Polygon’s New Era: Sandeep Nailwal’s Bold Move to Rule Them All! 🚀

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In a world where chaos reigns and governance resembles a circus, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has decided to don the crown of singular leadership. Yes, you heard it right! He’s steering this ship away from the boardroom brawls and into the serene waters of decisive action. 🏴‍☠️

In a tête-à-tête with CryptoMoon, our brave captain declared that this shift isn’t merely a structural makeover; it’s a strategic masterstroke aimed at shaking off the inefficiencies that have been dragging Polygon’s momentum like a lead balloon. 🎈

On the fateful day of June 11, he proclaimed himself the CEO of the Polygon Foundation, a title that sounds more like a superhero origin story than a corporate announcement. He insists this move is essential for “clear direction and focused execution.” Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? 🦸‍♂️

Now, with Nailwal at the helm, the Ethereum scaling project is set to bid adieu to its zkEVM chain, focusing instead on real-world assets (RWAs) and stablecoin payments through Polygon PoS. All while dreaming of building the internet of blockchains. Because why not? 🌐

Nailwal on the “servitude mentality” driving Polygon

In a plot twist worthy of a Dostoevsky novel, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stirred the pot in January by claiming sole authority over the Ethereum Foundation’s leadership. Nailwal, with a smirk, quipped, “It’s exactly the same, except I said that I am the director.” Oh, the irony! 🎭

After Polygon’s meteoric rise in 2021 and 2022, the project attempted to “institutionalize” itself, mirroring the structures of large corporations. But alas, the board model has been tossed out like yesterday’s newspaper, leaving Nailwal as the lone decision-maker. Talk about a power trip! 🏰

“Things were definitely taking a lot of time,” he lamented. Decisions that should’ve taken a fortnight sometimes dragged on for two months. Welcome to the world of corporate bureaucracy! ⏳

But fear not! Nailwal assures us that streamlining decision-making doesn’t mean he’s tossing empathy out the window. He still clings to what he calls a “servitude mentality,” a leadership style shaped by his upbringing. Both of his grandfathers were servants in a wealthy household, where they met and arranged the marriage of his parents. A true tale of love and servitude! ❤️

“I think that history gave me this ingrained tendency to keep everyone happy, and I still feel that way. When someone’s happy, you get a dopamine hit — every human does — but in my case, it’s deeper.”

He credits this instinct with helping build Polygon’s early community. Nailwal was one of the few founders of a top-tier protocol who personally engaged with retail users, often replying to messages on Telegram himself. Only recently has he put up guardrails on his personal accounts. Talk about a hands-on approach! 🤝

“With retail, if the token’s up, they’re happy. If it’s not, they’re angry,” he said. “It took me two or three rounds of that cycle to realize I can’t pour all my energy into it.” Wise words from a weary warrior! ⚔️

According to Nailwal, the crypto industry is evolving, too — moving away from valuing theoretical research, like early zero-knowledge proof development, and toward rewarding real-world traction and revenue. Finally, some common sense! 💡

“Everybody thought that eventually will happen, but I think recently it has started happening more than before,” he said, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Polygon’s zkEVM sunset and RWA drive

Following Nailwal’s grand announcement, questions have surfaced about the health of zkEVM, which is set to be phased out by 2026. Once known as Hermez Network and acquired in 2021 for 250 million MATIC (POL), zkEVM was Polygon’s bid for Ethereum equivalence. A noble quest, indeed! 🏇

“It launched with a lot of fanfare because all the research; people were like, ‘This is beautiful.’ Vitalik [Buterin] and everybody said that this is amazing,” Nailwal claimed. But when the end-users came to use it, it fell short of expectations in terms of the experience. Oops! 😬

Assets locked on zkEVM have dropped from over $35 million in July 2023 to just $2.75 million. The chain has struggled to generate fees and has reportedly operated at a loss. A classic case of “what goes up must come down.” 📉

With zkEVM fading into the sunset, Polygon’s attention turns to its PoS chain and AggLayer infrastructure. PoS still hosts over $1 billion in total value locked, ranks among the top chains for non-fungible token (NFT) transactions, and is home to roughly $1 billion each in USDC and Tether’s USDt. Not too shabby! 💰

Though the NFT market has collapsed, Nailwal insists meaningful NFTs will continue to endure. He compared speculative NFTs to memecoins, saying the “hype phase” has passed, clearing space for higher-quality projects. A refreshing perspective! 🌟

“NFT technology will absolutely be used in tokenization and in broader RWA applications,” he said, with the confidence of a man who knows his stuff.

“Our focus on actual NFTs — not the speculative, fake ones — has paid off. It’s now very clear that stablecoin payments and tokenization are going to be the two big use cases.”

Polygon’s bet on these two blockchain use cases aligns with global trends. The US Senate passed the GENIUS stablecoin bill on June 17 as global discussions on regulation intensify. Meanwhile, RWAs are drawing institutional interest, including from BlackRock, which runs its tokenized money market fund across multiple chains, including Polygon. A match made in heaven! 😇

Polygon’s road to 100,000 TPS

Polygon tried to fit into the institutional trend by forming a board after raising $450 million in a 2022 investment round that included Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and Tiger Global. But it is now back to the zero-to-one startup phase. Nailwal dismantled the board in pursuit of streamlined execution. A bold move! 🏁

But with zkEVM on its way out and the industry’s attention shifting fast, the burden of proof now rests squarely on whether singular leadership can deliver real-world results. No pressure! 😅

“We need to get back to actual product building. Your product has to be good, and people should be willing to pay for it,” Nailwal said, channeling his inner philosopher.

For him, that also means his evolution as a leader — from keeping everyone happy to looking out for Polygon’s best interests. A true metamorphosis! 🦋

“That will make some people, both in our community and outside, unhappy. But we don’t have any other choice,” he added, with a shrug of resignation.

Nailwal and Polygon are betting it all on their “Gigagas” roadmap, which aims to scale its network to 100,000 transactions per second. That matches modern rivals that are scaling their networks or launching faster blockchains. The race is on! 🏎️

So far, the community reaction to Nailwal claiming sole leadership of Polygon has been mixed. Some praise his wartime CEO stance, while others point to the costly zkEVM detour. A classic case of “you can’t please everyone.” 🤷‍♂️

Still, Nailwal believes that a faster decision-making process is what the moment demands: “Life gave me a chance to play at the global level. I have to be that 25-year-old kid again who was ready to go all in.” A nostalgic call to arms! ⚡

Whether that bet on himself pays off will likely become clear by the end of the year, as the network races to hit its TPS milestone and prove its relevance in a maturing crypto ecosystem. The clock is ticking! ⏰

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2025-06-18 20:23