{"id":13870,"date":"2025-10-21T05:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T05:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/polygon-sonic-labs-co-founders-criticize-ethereum-foundation-for-neglecting-layer-2s\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T05:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T05:33:14","slug":"polygon-sonic-labs-co-founders-criticize-ethereum-foundation-for-neglecting-layer-2s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/polygon-sonic-labs-co-founders-criticize-ethereum-foundation-for-neglecting-layer-2s\/","title":{"rendered":"Polygon, Sonic Labs co-founders criticize Ethereum Foundation for neglecting layer 2s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Tensions within the Ethereum ecosystem resurfaced after senior builders accused the Ethereum Foundation of neglecting layer 2 developers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_de3bd1d25900239a6506786c264b8193\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Polygon\u2019s Sandeep Nailwal says Ethereum Foundation offers no direct support to Polygon.<\/li>\n<li>Sonic Labs\u2019 Andre Cronje echoes the same concerns.<\/li>\n<li>Vitalik Buterin praises both Polygon and Nailwal for their impact and contributions.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said his loyalty to Ethereum is weakening, claiming the Ethereum Foundation has provided \u201cno direct support\u201d to his team despite Polygon\u2019s long-standing role in scaling the network.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an Oct. 21 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sandeepnailwal\/status\/1980367655937929392?s=46&amp;t=nznXkss3debX8JIhNzHmzw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">post<\/a> on X, he argued that Polygon\u2019s (POL) work has often been dismissed by the Ethereum (ETH) community, which he believes has failed to recognize its layer 2 status even as it powers some of Ethereum\u2019s largest applications.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nailwal says Ethereum community has become insular<\/h2>\n<p>Nailwal stated that Polygon\u2019s ecosystem, including networks such as Katana and XLayer, remains closely tied to Ethereum. However, he claimed the community treats Polygon\u2019s progress as separate from Ethereum\u2019s broader success. <\/p>\n<p>He added that Polygon\u2019s market value could be \u201ctwo to five times higher\u201d if it positioned itself as a standalone layer 1 chain, rather than maintaining ties to Ethereum.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Read this from Peter and realized that it&#8217;s time for me to also speak up.<\/p>\n<p>NGL, I\u2019ve started questioning my loyalty toward Ethereum. I did not come into crypto because of Bitcoin but because of Ethereum. I also have a lot of gratitude toward <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VitalikButerin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">@VitalikButerin<\/a> \u2014 someone I looked up\u2026 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yrcrGEwXs8\">https:\/\/t.co\/yrcrGEwXs8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sandeep | CEO, Polygon Foundation (\u203b,\u203b) (@sandeepnailwal) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sandeepnailwal\/status\/1980367655937929392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>His comments follow weeks of internal debate among Ethereum developers and founders over the foundation\u2019s role in supporting external builders. Nailwal\u2019s remarks echo past concerns from other contributors who have questioned how the foundation allocates grants and recognition within the ecosystem.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sonic\u2019s Cronje raises similar concerns<\/h2>\n<p>Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs, echoed Nailwal\u2019s remarks, saying he has \u201cburned over 700 ETH\u201d building on Ethereum without receiving grants or any kind of support, not even a retweet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am confused. So who is EF paying\/supporting? While building on ETH I have burned over 700 ETH on deployments and ETH infra. I tried contacting EF, never a response, no BD outreach, no grants, 0 support, not even a retweet. When I started helping out with Sonic eco I was\u2026 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LmVqXWBXoU\">https:\/\/t.co\/LmVqXWBXoU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andre Cronje (@AndreCronjeTech) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndreCronjeTech\/status\/1980425751687049417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Cronje noted that his experience contrasts sharply with newer projects under the Sonic (S) ecosystem, which often receive financial and technical backing. His comments added weight to Nailwal\u2019s claims of uneven support across Ethereum\u2019s developer community.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin Responds<\/h2>\n<p>In a subsequent X <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/vitalikbuterin\/status\/1980453161862414760?s=46&amp;t=nznXkss3debX8JIhNzHmzw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">response<\/a>, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin thanked Nailwal and Polygon for their contributions. He emphasized Polygon\u2019s early efforts to develop zero-knowledge technology and its attempts to use the AggLayer framework to scale Ethereum.<\/p>\n<p>Buterin also cited Nailwal\u2019s charitable work in projects like the Balvi biotech program and CryptoRelief, stating that his contributions have had \u201creal-world impact far beyond crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Buterin went on to say that recent advancements in ZK proving systems might make it possible for Polygon to integrate with Ethereum\u2019s main chain and provide stronger security guarantees, suggesting a potential avenue for future cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tensions within the Ethereum ecosystem resurfaced after senior builders accused the Ethereum Foundation of neglecting layer 2 developers. Summary Polygon\u2019s Sandeep Nailwal says Ethereum Foundation offers no direct support to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13871,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions\/13871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}