Polygon co-founder, Mihailo Bjelic, has announced his resignation from the Polygon Foundation board and his day-to-day role at Polygon Labs, marking a significant shift for the Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution.
Bjelic is the third founder to depart following Jaynti Kanani’s departure in October 2023 and Anurag Arjun’s deputure in March 2023.
Bjelic cited inability to contribute to the project at his fullest capacity as the reason for his exit.
In a May 23, 2025, X post, Bjelic reflected, “As projects evolve and mature, it is natural for visions to evolve, and sometimes diverge.”
Despite stepping back, Bjelic expressed unwavering enthusiasm for cryptocurrency’s potential to reshape global economies, hinting at future involvement in the industry with, “You will likely still see me around.”
Bjelic’s legacy and achivements at Polygon
Bjelic’s departure follows a decade of instrumental contributions to the company, which he co-founded in 2017 as Matic Network alongside Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Arjun.
Polygon has since become a cornerstone of Ethereum’s ecosystem, offering faster transactions, lower fees, and enhanced scalability through its Layer 2 solutions. The company’s advancements in zero-knowledge and proof-of-stake technologies have solidified its reputation as a leader in blockchain innovation.
In late 2024, the network executed a pivotal token migration, replacing MATIC with POL on a one-to-one basis as part of its 2.0 plan to enhance network usage for staking, gas fees, and infrastructure like AggLayer.
Community response and Polygon’s future
The crypto community has responded with a mix of gratitude and concern. Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon’s remaining co-founder, praised Bjelic as a “force behind so much of what makes Polygon,” recalling their late-night strategy sessions and shared vision.
Others, like Aave-chan Initiative founder Marc Zella, called the exit a “Big L for Polygon,” while Skale Network CEO Jack O’Holleran expressed excitement for Bjelic’s next chapter.
Polygon’s head of marketing, Leon Stern, also extended well-wishes, underscoring Bjelic’s impact.
Despite the leadership shakeup, the company remains active in groundbreaking initiatives. Recent partnerships with the likes of Jio Platforms and the launch of RealEstate.Exchange by DigiShares signal continued growth in Web3 and real-world asset tokenization.