Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal takes over as Foundation CEO to fast-track AggLayer expansion

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has been appointed CEO of the project’s foundation, marking a strategic shift to accelerate decision-making and double down on scaling AggLayer.

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon (POL), has been appointed CEO of the project’s foundation.

The move aims to speed up decision-making amid increasing competition in the blockchain industry, Nailwal said in Bloomberg interview. He noted that before his appointment, the foundation’s institutionalized and decentralized decision-making had introduced “all sorts of slowness” into the operations.

Additionally, Nailwal’s appointment stems from a growing unrest within the Ethereum (ETH) community regarding its strategy, which heavily depended on Layer 2 solutions like Polygon for scaling and growth.

Under Nailwal’s leadership, Polygon will focus in the near term on scaling AggLayer — Polygon’s interoperability layer that connects multiple blockchains — and expanding tools for digital payments and real-world asset integration. Everything else “will either be spun out or shut down,” Nailwal said.

AggLayer version 0.3 is anticipated by the end of the year, with the foundation aiming to more prominently position the protocol under the Polygon brand.

Additionally, the foundation has recently accelerated scaling efforts by launching the Agglayer Breakout Program, an incubator that supports projects building on AggLayer and Polygon’s PoS network by providing funding and resources. Several projects have already graduated from the program, most recently Katana Network, which launched its private mainnet on May 28 to boost liquidity and yield within the AggLayer ecosystem.