Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTLockridge OkothThu, July 16, 2026 at 8:45 PM GMT+2 4 min readPolygon layoffs 2026 as Labs pivots to payments. Photo by BeInCryptoPolygon Labs announced its second round of layoffs in 2026 on Thursday, the same day 1inch co-founder Anton Bukov revealed he was fired in November. Both firms are reorganizing around commercial priorities while their tokens trade near record lows.The parallel shakeups show a hard truth taking hold across the industry. The people who built crypto's infrastructure era are paying the price of its push for real revenue.Polygon (POL) and 1INCH Price Performance. Source: TradingViewPolygon Layoffs Mark Fourth Round of Cuts in Three YearsCEO Marc Boiron said Polygon Labs is completing its transformation from a blockchain foundation into a blockchain-enabled payments company, targeting profitability in 2027. He stressed the cuts reflect strategy rather than performance, with severance and career support for affected staff.Thursday's move extends a steady drumbeat. Polygon cut roughly 100 roles in 2023, another 60 in 2024, and around 60 more this January after its $250 million-plus deal to acquire Coinme, a US payments firm licensed in 48 states, and wallet developer Sequence.The business case is visible on-chain. Stablecoin supply on Polygon stands at $3.36 billion, the eighth-largest on any blockchain, per DefiLlama, while the company says volume hit a record $9.12 billion in June. Visa also added Polygon to its stablecoin settlement program earlier this year.Total Stablecoin Market Cap on Polygon. Source: DefiLlama"We chose to move now because momentum like this deserves a company built to run with it. Revenue is strong, stablecoin volume keeps setting records, our customer pipeline is stronger than any of us imagined, and our on-chain payments solution went live in record time," Boiron explained.Polygon Foundation CEO Sandeep Nailwal separately said a third of the team built 13 AI projects in a three-day sprint, signaling how leadership expects the remaining staff to work.Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens1inch Co-Founder Says He Was Fired, Launches Second TierHours earlier, Bukov disclosed that 1inch fired him in late November 2025 despite his 50% stake. The co-founder, who led the DEX aggregator's protocol architecture and security since May 2019, said he retains no operational or security oversight.Where Polygon frames its restructuring as a strategy, Bukov describes his exit as a leadership dispute. He said he pushed for changes in management and communication after user and teammate feedback, and was dismissed."The most important lesson that stayed with me: the long-term success of any project stands on two pillars of equal weight - technical excellence and leadership grounded in values that hold under pressure," Bukov stated.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info