Polygon’s founder, Sandeep Nailwal, has announced a major shakeup in the Polygon Foundation’s leadership structure. In a post on X to the community, Nailwal stated he has decided to take complete control of the foundation and serve as its chief executive officer (CEO) going forward.
Polygon plans to phase out zkEVM
According to Nailwal, the decision is strategic and targeted at providing “clear direction and focused execution.” This marks a shift from his background role in the past, when Nailwal allowed the foundation to function with institutional governance.
As the largest holder of Polygon (POL), Nailwal believes he is responsible for showing leadership and positioning the ecosystem where it ought to be. He highlighted that the ecosystem’s treasury is healthy and liquid, and Polygon will focus on building without any distractions.
To stamp his authority, Nailwal has announced a series of changes meant to reposition the project. Notably, Polygon will eliminate its zkEVM in 2026 to concentrate exclusively on Polygon POS and AggLayer.
While Polygon POS will focus on stablecoin payments and real-world assets, AggLayer will build a trustless internet of blockchains, which will enable interoperable, secure blockchain communication.
Nailwal says Polygon aims to become one of the highest-performing blockchains, increasing value for POL stakers. To achieve this, a major upgrade, the Gigagas roadmap, has gone live on testnet, and transactions have flipped 1,000. The goal is to scale it up to 5,000 transactions per second by September/October 2025.
ZK Research and post-SEC clarity
Nailwal also clarified that the Agglayer breakout program will continue to spin off projects and airdrops for POL stakers. Meanwhile, Polygon plans to decentralize ZK research and launch Polygon ZisK, led by Jordi Baylina. Similarly, Polygon Labs will remain under the leadership of Marc Boiron as its CEO.
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The Polygon founder maintains that with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropping its lawsuit related to POL — formerly MATIC — the focus remains on strengthening liquidity.
Nailwal implied that institutional governance slowed down Polygon; hence, he is stepping in to aggressively make bold decisions and reposition the project for the benefit of holders.