Polygon Overhauls Leadership as Sandeep Nailwal Becomes CEO, zkEVM to Be Sunset
Polygon’s founder Sandeep Nailwal takes full control of the Foundation. zkEVM to be phased out. POL stakers to benefit from AggLayer and Gigagas upgrades.
🧠 TL;DR
Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal is now CEO of the Polygon Foundation
The Foundation is sunsetting zkEVM in 2026
Focus shifts to Polygon POS and AggLayer
A new roadmap, Gigagas, is live in testnet
POL stakers to get more value via ecosystem upgrades, spin-offs & airdrops
Polygon is now lawsuit-free after SEC drops POL case
🧬 Leadership Gets Personal: Sandeep Steps In
Polygon’s co-founder Sandeep Nailwal (@sandeepnailwal) is no longer staying in the background.
> “As the largest holder of $POL and someone who dedicated his life to @0xPolygon, I’ve decided to take full control of the Polygon Foundation,” Nailwal wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on June 11.
In other words: he's stepping in to speed things up.
This marks a shift from the institutional governance model Polygon had adopted in recent years. Nailwal believes that approach slowed down innovation and decision-making.
Now, he wants fast execution, laser focus, and community-first leadership.
🛑 Polygon Will Sunset zkEVM by 2026
One of the biggest updates? Polygon zkEVM will be phased out.
Instead, the project will go all in on:
1. 🟣 Polygon POS – Optimized for stablecoins and real-world assets
2. 🟠 AggLayer – A modular, zero-trust interoperability layer for Web3 chains
This means the end of trying to juggle too many chains — and the beginning of a more unified, scalable network.
⚙️ Gigagas Upgrade Goes Live on Testnet
Polygon’s performance ambitions are crystal clear.
> The new Gigagas roadmap targets 5,000 TPS (transactions per second) by September/October 2025.
The testnet has already crossed 1,000 TPS, and early feedback suggests real performance gains are achievable.
🪂 POL Stakers: Big Utility Coming
If you’re staking $POL, the future looks bright:
🎯 AggLayer Breakout Program – Ecosystem spin-offs and airdrops
🧪 ZisK – A decentralized ZK research division led by Jordi Baylina (@jbaylina)
💼 Polygon Labs – Still led by Marc Boiron (@0xMarcB), focusing on dApps and BD
✅ No SEC baggage – The U.S. SEC has dropped its MATIC/POL lawsuit, clearing the path ahead
📢 Nailwal made it clear: “Polygon’s treasury is healthy, liquid, and now, fully focused.”
🗓️ What’s Next?
AggLayer expansion across L2s and sidechains
zkEVM support tapering off through 2026
New staking mechanics for POL with direct ecosystem rewards
Public roadmap updates via community forums and GitHub
🧩 Why This Matters
Polygon is doubling down on modular scalability. By focusing on POS and AggLayer — and dropping underperforming features like zkEVM — the network is positioning itself to be leaner, faster, and more valuable to users.
And with Sandeep Nailwal leading directly, expect decisions to come faster and louder.#Write2Earn
