Polygon's Mission ‘Has Always Been Mass Adoption of Web3,’ Co-Founder Says

Polygon, the Ethereum-based layer 2 blockchain, is focused on going mainstream, said Sandeep Nailwal, the platform’s co-founder.

“The mission for Polygon has always been the mass adoption of Web3,” Nailwal told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Monday.

Polygon, which began as a blockchain project in 2017, has been garnering mass-market attention as early as last year. The platform has already been tapped by some big brands, including Starbucks, Salesforce and Disney.

“There has always been this urge between people who are actually building in the Web3 space that there is no large-scale adoption for Web3 as of yet,” Nailwal said.

With Polygon, he said, consumer-facing companies can expand the ways in which they “interact and engage with their customers.” He pointed to Reddit as an example of a company that has already tapped Polygon as it looks to continue expanding its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

Nailwal said that reaching mass adoption will ultimately come down to the benefits that Web3 applications can provide, such as self-custody and the ownership of digital collectibles. Starbucks’ Odyssey program, for instance, combines customer loyalty rewards with NFTs, as well as gamified elements.

Mass adoption could also lead to friendlier regulation, Nailwal suggested.

“If there are large-scale usage of these apps and people see that there is actual value being created with Web3 applications, the regulators will come along and they will see that this is a legitimate industry,” he said.

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