CasperLabs confirms Vlad Zamfir as lead architect

Ethereum • February 22, 2019, 4:00PM EST
UPDATED: February 22, 2019, 12:07PM EST
The Block

R&D start-up CasperLabs has finalised its contract with Vlad Zamfir, who will support the protocol developer in building a new decentralized Proof of Stake blockchain, the firm announced Friday - confirming last month's report by The Block.

Zamfir is well known as Ethereum’s star researcher, but said in a statement this week that he was "not sure if the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain communities are going to be able to upgrade their protocols," leading him to accept the role of Lead Consensus Protocol Architect at CasperLabs - aptly-named after the protocol itself. He added that he would continue his governance work with Ethereum.

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Last month, Mrinal Manohar, co-founder of the CasperLabs, told The Block it has oral confirmation of $20 million in funding led by Galaxy and that it would be an indirect competitor to Ethereum by offering mass scalability. They also confirmed Zamfir would receive a "multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment" to sponsor his research into the CBC Casper upgrade, which the firm is focused on offering as soon as possible.

Zamfir proposed the Casper upgrade in August 2015 for Ethereum.

About Author

Isabel is The Block's London and European reporter. She previously reported for Reuters in Madrid and London, following on from her time as a freelance journalist for the Guardian and the New York Times. She has a Bachelors in War Studies from King’s College London and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Oxford. Conflict of Interest: Edward Woodford, the CEO of SeedCX, is Isabel's brother. She does not report on any issues related to Seed or advise other authors in any regard.

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