On October 12, 2022 through a Medium post, Offchain Labs made an announcement of the acquisition of a leading Ethereum Consensus Client team, Prysmatic Labs. This acquisition will merge L1 and L2 together.
Know This First
Ethereum’s recent transition from proof-of-work to proof-of stake was successful, at where Prysmatic Labs’s core development teams architected the Merge and built Prysm, the leading Ethereum consensus client that right now powe Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus.
Prysm is one of the biggest clients of Ethereum to date and is popular among Ethereum node runners. It has been working on proof-of-stake since early 2018 and is currently leading research in sharding, MEV management, and more. Prysmatic Labs is a core development team whereas Prysm is a core part of the fabric of Ethereum.
L1 and L2 Team-up
It can be said that the future of Ethereum depends on Layer-1 for consensus and data availability, and Layer-2 for execution and scalability. Because it not only requires greater communication between teams developing on both layers, but more direct collaboration as well.
Offchain Labs mentioned some reasons why Prysmatic Labs chose its development team. It added its passion for developing cutting-edge technology, ability to set industry standards with best-in-class products, and shared commitment to scaling Ethereum.
Ethereum Protocol Developer’s Talk
Raul Jordan, Co-Lead Ethereum Protocol Developer at Prysmatic Labs, mentioned in the Medium post that “Our mission from day one was to scale Ethereum and make it an impactful technology for the world. Merging with Offchain Labs made perfect sense to us as an Ethereum team because: (1) we develop software extensively in Go, (2) are fully incentive-aligned with the success of Ethereum, and (3) are focused on shipping quality software for others to use. We have been inspired by Arbitrum’s organic growth and the versatility of the Offchain team to adapt to technology that is both practical and innovative.”
Jordan further said that both companies truly appreciate their work, and are extra motivated to build a unified team stronger than the sum of its parts.
Preston Van Loon, Co-founder, Ethereum Protocol Developer at Prysmatic Labs, also added that “I am thrilled for Prysmatic Labs to join efforts with Offchain Labs. These two world class teams are value aligned in their work to scale Ethereum and a close collaboration between Layer 1 and Layer 2 can allow for these technologies to iterate and deliver faster. Scaling Ethereum is more important than ever and this merger will help Ethereum further its impact globally. We are so excited for what’s to come!”
Although, Steven Goldfeder, Co-founder and CEO at Offchain Labs expressed as “Prysmatic Labs possesses an incredibly talented team of engineers, and their dedication to the Ethereum community shows via their best-in-class product that is used broadly in the Ethereum ecosystem. We are looking forward to the integration of the Prysmatic Labs team as we work together to scale Ethereum.”
Lastly, Offchain Labs added that there are several other joint initiatives that it plans to work on together, and to promote both L1 and L2 development.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/10/13/the-merge-2-0-offchain-labs-acquires-prysmatic-labs/