Polygon Labs Cuts Jobs Amid $250 Million Coinme Deal

Polygon Labs is cutting staff again. The reason is simple: the company is moving into a completely different business.

What Polygon's CEO Said

Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, announced the layoffs in an X post on Thursday. He wrote that the company would say goodbye to many of its colleagues on the way from operating as a blockchain foundation to operating as a blockchain-enabled payments company.

"These changes are about the company we're building, not the quality of the people leaving. A blockchain foundation and a blockchain-enabled payments company do not operate the same way. This transition means changing how we're organized and the talent we need, not just what we build."

- Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, from an X post on July 16, 2026

Where the Payments Push Came From

In January, Polygon announced a $250 million deal to acquire crypto exchange Coinme and wallet platform Sequence. That decision set the company's new direction.

Coinme is known for its network of crypto ATMs across the US, while Sequence builds wallet infrastructure for developers. Together, they are meant to become the backbone of Polygon's new payments business.

Not the First Round of Cuts

This latest wave of layoffs is not the first under Boiron's leadership. Over the past three years the company has trimmed staff several times, with the combined rounds affecting more than 200 people.

Cointelegraph reached out to Polygon for details on the size of this round of cuts but had not received a response by publication time.

What This Means for the Industry

The shift from blockchain foundation to payments company looks like a broader trend. More projects are hunting for profitable business models beyond pure technology development.

Polygon Labs, the company behind the layer-2 network for Ethereum, is betting that crypto payments and wallet infrastructure will bring steadier revenue than supporting the network alone. Whether that bet pays off should become clear this year.