• Sandeep Nailwal has taken over as CEO of Polygon Foundation, marking a return to founder-led execution and signaling a new era of aggressive, focused growth.
  • Polygon will deprecate zkEVM in 2026 to double down on Polygon PoS and Agglayer, with major upgrades pushing PoS to 100k+ TPS and Agglayer v0.3 launching by June-end.
  • POL stakers will benefit from token airdrops, increased liquidity, and a clearer strategic vision.

Sandeep Nailwal has announced that he will be stepping in as the CEO of Polygon Foundation, assuming full control of the organization he helped co-found. As the largest holder of the newly launched POL token, Nailwal said this move comes at a time when the project needs "clear direction and focused execution."

The announcement comes with a sweeping set of changes aimed at sharpening Polygon’s focus and delivering greater value to POL stakers, following what Nailwal described as a broader transition in crypto from research-heavy to user-centric execution.

One of the most significant updates is the planned deprecation of Polygon zkEVM next year. Polygon’s focus will now be concentrated on two major pillars: Polygon PoS and Agglayer. The PoS chain will hone in on stablecoin payments and real-world assets (RWAs), while Agglayer will work toward building a trustless “Internet of Blockchains.”

Polygon PoS is set for a major upgrade, with its Gigagas roadmap milestone already live on testnet. The upgrade will boost transaction throughput to over 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) by July, with plans to reach 5,000 TPS and sub-second finality later this year. Long-term, the roadmap envisions scaling up to 100,000+ TPS, placing Polygon PoS among the most performant blockchains globally.

Nailwal also confirmed that Agglayer v0.3 will roll out the week of June 30, bringing the feature set nearly to completion except for fast interoperability, which is expected by the end of Q3. Agglayer’s Breakout Program will continue to spin off independent projects and offer airdrops to POL stakers.

With the SEC closing its investigation into MATIC, Nailwal stated that several market makers have returned, improving liquidity for POL globally. The Foundation will also conduct educational campaigns to promote the upgrade from MATIC to POL.

Additionally, Polygon is bringing its brand identity front and center by aligning Agglayer under the Polygon name—a move to unify messaging and ecosystem clarity.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah