Exclusive: Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal says ‘no plans’ for ETF, slams premature filings originally appeared on TheStreet .
As the crypto market sees a flurry of exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings following the greenlight for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal says the network has no intention of joining the rush — at least not anytime soon.
“Most of the crypto companies are filing for these ETFs, while most of them know that it's not going to be approved for the next 3-4 years,” Nailwal said in a conversation with TheStreet Roundtable's Senior Editor Mehab Qureshi. “They are not that decentralized, they are not that trustless and all that.”
Rather than spending millions in lobbying and legal fees to push for a token-backed ETF, Nailwal said Polygon’s strategy is to focus on product development and user growth.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reviewing over 70 crypto-related ETF filings, signaling a growing appetite among asset managers to offer regulated exposure to altcoins.
Following the landmark approvals of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and spot Ethereum ETFs in May 2024, firms have expanded their focus beyond the top two cryptocurrencies. Now, new filings include applications for ETFs tied to Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), and even Tron (TRX).
Polygon wants institutions to come to them
“When the asset is ready, the market actually automatically goes forward,” Nailwal said. “I would want to take Polygon's fundamental interaction to a place where a large ETF provider reaches out to us automatically. Instead of we paying millions of dollars that, we'll go and buy our ETFs.”
His remarks come amid growing optimism in the crypto industry after the approval of Ethereum ETFs and the launch of dozens of filings from smaller firms, many betting on future regulatory clarity under the Trump administration.
But Nailwal says filing for an ETF prematurely could be a distraction.
“I don't want to spend any of that. I better focus my efforts on getting the fundamental traction of users,” he said. “And then the ETFs and the markets will push forward.”
Why Ethereum’s dominance still matters
In the same conversation, Nailwal also addressed concerns around Ethereum’s stagnating price action and declining narrative dominance.
“There was a narrative violation for Ethereum that maybe Ethereum was not the L1,” he said, referring to the rise of other layer-2 execution environments that pulled attention away from Ethereum’s core value.
“But if you see in terms of the value, I think still around 80 to 90 percent of all the value created in crypto exists on Ethereum,” he added. “Ethereum powers the settlement for the security and the subvention for hundreds and hundreds of these layer-1 chains.”
Nailwal acknowledged that questions remain about how ETH as an asset accrues value, but emphasized the broader ecosystem remains robust.
Waiting for market signals
While Polygon is open to re-evaluating its ETF stance depending on macroeconomic changes, Nailwal said it will take more than market noise to move the needle.
“If the Fed pivots and the rates start going down… and then we start seeing a lot of demand on the ETF side. Sure, we might look into that,” he said. “But as of now, [we] will be completely focused on our products.”
Exclusive: Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal says ‘no plans’ for ETF, slams premature filings first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 2, 2025
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.