Mihailo Bjelic Steps Down from Polygon: “Cheering From the Sidelines”

Mihailo Bjelic, one of the co-founders of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon, has announced his resignation from the Polygon Foundation board and his day-to-day role at Polygon Labs. While stepping away from operational duties, Bjelic emphasized that he remains passionate about the crypto space and intends to stay active in the industry.

Bjelic’s Farewell: A Time for Reflection

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on May 23, Bjelic explained his decision:

“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,” he wrote.

“I’ll always be cheering from the sidelines and supporting however and whenever I can.”

Bjelic noted that as projects evolve, it’s natural for visions to shift or diverge.

“With this in mind, I can no longer contribute to Polygon to the best of my abilities,” he added.

Source: Sandeep Nailwal

Community Reactions: A Big Loss for Polygon

Bjelic’s departure triggered widespread reactions across the crypto and Web3 community. Fellow Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal praised Bjelic’s pivotal contributions, describing him as “a force behind so much of what makes Polygon what it is today.”

Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave-chan Initiative, called it a “Big L for Polygon,” reflecting the sense of loss felt by many in the ecosystem. Polygon’s head of marketing, Leon Stern, expressed gratitude:

“Thanks for everything you’ve done for Polygon, and best of luck.”

Jack O’Holleran, CEO of Skale Network, also weighed in, saying Bjelic should “be very proud” of his accomplishments and expressing excitement to see what he does next.

Although Bjelic has yet to announce his next steps, he assured the community that his passion for crypto remains strong:

“You will likely still see me around.”

Source: Maggie Love

Context: Shifts in Polygon’s Founding Team

Bjelic’s departure follows a pattern seen over the past two years, with early Polygon Labs founders Jaynti Kanani and Anurag Arjun also stepping away. Arjun’s exit was tied to the spin-off of Avail, a Web3 data availability and consensus layer, which became an independent entity under his leadership.

Major Developments at Polygon

Despite the leadership changes, Polygon has been at the center of several major announcements this year:

• March 25: Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform DigiShares announced it would bring tokenized real estate trading to Polygon through the launch of RealEstate.Exchange (REX).

• January 16: Jio Platforms, the Indian mobile network giant owned by Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, partnered with Polygon Labs to integrate Web3 and blockchain capabilities into its service offerings.

These milestones highlight Polygon’s growing influence and continued innovation in the Web3 space, even as its founding team evolves.