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Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal Takes Over as Foundation CEO Amid Strategic Shakeup

Published

3 месяца ago

11 июня, 2025

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Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has officially assumed the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation, marking a pivot in the organization’s leadership makeup and a sweeping overhaul of the network’s longterm roadmap.

Nailwal, who launched the project in 2017 when it was still called Matic Network, will consolidate control and reorient the team toward AggLayer — Polygon’s new cross-chain liquidity protocol that promises seamless interoperability across networks.

«This renewed control marks the beginning of a strategic push for Polygon to reclaim its position at the forefront of Web3,» the team wrote in a press release shared with CoinDesk

As chief executive, Nailwal will steer long-term planning, guide key ecosystem initiatives, and ensure that the foundation — which oversees Polygon Labs and other affiliated entities — delivers “exponential growth, increased focus and greater value to POL stakers,” according to the foundation.

In its early days, Polygon’s proof-of-stake sidechain marketed itself as a low-cost, fast alternative to Ethereum, providing users with access to decentralized apps without the burden of high gas fees. It quickly rose to prominence as a go-to Ethereum scaling solution.

But activity has since cooled. Total value locked (TVL) across Polygon networks has fallen to around $1 billion, down nearly 90% from its June 2021 peak of $9.79 billion, per DefiLlama.

Polygon has ceded ground to a new wave of Ethereum scaling networks — namely “layer-2 rollups” like Optimism and Arbitrum — which offer similar user experiences but with tighter Ethereum compatibility and more sophisticated security systems. Polygon’s own rollup, zkEVM, ranks just 27th by TVL among layer-2s, according to L2Beat, trailing well behind its newer competitors.

Now, the zkEVM experiment is being phased out. Polygon said it will sunset the zkEVM Mainnet Beta in 2026, citing developer friction, architectural limitations, and sluggish adoption. “To ensure a smooth transition, the sequencer will remain live for the next twelve months,” the team noted.

The decision also comes with a key personnel shift: Jordi Baylina, Polygon’s zero-knowledge research lead, will leave to spin out his own project, ZisK.

As part of its strategic reset, Polygon will double down on its flagship PoS sidechain, now targeting real-world financial assets (RWAs). The foundation teased an “ambitious roadmap” with milestones to transform the chain into a “gigagas” network capable of processing 100,000 transactions per second and securing trillions in tokenized assets.

Polygon’s reorganization mirrors changes at the Ethereum Foundation, which recently restructured its leadership and revamped its roadmap in a process led by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

In a post on X, Nailwal said Ethereum’s “existential crisis” had pushed Polygon to revisit its core identity — returning to a bolder, more nimble, and more decisive “zero-to-one” mentality.

His stated goal: «to deliver greater value to POL stakers and bring increased clarity to the broader market.» POL, previously called MATIC, is Polygon’s native token. The asset can be «staked» with Polygon’s PoS network to help secure it in exchange for rewards.

The timing of the revamp, Nailwal suggested, could work in POL’s favor.

«The SEC has dropped its investigations and lawsuits related to MATIC as a security, which should have never existed given the nature of MATIC (and now POL),» he wrote. «We are excited to see several large market makers coming back to the table in recent days to make markets in POL that strengthens the liquidity of POL on exchanges globally.»

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

23 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

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Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Keyrock, founded in Brussels, Belgium and best known for its work in market making, options and OTC trading, said it will fold Turing Capital’s investment strategies and Luxembourg fund management structure into its wider platform. The division will be led by Turing Capital co-founder Jorge Schnura, who joins Keyrock’s executive committee as president of the unit.

The company said the expansion will allow it to provide services across the full lifecycle of digital assets, from liquidity provision to long-term investment strategies. «In the near future, all assets will live onchain,» Schnura said, noting that the merger positions the group to capture opportunities as traditional financial products migrate to blockchain rails.

Keyrock has also applied for regulatory approval under the EU’s crypto framework MiCA through a filing with Liechtenstein’s financial regulator. If approved, the firm plans to offer portfolio management and advisory services, aiming to compete directly with traditional asset managers as well as crypto-native players.

«Today’s launch sets the stage for our longer-term ambition: bringing asset management on-chain in a way that truly meets institutional standards,» Keyrock CSO Juan David Mendieta said in a statement.

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

23 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

admin

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Business

Gemini Shares Slide 6%, Extending Post-IPO Slump to 24%

Published

23 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

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Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has seen its shares tumble by more than 20% since listing on the Nasdaq last Friday.

The stock is down around 6% on Tuesday, trading at $30.42, and has dropped nearly 24% over the past week. The sharp decline follows an initial surge after the company raised $425 million in its IPO, pricing shares at $28 and valuing the firm at $3.3 billion before trading began.

On its first day, GEMI spiked to $45.89 before closing at $32 — a 14% premium to its offer price. But since hitting that high, shares have plunged more than 34%, erasing most of the early enthusiasm from public market investors.

The broader crypto equity market has remained more stable. Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S. crypto exchange, is flat over the past week. Robinhood (HOOD), which derives part of its revenue from crypto, is down 3%. Token issuer Circle (CRCL), on the other hand, is up 13% over the same period.

Part of the pressure on Gemini’s stock may stem from its financials. The company posted a $283 million net loss in the first half of 2025, following a $159 million loss in all of 2024. Despite raising fresh capital, the numbers suggest the business is still far from turning a profit.

Compass Point analyst Ed Engel noted that GEMI is currently trading at 26 times its annualized first-half revenue. That multiple — often used to gauge whether a stock is expensive — means investors are paying 26 dollars for every dollar the company is expected to generate in sales this year. For a loss-making company in a volatile sector, that’s a steep price, and could be fueling investor skepticism.