‘We Scaled Ethereum, Got Zero Help’

What Happened

Szilágyi revealed in a May 2024 letter to Foundation leadership that his total compensation for six years managing Ethereum’s primary execution client was $625,000 before taxes, with zero benefits, raises, or incentives.

He highlighted the platform’s role in hosting Polymarket and advancing ZK-EVM technology through early investments in Jordi Baylina’s team.

Market Context

Nailwal stated that he “started questioning [his] loyalty toward Ethereum,” despite building infrastructure that scaled the network and hosting successful applications, such as Polymarket.

The Ethereum community refuses to classify Polygon PoS as a layer-2, despite its ecosystem including true L2s like Katana and XLayer, which creates market perception issues as competitors like Hedera Hashgraph achieve higher valuations.

He described working at the Foundation as “a bad financial decision“. He warned that the situation creates “a perfect breeding ground for perverse incentives, conflicts of interests and eventual protocol capture.”

Back in September, Protocol Guild data revealed that Ethereum core developers earn 50% to 60% below market standards, with a median base pay of $140,000 compared to average market offers of $359,000.

Why It Matters

The controversy intensified as Solana co-founder Raj Gokal openly suggested collaboration with Nailwal, while multiple developers criticized the Foundation’s treasury management and talent retention strategies.

Nailwal referenced friends suggesting that Polygon declare itself an L1, noting that the chain would likely achieve a two- to five-times higher valuation with such repositioning.

He promised “a final push that might just revive the entire L2 narrative” in the coming weeks, while acknowledging that Ethereum operates as a democracy where “people on all sides end up disgruntled.“

Details

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal publicly questioned his loyalty to Ethereum after years of contributing to the ecosystem without receiving support from the Ethereum Foundation or community.

His criticism came alongside revelations that former Geth lead developer Péter Szilágyi earned just $625,000 over six years working on Ethereum’s $480 billion network.

Polygon Founder Questions Ecosystem Loyalty

He noted that “I/we never got any direct support from the EF or the Ethereum CT community — in fact, the reverse,” while maintaining moral loyalty that potentially cost “billions of dollars in Polygon’s valuation.”

Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, emphasized that “Polygon PoS is a customer of Ethereum” that pays significant fees to the network, arguing the Foundation should “embrace” rather than “shun” contributors.

Developer Compensation Crisis Exposes Foundation Mismanagement

The former developer paraphrased Vitalik Buterin’s compensation philosophy as “if someone’s not complaining that they are paid too little, then they are paid too much.“

One developer reported declining a $700,000 package to continue core work.

Only 37% of contributors receive equity or token grants from employers, unlike commercial crypto ventures, which often offer significant upside packages.

Community responses highlighted that the Foundation recently sold 10,000 ETH worth $43 million while maintaining insufficient developer compensation.

Critics across crypto Twitter questioned where Foundation funds are directed, with some noting a grant abuse issue where projects receive over $200,000 for minimal work, while core developers remain underpaid.

The Foundation holds a massive ETH treasury without implementing treasury management or even staking its holdings.

Ecosystem Builders Migrate

Vitalik Buterin responded to Nailwal’s criticism with appreciation for Polygon’s contributions.

Buterin noted Polygon’s “immensely valuable role in the ethereum ecosystem” and praised Nailwal’s personal efforts, including $190 million voluntarily returned from donated SHIB tokens that funded Balvi’s open-source biotech program.