Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal steps up as Polygon Foundation CEO, unveils strategic shift in priorities
Quick Take
- Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal is stepping up as CEO of the Polygon Foundation following the recent departure of Mihailo Bjelic.
- Nailwal also announced plans to double down on Polygon’s Agglayer and PoS networks and the deprecation of Polygon zkEVM.
Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal is taking charge at the Polygon Foundation as chief executive officer, according to an announcement on Wednesday. Coinciding with claiming "unilateral control" of the organization, Nailwal is introducing several sweeping changes designed to streamline the nonprofit and drive value to POL token stakers.
These initiatives include a plan to "rapidly launch a full-featured Agglayer," Polygon’s long-planned cross-chain aggregator, and "evolve" the network’s Polygon PoS into the high-throughput GigaGAS chain that would feature 100,000 transactions per second. Nailwal also intends to sunset the Polygon zkEVM chain.
"Together, these moves signal a clear shift from a more passive chapter in Polygon’s history to a focused and ambitious founder-led vision for the future," the organization wrote in a statement.
Nailwal has most recently served as the chief operating officer of Polygon. He is the last remaining co-founder of Polygon, following the recent departure of Mihailo Bjelic. Co-founders Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun stepped back from the project two years ago.
"I've always stayed away from moving into the CEO role because I've been focused on building Polygon as a decentralized foundation. But right now, Polygon needs clear direction and focused execution and that means stepping up," Nailwal said on X.
Polygon, launched in 2017 as the Matic Network, has made several key technical contributions to blockchain, including in the zero-knowledge and proof-of-stake R&D areas.
Nailwal said Polygon Agglayer v0.3 is set for an "imminent" release at the end of June, bringing it "one step closer to its full launch." Meanwhile, the GigaGAS upgrade is live on testnet.
Nailwal's decision to deprecate Polygon zkEVM comes with the "evolving needs of the ecosystem" and the recognition that the "product lacked a strong strategic position." Polygon will continue to operate the sequencer for 12 months and offer grants to "projects migrating to other environments" like Polygon PoS.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
