Polygon Labs, the development team behind the Ethereum scaling solution, has reportedly laid off approximately 30% of its staff in a significant internal restructuring. According to multiple industry insiders and reports from BeInCrypto, the layoffs occurred this week, although the company has not made any official public announcement.
The news surfaced on social media, with several employees and figures associated with the Polygon ecosystem posting about abrupt departures. One employee, known as regan (@0xthegipper), confirmed being let go, stating, "after a far too short of a run, i was let go from @0xPolygon today in a restructuring. sad!but im ready to find my next home and give it everything."
This marks the second major round of layoffs for the company in recent years. In 2024, Polygon dismissed nearly 20% of its workforce. The timing of the latest cuts aligns with a broader strategic pivot that Polygon signaled earlier this month. The company announced it was realigning its workforce around a new "payments-first" strategy, moving away from a primary focus on pure scaling and DeFi narratives.
The strategic shift follows an aggressive acquisition spree by Polygon, totaling over $250 million. Key acquisitions include Coinme, a US-regulated fiat-to-crypto on-ramp service, and Sequence, a provider of wallet and cross-chain payments infrastructure. These assets form the technological backbone of what Polygon now calls its Open Money Stack—a vertically integrated system designed for regulated stablecoin payments and on-chain money movement.
Concurrently, Polygon has continued to advance its core technology, recently implementing the Madhugiri upgrade to increase network throughput in preparation for higher transaction volumes. Despite the internal turmoil, Polygon's native POL token has experienced a sharp rally in recent weeks.
As of now, Polygon Labs has not responded to requests for comment on the reported layoffs. The move is seen by analysts as part of a wider industry trend where blockchain projects are shifting from rapid expansion to operational efficiency and a focused product strategy, particularly in the wake of the 2022-2023 market cycles.
