‘We Scaled Ethereum, Got Zero Help’ – Polygon and Sonic Labs Slam Ethereum Foundation
Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal publicly questioned his loyalty to Ethereum after years of contributing to the ecosystem with out receiving assist from the Ethereum Foundation or neighborhood.
His criticism got here alongside revelations that former Geth lead developer Péter Szilágyi earned simply $625,000 over six years engaged on Ethereum’s $480 billion community.
The controversy intensified as Solana co-founder Raj Gokal brazenly suggested collaboration with Nailwal, whereas a number of builders criticized the Foundation’s treasury administration and expertise retention methods.
Polygon Founder Questions Ecosystem Loyalty
Nailwal acknowledged that he “began questioning [his] loyalty towards Ethereum,” regardless of constructing infrastructure that scaled the community and internet hosting profitable functions, resembling Polymarket.
He famous that “I/we by no means obtained any direct assist from the EF or the Ethereum CT neighborhood — in actual fact, the reverse,” whereas sustaining ethical loyalty that probably price “billions of {dollars} in Polygon’s valuation.”
The Ethereum neighborhood refuses to categorise Polygon PoS as a layer-2, regardless of its ecosystem together with true L2s like Katana and XLayer, which creates market notion points as opponents like Hedera Hashgraph obtain greater valuations.
Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, emphasized that “Polygon PoS is a buyer of Ethereum” that pays vital charges to the community, arguing the Foundation ought to “embrace” relatively than “shun” contributors.
Nailwal referenced associates suggesting that Polygon declare itself an L1, noting that the chain would probably obtain a two- to five-times greater valuation with such repositioning.
He promised “a closing push which may simply revive your complete L2 narrative” within the coming weeks, whereas acknowledging that Ethereum operates as a democracy the place “individuals on all sides find yourself disgruntled.“
Developer Compensation Crisis Exposes Foundation Mismanagement
Szilágyi revealed in a May 2024 letter to Foundation management that his whole compensation for six years managing Ethereum’s main execution consumer was $625,000 earlier than taxes, with zero advantages, raises, or incentives.
He described working on the Foundation as “a foul monetary determination“. He warned that the state of affairs creates “an ideal breeding floor for perverse incentives, conflicts of pursuits and eventual protocol seize.”
The former developer paraphrased Vitalik Buterin’s compensation philosophy as “if somebody’s not complaining that they’re paid too little, then they’re paid an excessive amount of.“
Back in September, Protocol Guild data revealed that Ethereum core developers earn 50% to 60% below market standards, with a median base pay of $140,000 in comparison with common market provides of $359,000.
One developer reported declining a $700,000 package deal to proceed core work.
Only 37% of contributors obtain fairness or token grants from employers, not like business crypto ventures, which frequently provide vital upside packages.
Community responses highlighted that the Foundation lately bought 10,000 ETH value $43 million whereas sustaining inadequate developer compensation.
Critics throughout crypto Twitter questioned the place Foundation funds are directed, with some noting a grant abuse difficulty the place tasks obtain over $200,000 for minimal work, whereas core builders stay underpaid.
The Foundation holds an enormous ETH treasury with out implementing treasury administration and even staking its holdings.
Ecosystem Builders Migrate
Vitalik Buterin responded to Nailwal’s criticism with appreciation for Polygon’s contributions.
He highlighted the platform’s position in internet hosting Polymarket and advancing ZK-EVM expertise by early investments in Jordi Baylina’s crew.
Buterin famous Polygon’s “immensely precious position within the ethereum ecosystem” and praised Nailwal’s private efforts, together with $190 million voluntarily returned from donated SHIB tokens that funded Balvi’s open-source biotech program.
He advised that Polygon may undertake off-the-shelf ZK expertise, which has improved dramatically, with proving prices now round $0.0001 per transaction.
Brendan Farmer from Polygon Zero countered that “each zkVM operating in prod” besides RiscZero runs on Polygon Zero’s expertise, together with Succinct Labs and Brevis.
He argued Polygon’s Plonky2 launch was over 100 instances sooner than present options from StarkWare, crediting the corporate for open-sourcing the work as a public good.
Farmer famous that the $0.0001 per transaction figures could also be deceptive when contemplating the precise prices of proving high-throughput chains that require over-provisioned sources.
One growth crew shared that after 4 years of constructing on Ethereum and Base with out success, they moved to Solana six months in the past and generated $3.5 million in income inside 48 hours of their launch.
They described the Base and Ethereum ecosystems as “closed dinner events” with inner-circle dynamics, whereas Solana offers open, builder-first assist no matter mission sort.
In a associated growth, the Foundation has begun decommissioning the Holesky testnet this week, following the completion of Fusaka-related testing, with node operators scheduled to close down their infrastructure over the following ten days.
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