CasperLabs raises $14.5 million to build a better Ethereum

CasperLabs, a startup attempting to crack the blockchain scalability problem, raised $14.5 million in a series A round to build a faster, safer, and more efficient proof-of-stake blockchain-a lot like Ethereum.

"I've been following and studying the crypto and blockchain space since its earliest days, and I've been waiting for a company that can build the strength and decentralized aspects of a public chain with the speed, security, and scalability of a next-gen platform," said Piezer.

Notably, CasperLabs intends to release the first concrete implementation of Casper as its own smart contract-enabled blockchain.

Ethereum's Casper upgrade is still a few years out while ETH 2.0 is getting closer, but as always, still just out of reach.

If this is indeed the case, then Ethereum may have yet another indirect competitor attempting to challenge its position on technological grounds.

The open-source research from CasperLabs may also get incorporated into Ethereum and expedite its development.

In February 2019, the startup brought on Vlad Zamfir, a researcher known for his scaling-related research for Ethereum and RChain.

He previously worked on Casper for Ethereum as early as December 2017.

CasperLabs comprises 28 employees, 21 of which are on the core software team as engineers, researchers, or developers.

Given the number of Ethereum contenders which tout better technology, the startup will have a lot of proving to do if it wants to gain traction from the crypto-mainstream.