Polygon Labs has announced its second round of layoffs in 2026 as the company works to finalize its acquisition of Coinme and transitions from a blockchain foundation model to a blockchain-enabled payments company. CEO Marc Boiron acknowledged that two rounds of changes in one year is a lot to ask of a team.
The job cuts come as Polygon undergoes a significant strategic pivot from its origins as an Ethereum scaling project toward becoming a payments-focused business. The acquisition of Coinme, a cryptocurrency ATM and payment services company, signals Polygons intention to compete in the growing market for blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
Polygon has been facing increasing competitive pressure from other layer-2 networks, particularly Base and Arbitrum, which have captured significant market share in total value locked and daily transaction volumes. The companys strategic shift toward payments reflects an attempt to differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded market.
The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring that has seen several long-time Polygon executives depart and the company narrow its focus to specific use cases. Polygon has been investing heavily in zero-knowledge proof technology, which the company believes will be critical for scaling Ethereum-based applications in the future.
The Coinme acquisition, which has not yet been finalized, would give Polygon access to a physical cryptocurrency infrastructure network including thousands of ATM locations across the United States. This physical presence could provide a distribution advantage as the company seeks to compete in the payments space.
This article was adapted from The Block. Read the original here.
