Polygon Faces Leadership Crisis as Third Co-Founder Resigns Amid Token Upgrade
Polygon, a major Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, is undergoing significant leadership upheaval as co-founder Mihailo Bjelic has stepped down from both the Polygon Foundation board and day-to-day operations at Polygon Labs. This marks the third co-founder exit in two years, following Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun, who left in 2023 to focus on Morphic (AI animation) and Avail (modular blockchain) respectively. With three of four founders gone, only Sandeep Nailwal remains, raising concerns about strategic direction and governance stability for Polygon. These departures coincide with the ambitious ’Polygon 2.0’ upgrade, which transitions the ecosystem from MATIC to the new POL token on a 1:1 basis, targeting increased utility in staking and infrastructure. Although departing founders maintain public support for Polygon, the leadership shakeup alongside protocol and token changes has sparked worries about investor and user confidence, potentially increasing short-term market volatility. Crypto traders should monitor Polygon closely, as further leadership or technical developments may significantly impact POL price and sentiment.
Bearish
The resignation of Mihailo Bjelic, the third Polygon co-founder to leave within two years, raises serious questions about the platform’s governance and strategic direction, particularly at a time of major protocol change with the MATIC to POL token upgrade. Such leadership instability often undermines investor confidence, increases FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt), and can lead to short-term price declines, as seen by the immediate negative market reaction. While technical progress continues, the concentration of responsibility in a single remaining founder and visible governance shakeups are likely to weigh on sentiment and trading activity around POL in the short term. Unless Polygon demonstrates strong, stable new leadership and clarity in roadmap execution, market volatility may persist and pressure the token’s performance.