DENVER — No MATIC? No problem.
Crypto wallet company Giddy is sidestepping the need for Polygon users to hold that blockchain’s native MATIC tokens in order to pay for their transactions to go through. On Thursday, the Salt Lake City startup said its wallet users can pay for gas using the USDC stablecoin instead.
The new feature called “autogas” doesn’t actually eliminate MATIC from the equation; Polygon’s sidechain still requires gas payment in MATIC, just as the Ethereum network needs ether. But it does take the onus for sourcing that MATIC away from the end-user by making the swap between USDC and MATIC behind-the-scenes.
“As long the user holds USDC, GIDDY, or MATIC in their wallet, they can swap or send tokens with no additional cost or hassle,” CEO Eric Parker said. He said Giddy will not take a cut of these gas swaps.
Giddy’s new feature speaks to the fight among crypto wallets for a share of new users – the type of people who don’t necessarily have MATIC on hand. Metamask is the market leader in the Ethereum ecosystem with tens of millions of monthly active users, while Giddy boasts 100,000 total signups.
On Wednesday, 0x unveiled a transaction relay API that allows Polygon and Ethereum wallet uses to pay without holding the respective native gas token. Robinhood is already signed up for the API, highlighting the growing competition for friction-free payment experiences.
“Autogas will support even more tokens in the future,” Parker said.
