TLDR
- Dankrad Feist, co-creator of Danksharding, departs Ethereum Foundation for Tempo.
- Feist’s shift to Tempo focuses on achieving ambitious goals for high-scale payments.
- Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, aims to optimize stablecoin financial services.
- Feist plans to remain involved with Ethereum, despite joining Tempo’s development.
Dankrad Feist, a key Ethereum developer, has left the Ethereum Foundation (EF) to join Tempo, a payments-focused Layer 1 blockchain. Tempo, being developed by Stripe and Paradigm, aims to cater to high-scale financial services. Feist, known for his work on Danksharding and Ethereum scaling, sees this as an opportunity to achieve ambitious payment goals while still maintaining a close alignment with Ethereum’s core values.
Feist’s Departure from Ethereum Foundation
Dankrad Feist’s decision to leave the Ethereum Foundation (EF) marks the end of an important chapter in his work within the Ethereum ecosystem. Feist joined EF in 2018 as a part-time researcher and quickly rose to prominence. He is most recognized for co-creating Danksharding, a sharding design intended to improve Ethereum’s Layer 2 scalability.
During his time at EF, Feist also contributed to several significant projects related to Ethereum’s scaling and user experience. One of his well-known proposals, EIP-9698, sought to increase Ethereum’s gas limit by 100-fold. His work was instrumental in the Ethereum community’s efforts to enhance its technical infrastructure.
Feist’s decision to move to Tempo is considered a loss by many within the Ethereum community, given his extensive contributions. Ethereum figures such as David Hoffman have expressed their disappointment, calling it an “incredible loss.” However, Feist remains committed to Ethereum’s ideals, despite his transition to Tempo.
Tempo’s Focus and Feist’s Role
Tempo, the new blockchain platform Feist has joined, is designed to support high-scale financial services. It is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, optimized for stablecoin use and aimed at companies such as Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, and Revolut. Feist sees Tempo as a strong complement to Ethereum, sharing the same permissionless values while offering the ability to cater to large-scale financial applications.
Feist will likely contribute his deep knowledge of Ethereum’s technical ecosystem to help improve Tempo’s performance and reach. In his statement, Feist mentioned that the decision to join Tempo was driven by the opportunity to focus on ambitious payment goals, backed by the “relentless execution” of the development team. This vision for high-performance financial services aligns with the goals of Stripe and Paradigm, which are both heavily involved in Tempo’s development.
Feist’s Ongoing Connection with Ethereum
Despite his move to Tempo, Feist emphasized that he intends to remain involved with the Ethereum community. He described Ethereum as having a unique set of values and technical principles, which are crucial for the future of decentralized applications. Feist’s comments suggest that while he will focus on Tempo’s development, his relationship with Ethereum will continue.
Feist’s departure has not led to any negative sentiment towards Ethereum itself. Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, wished Feist success in his new role, acknowledging his valuable contributions to Ethereum, including his work on Danksharding. Feist’s statement also indicated that Tempo’s open-source technology could integrate with Ethereum in the future, suggesting a potential collaboration between the two platforms.
The Future of Tempo and Ethereum
The future of Tempo remains promising as it continues to develop with strong backing from both Stripe and Paradigm. Feist’s move to the project suggests that the platform could benefit from his experience with Ethereum and his vision for scaling decentralized networks.
As Tempo positions itself to serve financial services at scale, its relationship with Ethereum could become increasingly important. Feist’s work on Layer 2 scalability and Ethereum’s infrastructure provides him with a unique perspective that could lead to innovations that benefit both projects. While his departure from EF signals the end of one phase in his career, it could also lead to new opportunities for collaboration and growth in the blockchain space.
