Vlad Zamfir is joining a VC-backed startup racing to launch the Casper upgrade ahead of Ethereum | Constantinople: who, what, where, how?
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Vlad Zamfir is joining a VC-backed startup racing to launch the Casper upgrade ahead of Ethereum
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“Ethereum is a project that is already up and running. It’s always harder to upgrade like that; it’s like changing a car engine when it’s running, it’s a lot more complicated.” Casper Labs’ CEO, Mrinal Manohar
The Big Block
Vlad Zamfir, one of Ethereum’s lead researchers, is stepping back from the blockchain empire to collaborate with Casper Labs, an R&D startup building a “fully scalable blockchain”, The Block can confirm.
Casper Labs will be an indirect competitor to Ethereum as it endeavours to deliver the much-anticipated Casper protocol upgrade. Zamfir was leading a popular version of Casper (CBC) at Ethereum, helping the network to rely on stake rather than computing power to achieve consensus, as well as addressing scalability issues.
But while Ethereum’s deadline for the CBC upgrade is not for another few years, Casper Labs is focused on offering the upgrade as soon as possible – offering Zamfir a fresh, more focused platform.
“Ethereum is a project that is already up and running. It’s always harder to upgrade like that; it’s like changing a car engine when it’s running, it’s a lot more complicated,” Casper Labs’ CEO, Mrinal Manohar, told The Block. “Vlad just wants the world to switch to proof of stake. He’s still very supportive of Ethereum because they’re working on Casper [the protocol]. But we have a dev team that’s solely focused on accelerating it.”
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