Leadership Restructuring Marks End of Decentralized Governance
Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has officially assumed the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation, marking the first time a single executive has taken full leadership control. This transition signals a clear departure from the project’s earlier decentralized governance model, with the goal of accelerating execution and regaining competitive edge in the layer-2 space.
“Now, it is time to again move fast, aggressively and with full conviction and focus,” Nailwal said, emphasizing a return to execution-first culture.
The Foundation oversees Polygon Labs and its broader ecosystem, which includes key innovations in Ethereum scaling solutions.
Refocusing Around AggLayer and Core Infrastructure
A central part of the new strategy is the renewed focus on AggLayer, Polygon’s interoperability protocol designed to unify fragmented blockchains under a single architecture. The upcoming AggLayer v0.3 is slated for release by the end of 2025, bringing deeper alignment with the Polygon brand and long-term scalability objectives.
Polygon will also sunset its zkEVM chain by 2026, citing development and scalability constraints. Instead, focus is shifting to the Polygon PoS chain, which will be transformed into a “GigaGAS” chain—a next-gen platform aimed at supporting over 100,000 transactions per second for global payments and tokenized asset flows.
The GigaGAS upgrade will enable real-time transactions and micro-payments at scale, critical for financial applications and enterprise adoption.
Upcoming Bhilai Upgrade and Strategic Partnerships
The upcoming Bhilai upgrade in July 2025 is expected to bring:
- Lower gas fees
- Faster transaction finality
- Deeper integration with AggLayer
Polygon’s existing partnerships with Stripe, JPMorgan, and other financial institutions position it well to capitalize on these enhancements.
Co-Founder Exodus and Organizational Reshaping
Nailwal’s elevation follows a broader trend of leadership changes within Polygon. In May, co-founder Mihailo Bjelic stepped down from the board and day-to-day operations. Prior to that, Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun—two original founders—also exited the company over the past two years.
This consolidation of leadership under Nailwal marks a new chapter focused on agility, innovation, and execution.
Polygon’s Native Token Under Pressure
Despite the renewed focus, Polygon’s native POL token has remained under pressure. It is currently down over 65% year-over-year and more than 80% from its all-time high, highlighting the urgency for tangible progress in the new roadmap.