Mihailo Bjelic, co-founder of the India-based blockchain firm Polygon, announced his departure from active roles within the project on May 23, 2025 via social media.

He will no longer serve on the Polygon Foundation board or at Polygon Labs, the network’s main development arm.

Bjelic co-founded Polygon in 2017, originally named Matic Network, with Jaynti Kanani, Sandeep Nailwal, and Anurag Arjun.

His exit follows the earlier departures of co-founders Kanani and Arjun from their active roles.

Polygon is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution known for its advancements in zero-knowledge technology and proof-of-stake systems. In late 2024, the network undertook a token migration as part of its 2.0 roadmap.

🔗 Source: The Block

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Blockchain founder transitions follow common industry patterns

Bjelic’s departure continues a trend in blockchain leadership where project founders step back from daily operations while maintaining influence in strategic direction.

This pattern has already played out at Polygon, with two other co-founders (Kanani and Arjun) stepping away from active roles approximately two years ago, creating a phased leadership transition.

Founders often step away to allow professional management to handle scaling challenges, particularly when projects mature beyond their initial vision, as Bjelic noted when mentioning “it is natural for visions to evolve, and sometimes diverge.”

This leadership evolution appears especially common in blockchain, where projects typically begin with technical visionaries who may later be replaced by operational executives better suited for organizational scaling and mainstream adoption.

2️⃣ Leadership transitions signal blockchain project maturation

Bjelic’s departure comes during Polygon’s evolution from its origins as Matic Network to its current 2.0 roadmap implementation, marking a significant maturation phase.

The timing aligns with Polygon’s recent token migration from MATIC to POL, suggesting the project is entering a new development stage requiring different leadership competencies.

Research shows that leadership requirements shift substantially as blockchain projects mature, with early technical vision giving way to needs for operational execution, regulatory navigation, and ecosystem development 1.