The Ethereum (ETH) creator, Vitalik Buterin, has just donated $300,000 in cryptocurrency to three blockchain startups, CoinDesk reported.
The three projects receiving the 1,000 ETH grants are Prysmatic Labs, ChainSafe Systems and Sigma Prime.
All are projects working to build the blockchain network’s next iteration, Ethereum 2.0. Sigma Prime is building an ethereum 2.0 client called Lighthouse, Prysmatic Labs is working on ethereum scalability and ChainSafe is also building an ethereum 2.0 client.
That move came in response to a Twitter thread in which prominent members of the Ethereum community discussed ways in which the technology might be improved, with some citing inadequate funding as a reason for slow development.
Preston Van Loon, co-founder of Prysmatic Labs and a software engineer at Google, tweeted that, even with recent grants, “it’s hardly enough to take the whole team full time with significant pay cuts and it’s certainly not even for us to scale the team to where we need it.”
To that, Buterin replied:
“Just sent 1000 eth. Yolo (you only live once).”
The comments followed a tweet from founder of crypto investment firm Mythos Capital, Ryan Sean Adams, that cited “tough love” comments from VC investor Fred Wilson, and wrote that ethereum is “missing ship dates (and) are lacking basic operational leadership.”
CEO at SpankChain, Ameen Solaimani, replied in the thread, stating:
“Ethereum has taken its lead for granted for too long (2 years). Needs increased focus and urgency on scalability to reclaim its narrative. Move fast or die slow.”
The second donation was awarded to Sigma Prime, when co-founder Paul Hauner tweeted that his project has “been knocked back for a couple of grants recently. We can certainly turn 1k ETH into more developers!” Ethereum founder responded with another 1,000 ETH.
The third grant went to ChainSafe, after project lead Mikerah Quintyne-Collins tweeted:
“I will quite literally drop out if we got $100k in ETH.”
Buterin accepted the pledge and donated to the project, stating:
“I expect results!”
Prysmatic Labs and Sigma Prime have previously received donations from Ethereum Foundation. Prysmatic Labs was granted $500,000 in October and $100,000 in March, and Sigma Prime got $150,000 in October.
