- He praised Polygon and founder Sandeep Nailwal for their contributions to Ethereum’s scalability.
- Buterin highlighted Polygon’s early leadership in zero-knowledge technology.
- Nailwal has participated in various humanitarian efforts, including funding research for the Balvi pandemic project.
The cryptocurrency market remains weak as Bitcoin fundamentals continue to deteriorate.
Amid this uncertainty, Vitalik Buterin publicly praised Polygon and its co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal, for their significant role in improving Ethereum’s scalability.
Buterin highlighted Polygon’s technical achievements, especially its early investment in developing zero-knowledge EVM (ZK-EVM) technology.
He also acknowledged Nailwal’s humanitarian efforts that connected public health initiatives with blockchain development.
I greatly appreciate both Sandeep Nailwal’s personal contributions and Polygon’s immensely valuable role in the Ethereum ecosystem.
I really appreciate both @sandeepnailwal’s personal contributions and @0xPolygon’s immensely valuable role in the ethereum ecosystem.
To recap:
* Polygon hosts @Polymarket, which is probably the single most successful example of a “not just boring finance” app that has actually…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) October 21, 2025
Polygon’s influence on Ethereum’s growth
Buterin’s post emphasized that Polygon has been a cornerstone for Ethereum scalability, helping the blockchain host innovative, real-world applications.
For instance, Polymarket gained notable traction as a non-finance application that delivers tangible value beyond typical DeFi use cases.
Polygon also enabled high-throughput transaction processing early on and prioritized research and development in ZK-EVM technology.
Vitalik applauded the project’s early collaboration with Jordi Baylina’s team, which helped the Ethereum ZK ecosystem flourish during its experimental phase.
Polygon invested substantial resources in ZK-EVM, engaging teams such as Jordi Baylina’s and contributing significantly to the space’s advancement.
The Ethereum co-founder also praised Polygon for developing AggLayer, a solution that assists with proof aggregation.
Buterin believes these initiatives reflect Polygon’s commitment to building innovative tools that strengthen the wider Ethereum ecosystem.
Nailwal’s humanitarian commitment
Beyond Polygon’s technical achievements, Buterin highlighted Sandeep Nailwal’s humanitarian actions and personal integrity.
One notable effort is CryptoRelief, which donated cryptocurrency to support India’s biomedical infrastructure.
In a gesture reflecting Nailwal’s integrity, he returned SHIB tokens worth $190 million that Buterin had originally sent to the relief fund.
Buterin then redirected those funds to launch Balvi, an open-source anti-pandemic initiative focused on improving indoor air safety and advancing global health research.
He voluntarily returned $190 million in SHIB proceeds that I had donated, enabling the entire open-source Balvi biotech program against airborne diseases and perhaps accelerating our understanding of critical anti-pandemic topics like clean indoor air by years.
ZK technology and the road ahead
Buterin also reflected on the current crossroads for Polygon’s technical trajectory.
Although the POL ecosystem was an early ZK pioneer, the landscape has matured and diversified.
Teams specializing in zero-knowledge work—such as Risc Zero, Brevis, and Succinct Labs—now operate independently of specific Layer 2 networks.
Buterin expects that this separation will drive greater specialization as each team showcases its full capabilities.
He also urged Polygon to adopt more off-the-shelf ZK technology to improve security within its proof-of-security chain and better align with Ethereum’s Layer 2 scalability vision.
ZK solutions have become more user-friendly, with transaction demonstration costs now reported as low as $0.0001 per proof in some implementations.
Today, Ethereum-related altcoins and Polygon’s POL token underperformed as broader crypto sell-offs dominated the market, with some assets falling as much as 5% in the last 24 hours.