLY was registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under SEC Rule 506(b).

Polymath announced Polymesh in May 2019, together with Charles Hoskinson, the inventor of Cardano. Polymesh is developed by the Polymesh Association, a not-for-profit based in Switzerland. It launched with $8 million and 250 million POLYX to expand the platform.

While POLY doesn’t function as a governance token, POLYX, the native coin of Polymesh, can be staked to vote on proposals that alter how the protocol is run. POLYX is regulated by FINMA.