Polygon Labs CEO believes bias against Indian co-founder has slowed network expansion

Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon disagrees with claims of bias and supports new ideas over arguments.

Marc Boiron, the CEO of Polygon Labs, attributes the network’s difficulties in achieving widespread adoption in the space to racial prejudice against its co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal.

Boiron suggested in a post on X on November 25 that Nailwal’s Indian heritage has resulted in biases that impede Polygon’s recognition, despite its widespread use in the blockchain industry.

When a user in the crypto community argued that Indians had attained prominent positions in major tech firms globally, Boiron responded by suggesting that geography plays a role. He observed that individuals from India who work in Western countries, such as Sreeram Kannan of EigenLayer, encounter fewer biases than those who work from India.

In the interim, the Web3 community as a whole remains divided on this matter. Some users attribute Polygon’s challenges to the network’s strategies or competition from newer Ethereum layer-2 networks, rather than bias.

Polygon continues to be a significant participant in the industry, and its POL token is the 30th largest digital asset by market capitalization, despite Boiron’s claims. In contrast to the Coinbase-backed Base network, the blockchain’s prominence has declined.

Nailwal acknowledged the obstacles, but he encouraged developers to maintain their concentration. Although he acknowledges that this prejudice initially had an impact on him, he now perceives it as unintentional.

He declared, “I used to be tormented by this, but I now realize that no one is intentionally or systematically doing so. Therefore, do not take it personally.”

Nailwal also underscored the counterproductive nature of ruminating on discrimination and recommended that developers focus their efforts on the development of transformative solutions, as consistent success can ultimately challenge biases.

Meanwhile, the discourse regarding discrimination against Indian developers surpasses Polygon. Nader Dabit of EigenLayer emphasized comparable concerns, highlighting that certain members of the crypto community possess biases against Indian developers, frequently due to insecurity.

Also Read: MicroStrategy buys up the most Bitcoin ever