Polygon Labs has cut personnel as it pivots more aggressively to a payments-first strategy built around stablecoin rails and what it calls the “Open Money Stack,” a new, vertically integrated set of services designed to move money onchain.
The layoffs come just days after announcing a deal worth up to $250 million to acquire US crypto ATM and payments firm Coinme and wallet and developer platform Sequence.
Polygon did not publicly disclose how many roles were eliminated, but according to multiple sources on social media platforms like X, a reduction as large of 30% in staff has been linked to the post‑acquisition integration.
Cointelegraph reached out to Polygon Labs for comment, but had not received a response by publication.
Polygon says cuts reflect payments focus, not performance
Polygon CEO Marc Boiron framed the recent acquisitions as part of a longer‑running effort to narrow the company’s mandate.
In a post on X, he said, “Over the past few months, we’ve sharpened Polygon Labs’ focus around one mission: moving all money onchain.”
He added that the Coinme and Sequence deals brought “deep expertise across regulated payments, wallets, and interop.”
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As those teams are integrated into a combined organization, Boiron said Polygon “had to make the difficult decision to consolidate some overlapping roles,” with the goal of becoming the leading payments-focused blockchain company.
He emphasized that total headcount would remain similar after the changes, and described the shift as “about structure, not performance.”
Boiron called the departing staff “exceptional” and said the company was committed to actively supporting them through the transition, acknowledging that “this is one of the hardest parts of building a company and accelerating the growth of a protocol.”
Former employees publicly confirmed they had been let go, but many struck an upbeat tone about Polygon’s trajectory.
One wrote that their “time at Polygon came to an end today – hell of a ride,” while another said they were wildly proud and optimistic about what’s next for Polygon, adding that “there has never been a better time to be a builder.”
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Polygon joins other major crypto firms in restructurings
The latest cuts follow a series of restructurings at Polygon over the past two years, including a roughly 19% workforce reduction and spin‑offs of its Polygon Ventures and Polygon ID units in early 2024 that executives said were meant to streamline operations and sharpen focus.
Other large crypto firms have taken similar steps over the years. Coinbase has executed multiple job cut rounds, including an 18% layoff in 2022 over a market downturn, while Binance reduced its headcount by 1,000 employees in 2023 to “remain nimble and dynamic.”
This week, real-world asset-focused protocol Mantra also announced layoffs tied to a restructuring push, highlighting continued cost discipline and consolidation across the sector even as onchain activity recovers.
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