Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal walked back a social media post this week after the network's official account published a "Dear Everyone" message that many in the crypto community read as a jab at Abstract, the chain founded by Pudgy Penguins creator Luca Netz, following reports of Abstract's shutdown.
"I think this didn't land as expected and people conjured up completely different meaning from it," Nailwal wrote. "TBH, even When I first saw it my morning in SGP, I was like, 'WTF?'"
What Polygon's post actually said and why it drew criticism
The post opened with
"Never in a million years did we imagine we'd have to write these words. But we've seen the announcements and we've read the timeline," before clarifying "this is not a shutdown announcement."
It continued by claiming Polygon was on track for "a record year for payments across chain settlement, wallet integrations, and ramp rollouts," and teased "an extremely bullish announcement tomorrow." The message closed with:
"To everyone who doubted us, we recognize this must be a very difficult time and we ask everyone to please respect their privacy. Onwards."
The timing and specific phrasing, "not a shutdown announcement" and "respect their privacy," read to many observers as a direct reference to Abstract, since the post surfaced in the same window as reports about that chain's wind-down. Crypto Twitter has a well-documented pattern of chains and projects using coded language to needle competitors during moments of industry distress, which is likely why the post was interpreted the way it was regardless of what Polygon's marketing team intended.
Nailwal addressed that interpretation directly.
"Apparently, Marketing team was making a joke on ourselves because there are some people who always say Polygon is dead, while the fundamentals on Polygon are up and to the right," he wrote. "There was absolutely no intention to subtweet the Abstract shutdown."
Why Nailwal specifically invoked Polygon's own zkEVM sunset
Nailwal grounded his apology in Polygon's own history of shutting down a product.
"I have huge respect for @LucaNetz and his work, and we wouldn't do this because we ourselves sunset our zkEVM, so we know the pain," he wrote. "All the best to Luca and Pengu team, I continue to cheer for them as ever. Luca is one of the best entreprenuers of the industry."
Polygon zkEVM launched in March 2023 as the network's zero-knowledge rollup offering, built to provide full Ethereum equivalence using zk-proofs rather than the optimistic rollup model other layer-2s had adopted. Polygon has since consolidated its technology stack around the Polygon PoS chain and its broader Chain Development Kit (CDK) ecosystem, moving away from zkEVM as a standalone flagship product. Nailwal's reference to that sunset is a direct acknowledgment that Polygon itself has discontinued a major product line before, which is the basis for his claim that the team "know the pain" and would not mock another project going through the same process.
How Mudit Gupta framed the episode differently
Polygon CTO Mudit Gupta took a notably different tone than Nailwal's apology, framing Polygon's own zkEVM shutdown as evidence of foresight rather than failure.
"Polygon sets the trend. We shut down zkEVM before rest of the chain graveyard followed," Gupta wrote. "You wanna see what will happen in this space next? Just look at what Polygon is doing right now. Leader in everything. Onwards."
Gupta's framing treats the broader pattern of layer-2 and app-chain consolidation, visible this month in GnosisDAO's vote to move from an independent L1 to an Ethereum L2, and in Zeta Blockchain's decision to dissolve its own chain and migrate to Solana, as validation of Polygon's earlier strategic pivot rather than a coincidence. Whether that reframing lands better with the community than the original "Dear Everyone" post did remains an open question, since Gupta's comment arrives in the same contested window where Polygon's intentions toward Abstract are already under scrutiny.
Neither Nailwal's clarification nor Gupta's follow-up addressed what specific announcement Polygon's official account was teasing for the following day, leaving that detail unconfirmed at the time of these posts.
Anastasiia G
Disclaimer: All materials on this site are for informational purposes only. None of the material should be interpreted as investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments involve significant risk of loss. Please note that, despite the nature of much of the material created and hosted on this website, HODL FM operates as a media and informational platform, not a provider of financial advisory services. The opinions of authors and other contributors are their own and should not be taken as financial advice. If you require advice, HODL FM strongly recommends contacting a qualified industry professional.
