Polygon-co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has officially assumed the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation, which marks a turn in the organization’s leadership and a sweeping revision of the network’s long-term roadmap.
Nailwal, who launched the project in 2017, when it was still called Matic Network, will consolidate control and ominate the team against Agglayer-Polygon’s new cross-chain liquidity protocol, which promises trouble-free interoperability across networks.
“This renewed control marks the beginning of a strategic push for polygon to regain its position at the head of web3,” the team wrote in a press release shared with Coindesk
As CEO, Nailwal will manage long-term planning, guide key ecosystem initiatives and ensure that the foundation-AS supervises polygon labs and other affiliated units-delivering “exponential growth, increased focus and greater value for pole stakers,” according to the foundation.
In the early days, Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake-Sidekinthe marketed itself as a cheap, quick alternative to Ethereum, giving users access to decentralized apps without the burden of high gas fees. It quickly rose to prominence like a go-to Ethereum scaling solution.
But activity has since cooled. The total value locked (TVL) across polygon networks has dropped to about $ 1 billion, dropped almost 90% from its top 2021 of $ 9.79 billion per year. Defillama.
Polygon has given reason for a new wave of Ethereum scaling-network-Obviously “Layer-2-Rollups” as optimism and arbitration-which offers similar user experiences, but with tighter Ethereum compatibility and more sophisticated security systems. Polygon’s own Rollup, ZVM, ranks only 27. By Tvl among Layer-2S, according to L2Beat, which draws well behind its newer competitors.
Now the ZVM experiment is phased out. Polygon said it will sunset in Zevm Mainnet Beta in 2026, with reference to developer friction, architectural limitations and sluggish adoption. “To ensure a smooth transition, the Sequencer remains live for the next twelve months,” the team noted.
The decision also comes with a key personnel change: Jordi Baylina, Polygon’s zero-knowledge research line, will leave to spin his own project, Zisk.
As part of its strategic reset, Polygon will double its flagship pos Sidechain, which is now aimed at the real world’s financial assets (RWAs). The fund teased an “ambitious timetable” with milestones to transform the chain into a “gigagas” network capable of processing 100,000 transactions per year. Second and secure trillion in tokenized assets.
Polygon’s reorganization mirrors are changing at the Ethereum Foundation, which recently restructured its leadership and renewed its roadmap in a process led by Ethereum-Medfyter Vitalik Barterin.
In a post on X, Nailwal said Ethereum’s “existential crisis” had pushed polygon to revise his core identity-turn back to a bolder, more fast and more crucial “zero-to-one” mentality.
His stated goal: “To deliver greater value to the pole stakers and bring increased clarity to the wider market.” Pol, formerly called Matic, is polygon’s native token. The asset can “stab” with polygon’s POS network to help secure it in reward for rewards.
The timing of the renewal suggested Nailwal, could work in the POL’s advantage.
“SEC has dropped its investigations and litigation related to Matic as a security that should never have existed considering Matic (and now Pol),” he wrote. “We are pleased to see more large market manufacturers return to the table in recent days to manufacture markets in POL that strengthen the liquidity of poles on exchanges globally.”
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