Ethereum creator Federico Carrone says the growing influence of corporations like Paradigm on the network could pose an “ultimate risk” to the Ethereum ecosystem.
In Sunday’s post, Ethereum’s lead developer, who calls himself “Fede intern” on X, he argued that while Paradigm has “created things of value to the community,” it worries about the growing influence of a venture fund whose ultimate goals are profits and influence.
“I have been saying for the last two years that @paradigm’s impact on Ethereum could become a significant risk to the ecosystem. I believe this will become increasingly clear to everyone in the coming months.”
Carrone added that while Paradigm’s hiring of key Ethereum researchers and funding of open source libraries that are “critical to Ethereum” looks good on the surface, it is not a solution for those who believe Ethereum should represent a “philosophical and political” movement that is “bigger than any corporation.”
Over the years, Paradigm has created a series of Ethereum games, including the Rust-based Ethereum Reth development software.
One of its latest significant investments involves the incubation of rival Layer 1 blockchain, Tempo, in partnership with fintech giant Stripe.
Pace is still in the works and will be a stablecoin and L1 focused on payments, with Stripe essentially controlling the network. Its ethos stands in stark contrast to Ethereum’s decentralized and open nature, given that it will be a corporate-controlled network.
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Ultimately, Carrone’s concerns center around the different goals of decentralized and centralized entities and the dangers of allowing any type of fund – not just Paradigm – to have too much influence on the Ethereum ecosystem.
“Ethereum should be especially careful about developing a deep technical dependence on a fund that plays its cards in a very strategic way.”
“When corporations gain too much visibility and influence over open source projects, priorities begin to shift away from the long-term vision of the community towards corporate incentives. This is where the divergence begins.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Paradigm for comment but had not received a response as of this writing.
Paradigm crypto ventures
Paradigm is a cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence investment firm founded in 2018 by former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam.
Paradigm has invested broadly across the market, covering everything from DeFi and NFTs to blockchain security, infrastructure and startups.
Paradigm made its first Tempo announcement in September scratched its goal was to accelerate cryptocurrency technology and adoption through “a combination of investing, building and research.”
“It helps us understand friction points and opportunities and keeps us close to the edge of what is possible,” the announcement reads.
Apart from purely financial games, has made several moves that show mighty confidence in the crypto community. It filed an amicus brief in support of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm and hired respected blockchain detective ZachXBT as an advisor to fund research and lend a hand protect its VC companies.
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