Polygon Labs undergoes restructuring after $250 million acquisition – MATIC in focus of market movements

Polygon Labs, the company behind the leading Ethereum scaling solution, has laid off 60 employees. This move comes immediately after the acquisition of Coinme and Sequence for over $250 million. The company is shifting its focus toward payment and stablecoin solutions – a strategic pivot that now results in personnel changes. The layoffs were organization-wide and not limited to a single department.

Acquisition as a Catalyst: The Path to Payment-Focused Polygon

The acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence mark a turning point in Polygon’s business strategy. Coinme, founded in 2013 with a focus on cryptocurrency trading and payment integration, brings established expertise in the payments sector. Sequence, specialized in Web3 infrastructure for payments, complements this approach. Together, the two companies aim to support Polygon’s goal to “move all funds onchain,” as CEO Marc Boiron announced on X.

The $250 million investment underscores Polygon’s ambition to play a central role in the payments market – a segment traditionally dominated by banks and payment service providers.

60 Layoffs as an Integration Measure: The Official Statement

A spokesperson for Polygon Labs confirmed to CoinDesk that 60 employees are affected but denied reports of a 30 percent reduction in the total workforce. The company claims to maintain its headcount at nearly 200 employees despite these changes – including the newly integrated teams from Coinme and Sequence.

“Prior to integrating employees from Coinme and Sequence into Polygon Labs, we made adjustments to keep our overall headcount constant,” the spokesperson explained. The layoffs are aimed at eliminating overlapping roles and optimizing organizational efficiency. Marc Boiron acknowledged in his statement: “Our colleagues who are leaving are exceptional. We are deeply grateful to them and actively support them during this transition.”

Third Wave of Layoffs in Three Years: A Pattern Emerges

The current staff reduction is not unprecedented for Polygon Labs. The company has undergone several major restructuring phases:

• February 2023: About 100 employees – approximately 20% of the then-current workforce – were laid off as the company consolidated multiple business units under a central entity.
• February 2024: A further reduction of 60 people followed, representing about 19% of the workforce. Polygon cited measures to improve operational efficiency and performance.
• January/February 2026: The current wave with 60 layoffs, this time justified by integration requirements.

This pattern indicates a company that repeatedly makes bold moves – an approach not uncommon among crypto firms during phases of rapid growth and subsequent consolidation.

Financial Stability Despite Restructuring: The Balance Sheet Remains Robust

Despite the reorganizations, Polygon Labs emphasizes a solid financial position. The company has more than $200 million in cash and holds 1.9 billion MATIC tokens – Polygon’s native currency. These reserves give the company significant flexibility for its further expansion plans in the payments sector. The MATIC token plays a central role: it is used to pay transaction fees and can be staked by network validators to earn rewards.

MATIC Under Pressure: Market Reaction to the Restructuring

Shortly after the layoffs were announced, the MATIC token showed volatility. The token lost about 6% in the past 24 hours, at the time of reporting. During the same period, the broader cryptocurrency market, measured by the CoinDesk20 Index, declined only about 1%. MATIC’s underperformance suggests that market participants are scrutinizing the layoffs more closely and may have questions about the stability of the integration process.

Investors holding MATIC are closely watching how Polygon executes the integration of Coinme and Sequence – a process that will reveal in the coming weeks and months whether the payment strategy is successfully implemented.

Outlook: Payments as the Future for Polygon and MATIC

Polygon was founded in 2017 as Matic Network and went live in 2020. The network is based on the proof-of-stake consensus algorithm and serves as a scaling solution for Ethereum – aiming to enable faster and cheaper transactions. With the acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence, Polygon is repositioning itself: away from a pure infrastructure play toward an integrated payment platform.

The MATIC community and investors will observe in the coming months whether this strategic realignment – and the associated pains of restructuring – ultimately lead to value creation or if volatility persists.