Polygon and 1inch Cut Staff After Strategic Shift

Polygon is focusing on payments and profitability, while 1inch loses co-founder Anton Bukov. The restructuring comes as POL and 1INCH prices stay weak.

Key Takeaways

• Polygon Labs announced new layoffs as it shifts from blockchain infrastructure to a payments company, with profitability targeted for 2027.
• 1inch co-founder Anton Bukov said he was laid off in November 2025 and no longer has operational or security oversight.
• POL and 1INCH are trading near historic lows, while token holders see little direct benefit from the strategic changes.

Polygon Labs and 1inch are both showing how quickly crypto projects can pivot from building infrastructure to chasing revenue. This week, Polygon announced another round of layoffs, while 1inch co-founder Anton Bukov said he was laid off in November. At the same time, both tokens are hovering near historic lows.

Polygon Shifts Toward Payments

CEO Marc Boiron says Polygon Labs is in the middle of a transition from a blockchain foundation to a blockchain-powered payments company, with profitability set as the target for 2027. He said the layoffs are part of that plan, and that employees affected by the cuts will receive severance and career support.

This is far from Polygon’s first round of job cuts. The company laid off about 100 people in 2023, then another 60 in 2024, and it cut roughly 60 more roles in January after the acquisition of Coinme and wallet developer Sequence for more than $250 million (€218 million). That deal lines up with the same broader strategy: Polygon wants to connect more of its own infrastructure to payments and real-world commercial use.

The shift is also showing up onchain. Stablecoin supply on Polygon now stands at $3.36 billion (€2.9 billion), ranking it eighth among blockchains, while the company says volume reached a record $9.12 billion (€8 billion) in June. Visa also added Polygon to its stablecoin settlement program earlier this year.

1inch Loses Co-Founder

At 1inch, the restructuring has taken a different turn. Bukov said he was laid off in November 2025, even though he owns 50% of the company, and that he no longer has any operational or security oversight. Since May 2019, he had been responsible for protocol architecture and security at the DEX aggregator.

Bukov describes his departure as a leadership dispute. He said he had pushed for changes in management and communication after feedback from users and team members, but was ultimately forced out. He is now working on Second Tier, a new infrastructure startup he says is meant to build an open financial system without friction or middlemen.

Token Holders Feel the Pain

For token holders, the timing is rough. POL fell to an all-time low of $0,068 (€0,059) on July 1 and was trading at $0,0838 (€0,073) at the time of publication, nearly 64% below where it stood a year ago. 1INCH was trading at $0,0739 (€0,064), down 78% over the same period after also hitting a new low on June 6.

The bigger picture is familiar across crypto: the teams behind major protocols are trying to run leaner, more disciplined businesses, but that does not automatically translate into value for token holders. For European crypto readers, that is an important distinction, since it shows how quickly projects can move from community-led infrastructure to a more traditional business model, even as the tokens themselves remain legally separate from the company. A similar shift is playing out at Base, where the focus is increasingly on trading, payments, and other direct revenue streams.