Agenda and Meeting Overview

The 23rd Polygon Protocol Governance Call covered three main areas. First, updates on the Ahmedabad hard fork, including specification changes and potential timelines. Second, a discussion of the Bor release (version 1.3.4) that went out earlier on July 25th. Third, the MATIC to POL transition, scheduled for September 4th 2024. The call also included discussions on potential inclusions for future Pilani upgrades.

Ahmedabad Hardfork Specification Changes:

• PIP-37: Ahmedabad Hardfork

Bor Release v1.3.4: Amoy Testnet Committee, and discussions around rollout

MATIC - POL Transition

• PIP-42: Polygon 2.0 - Upgrade PoS Staking to Use POL
• PIP-19: Update Polygon PoS Native Token to POL
• PIP-45: Token Symbol change

Pilani Upgrade

• Review of roadmap feature requests

Ahmedabad Hard Fork Updates

Recent changes to the Ahmedabad hard fork plans were discussed. EIP 3074 was initially included but later decided against in favor of EIP 7702. The current focus is on PIP-30 and PIP-36. PIP-30 increases the max code size limit to 32 kb from the current 24 kb. PIP-36 allows replay of failed state-syncing transactions and fixes a bug in handling state-syncing transactions on the L2 side when the caller address is non-EOA. PIP-45, which proposes changing the token ticker, is under consideration for inclusion but still pending discussion. The timeline for Ahmedabad is mainly pending the decision on including PIP-45. If PIP-45 is included, it may require coordination with the September 4th MATIC to POL migration.

Bor Client Release 1.3.4

Version 1.3.4 was released on mainnet, implementing PIP-35. This PIP-embeds the gas price in the client itself, aiming to provide more uniform and consistent UX for end users. It also addresses cases where misconfiguration of gas price caused transactions to get stuck in the TX pool. The update decreases the gas price from 30k to 25k. As of the call, 51 validators had upgraded to the new version. The Amoy testnet committee reported that they've been testing version 1.3.4 betas for about the last month and a half, with members reporting smooth upgrades for all tests. No issues were reported with the mainnet upgrade implementing PIP-35 and new gas fee enforcements.

MATIC to POL Transition

The MATIC to POL transition is scheduled for September 4th, likely at noon UTC. It involves executing a suite of PIPs, including PIP-42, which makes staking changes, shifting to POL staking in a backwards-compatible manner, and PIP-19. PIP-45, which changes the token ticker, is potentially included. The unified staking reserve will be upgraded to POL, but existing staking methods will continue to work. MATIC will be converted to POL using a migration contract. When withdrawing rewards or principal, users will still receive MATIC via the migration contract. New endpoints will allow direct POL staking, and validators and delegators can have both POL and MATIC staked. The POS plasma bridge will be upgraded to issue POL instead of MATIC when withdrawing the gas token. Bridging MATIC from Ethereum to POS will auto-convert it to POL.

For protocols on POS, there should be no noticeable change. Liquidity pools, lending markets, and DeFi on POS will automatically be upgraded to POL. Ethereum DeFi will be largely unaffected as MATIC remains unchanged on the Ethereum side. The configuration is already live on the Amoy testnet for testing. Exchanges and partners are being contacted about the transition, but individual readiness cannot be confirmed.

PIP-45 proposes changing the token name from "MATIC token" to "Polygon ecosystem token" and the symbol from "MATIC" to "POL". It also suggests renaming WMATIC to WPOL. The implementation involves changing two lines in the genesis non-upgradable contract at the 0x0000...1010 address on POS, modifying the return values of the name and symbol functions. Potential risks include some front-ends and systems stumbling if they rely on these return values. Permit signatures would expire and need to be redone due to domain changes. Consideration is being given to accepting both old and new domains in the permit function. Systems that have cached the ticker may need to update or reset their RPC connections. There will be a push from developer relations teams to work with applications on necessary updates.

Pilani Upgrades and Feature Requests

Several major suggestions for Pilani upgrades were discussed. These include connection to the AggLayer via LxLy, updates to Cosmos modules for compliance with modern Tendermint BFT, and an ED25519 precompile requested by WalletConnect developers. Partial unstaking was highlighted as a highly requested feature. Some DeFi teams have requested staking elements for the bridge. Methods to reduce reorgs, potentially by moving sequencing to Heimdall entirely, are being researched. Other suggestions included increasing minimum stake, interface configuration for MATIC to POL migration, the ability to claim stake rewards at a different address than the staking address, and partial withdrawal of rewards. 

The next PPGC is scheduled for August 22nd, which will focus on preparations for the MATIC to POL migration and potentially the Ahmedabad hard fork.

Conclusion

The Ahmedabad hard fork specifications are being finalized, with a focus on PIP-30 for increasing max code size and PIP-36 for improving state-syncing transactions. The inclusion of PIP-45, which proposes a token ticker change, is still under consideration and may affect the timeline. The ticker change has been discussed extensively over the past PPGCs. MATIC to POL transition is scheduled for September 4th, 2024. This transition involves multiple PIPs to upgrade backwards-compatible with automatic conversions between MATIC and POL where necessary. The proposed PIP-45 suggests changing the token name and symbol from MATIC to POL, which could have potential implications for smart contracts, front-ends, and systems relying on these identifiers.

The Bor Release v1.3.4 has been successfully implemented on mainnet, introducing gas price embedding (PIP-35) for improved user experience and transaction handling. As of now, reports indicate smooth upgrades and no issues with this release. 

Various feature requests for the Pilani Upgrade were also discussed, including AggLayer connection, Cosmos module updates, ED25519 precompile, partial unstaking, and methods to reduce reorgs. The next governance call, scheduled for August 22nd, will focus on preparations for the MATIC to POL migration and potentially the Ahmedabad hard fork.