Polygon Network Experienced Unprecedented Surge in Transactions Caused by Ordinals-like Tokens

The Polygon network has witnessed an unprecedented surge in daily transactions, leading to a substantial rise in gas fees over the past 24 hours.

This heightened network activity has resulted in a notable increase in transaction costs, with average fees soaring to over 7,000 Gwei, up from 100 Gwei just a day earlier. Token swaps on the chain peaked at $5 for simple swaps but have since receded to under $0.5.

The surge in activity can be attributed to a novel category of tokens known as "PRC-20," inspired by the Ordinals token standards on Bitcoin. Users have been prolifically minting PRC-20 tokens, specifically named POLS. Notably, these tokens are created using transactional calldata on the Polygon blockchain, deviating from the conventional ERC-20 token standard.

This unique mechanism draws inspiration from Ordinals, a protocol designed for generating tokens and NFTs on the Bitcoin network. The process, termed "inscription," assigns data to individual satoshis across the Bitcoin network. In contrast, Polygon-based PRC-20s employ a distinct strategy, utilizing transaction calldata to generate tokens or unique NFT-like image artifacts embedded within the network transactions.