Polygon Labs CEO says bias against Indian co-founder hindering network’s growth

Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron has attributed the network’s struggles with broader adoption in the space to racial prejudice against its co-founder, Sandeep Nailwal.

In a Nov. 25 post on X, Boiron suggested that Nailwal’s Indian heritage has led to biases that hinder Polygon’s recognition despite its substantial usage across the blockchain industry.

He wrote:

“If Sandeep wasn’t Indian, then web3 would have embraced Polygon massively instead of treating it as a second class citizen even when Polygon PoS was more used than all blockchains combined.”

When a user in the crypto community argued that Indians had achieved prominent roles in major tech firms globally, Boiron responded by suggesting geography plays a role. He noted that Indians in Western countries like EigenLayer’s Sreeram Kannan face fewer biases compared to those working from India.

He also pointed to discriminatory remarks, including racial slurs, as evidence of the underlying issue. Boiron said:

“All you need to see is all the ‘brown’ comments to know there’s an issue.”

Meanwhile, the broader Web3 community remains divided on this issue. Some users attribute Polygon’s challenges to competition from newer Ethereum layer-2 networks or the network’s strategies rather than bias.

Despite Boiron’s claims, Polygon remains a prominent player in the industry, and its POL token is the 30th largest digital asset by market cap. However, the blockchain’s popularity has waned compared to newer layer-2 networks like the Coinbase-backed Base network.

Nailwal unperturbed

Nailwal acknowledged the challenges but urged developers to remain focused. While admitting that such prejudice initially affected him, he now sees it as unintentional.

He stated:

“I used to be pained with this but now I understand nobody is doing it deliberately or in a systematic way, so don’t take it personally.”

Nailwal further emphasized that dwelling on discrimination is counterproductive and advised developers to channel their energy into building transformative solutions, as consistent success can ultimately challenge biases.

Meanwhile, the conversation about discrimination against Indian developers extends beyond Polygon. Nader Dabit of EigenLayer highlighted similar issues, noting that some in the crypto community harbor biases against Indian developers, often out of insecurity.

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