Polygon Co-Founder Jaynti Kanani Steps Back from Daily Work
Jaynti Kanani, co-founder of Polygon, announced on Twitter that he has been absent from daily work on the project for the past six months. Kanani helped launch Polygon in 2017 but has now moved on to “new adventures.” Despite his departure, Kanani expressed confidence in Polygon’s future and remains bullish on Polygon 2.0.
Executive Departures in the Crypto Industry
Kanani’s departure marks the third exit of a co-founder from Polygon this year. Multiple executive departures can be seen as a sign of trouble in the crypto industry. Examples include the former CEO of Alameda Research, Sam Trabucco, who stepped down before FTX’s collapse, and Matteo Liebowitz, venture lead at Uniswap Labs, who left amid speculation about the project’s performance under SEC investigation. Other notable departures include Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, and several Binance executives.
Polygon’s Challenging Year
While it’s possible that all departing founders coincidentally moved on to new projects simultaneously, it has undeniably been a challenging year for Polygon. The company did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
About Polygon and Kanani
Polygon is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that enables cheaper, faster, and more private transactions. Its governance token, MATIC, is the thirteenth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Kanani co-authored the Polygon whitepaper and was one of its ten co-founders.
MATIC Performance and TVL
MATIC’s price has dropped 80% since its all-time high in December 2021. However, other rival coins like ADA, SOL, DOT, and AVAX have experienced even larger declines. In terms of decentralized finance (DeFi), Polygon has the fifth-highest total value locked (TVL) compared to other networks. Arbitrum is currently leading in TVL with $1.7 billion.
Regulatory Situation and Polygon 2.0
Polygon faced regulatory scrutiny when the SEC named MATIC as an unregistered security listed on Coinbase. However, Polygon dismissed these accusations, stating that MATIC had been distributed to non-US investors. The company is now planning to transition to Polygon 2.0, which will be an interconnected network of layer-2 chains powered by zero-knowledge technology.
Hot Take: Challenges and Optimism for Polygon
While Polygon has faced significant challenges with co-founder departures and regulatory scrutiny, it remains a prominent player in the Ethereum scaling space. The transition to Polygon 2.0 shows the company’s commitment to innovation and growth. Despite the current setbacks, there is still optimism for Polygon’s future success.
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