Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal Predicts 2026 Internet That "Thinks, Verifies and Pays...

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Jan 1st, 2026, 16 hours ago
Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal Predicts 2026 Internet That "Thinks, Verifies and Pays
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Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has laid out a provocative vision for 2026: an internet rebuilt around the seamless convergence of AI, blockchain and payments. In a recent piece for Entrepreneur, Nailwal — CEO of the Layer 2 blockchain Polygon (POL) — argues that these three pillars will combine so tightly that systems will “think, verify and pay” on their own, quietly fixing many of today’s frictions.

The architecture he imagines is straightforward but powerful:
- AI acts as the decision-maker, running models that recommend actions across content curation, supply-chain logistics, financial decisions and more.
- Blockchains provide immutable verification of those decisions and the underlying data, adding auditability and trust where AI is currently opaque.
- Payments rails instantly enforce outcomes by moving value when conditions are met, closing the loop between decision and execution.

Why blockchain matters here
Nailwal highlights a major problem with AI today: limited transparency into how models decide and whether their inputs are trustworthy. Public ledgers can anchor models, transactions and signatures, letting observers verify that an outcome happened the way it was claimed to. At the same time, privacy remains crucial — and that’s where zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) play a central role. ZKPs can prove that rules were followed or results are valid without exposing sensitive underlying data, enabling a balance between verifiability and confidentiality.

Early signs of the shift
According to Nailwal, the move from “trust” to “proof” is already underway. Governments are anchoring public records on blockchains for greater transparency and accountability, while cities are piloting blockchain-based payment systems for tasks ranging from tax collection to cross-border transfers. Digital currencies and on-chain payment rails are positioned to streamline cross-border flows by removing intermediaries, and platforms like Polygon are already facilitating rapid, low-cost stablecoin payments for users and businesses.

What users might actually see
Nailwal expects digital wallets to evolve into consolidated hubs that store identity, data and financial assets — making everyday actions like payments or signing documents far simpler. He argues that the biggest change won’t be a flashy new chain or a bigger model, but the quiet emergence of an internet that can “think, verify and pay on its own.” Most people, he says, won’t notice the tectonic shift; they’ll just find that the digital world starts to work as it should.

Market context
At the time of writing, Polygon’s native token POL was trading at $0.1025 — down nearly 80% year-to-date and about 92% below its all-time high of $1.29.