In this episode of FYI – For Your Innovation, ARK's Brett and Lorenzo are joined by Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, to explore the evolving landscape of Ethereum scaling, the role of Layer 2s, and Polygon’s growing importance in Web3 infrastructure. Sandeep unpacks how Polygon transitioned from a sidechain into a comprehensive execution layer, supporting both shared and dedicated compute environments. The discussion spans Polygon's technology roadmap (including the transition to Polygon 2.0), the distinction between sidechains and L2s, and how Polygon’s AggLayer is designed to unify fragmented liquidity across custom blockchains. They also address the competitive dynamics between public blockchains and “corpo chains” like those initiated by Stripe, Circle, and Coinbase—raising questions about credible neutrality, token economics, and long-term adoption paths. Sandeep outlines Polygon's strategy of prioritizing scale before revenue, aiming to build lasting infrastructure in the face of fast-moving innovation.
Key Points From This Episode:
- [00:00] – Intro: What are Layer 1s, Layer 2s, and sidechains?
- [08:00] – Why apps are moving to dedicated L2s
- [20:03] – What is Polygon, and why is “L2” a misnomer?
- [28:03] – Pitching Polygon to institutions and developers
- [29:01] – Competitive landscape: too many chains, not enough clarity
- [34:14] – Are L2s valuable businesses?
- [35:30] – Why usage, not fees, is Polygon’s current priority
- [40:46] – Corpo chains and how they leverage open infrastructure
- [48:41] – What success looks like for Polygon in 5 years
- [49:54] – Key metrics: TVL, throughput, and transaction growth
- [50:57] – Outro and closing reflections from Brett
