Polygon Co-Founder Mihailo Bjelic Steps Down, Plans to Stay in Crypto Space

Key Takeaways:

Mihailo Bjelic has stepped down from the Polygon Foundation but signaled he will stay active in the crypto space. His departure follows two other high-profile exits, though Polygon continues pushing forward with new initiatives like the Agglayer Breakout Program. Industry figures praised Bjelic’s contributions, highlighting his key role in shaping Polygon’s growth and influence.

Mihailo Bjelic, one of the driving forces behind Ethereum scaling solution Polygon, has officially stepped down from his role at the Polygon Foundation.

In a post shared May 23 on X, Bjelic announced he would wind down his day-to-day involvement with the project but hinted that his journey in crypto is far from over.

“After much thought and reflection, I’ve decided to step down from the board of the Polygon Foundation and wind down my day-to-day involvement with Polygon Labs,” Bjelic wrote.

“As projects evolve and mature, it is natural for visions to evolve, and sometimes diverge.”

Bjelic Says He Remains Committed to Crypto

While Bjelic did not provide a roadmap for his next steps, he made it clear that he remains committed to the broader crypto industry.

“You will likely still see me around,” he said, signaling continued interest in blockchain development beyond Polygon.

His departure drew responses from across the crypto space. Fellow co-founder Sandeep Nailwal praised Bjelic’s role in shaping the protocol, saying he was “a force behind so much of what makes Polygon what it is today.”

Leon Stern, Polygon’s head of marketing, added, “Thanks for everything you’ve done for Polygon, and best of luck.”

It’s hard to put into words what you mean to me and to Polygon. More than a co-founder, you’re a brother. From the earliest days — whiteboards full of ideas, endless whitepapers, governance frameworks, strategy calls deep into the night — you have been a force behind so much of…
— Sandeep | Polygon (※,※) (@sandeepnailwal) May 23, 2025

Industry peers weighed in as well. Aave-chan Initiative founder Marc Zella called the move a “Big L for Polygon,” while Skale Network CEO Jack O’Holleran applauded Bjelic’s impact and expressed optimism about his future endeavors.

Bjelic’s resignation marks the third high-profile exit from the company in two years, following earlier departures by Polygon Labs’ Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun.

Arjun’s exit coincided with the launch of Avail, a data availability and consensus layer that now operates as a standalone entity under his leadership.

Despite the leadership changes, Polygon has remained active in onboarding new use cases.

In January, Jio Platforms—owned by Mukesh Ambani—teamed up with Polygon Labs to integrate Web3 capabilities into its services.

In March, RWA platform DigiShares launched RealEstate.Exchange (REX) on Polygon, aiming to tokenize real estate trading.

Polygon Introduces the Agglayer Breakout Program

Last month, the team behind the Polygon blockchain announced the Agglayer Breakout Program to launch high-value chains that will contribute to Agglayer’s network effects.

The aggregation layer, or AggLayer, is a cross-chain settlement layer developed by Polygon Labs and its collaborators, launched in early 2024, followed by v0.2 in early 2025.

Polygon Foundation and Polygon Labs are backing the novel program. The goal is to launch “high-impact projects that drive significant activity” to Agglayer and Polygon PoS, its proof-of-stake sidechain for Ethereum.

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