Dankrad Feist, a prominent developer and researcher with the Ethereum Foundation, shared on Friday that he will be joining Tempo, a layer-1 blockchain designed for payments and stablecoins being developed by Stripe in collaboration with Paradigm.

Feist mentioned that he intends to continue his role as a research adviser at the Ethereum Foundation, aiding in the scaling of the layer-1 network and enhancing user experience (UX). He also referenced ‘blobs’, a feature of Ethereum that helps manage blockspace by temporarily storing data. He stated:

“Tempo’s open-source technology can easily integrate back into Ethereum, benefiting the entire ecosystem. Ethereum and Tempo are strongly aligned, as they are built with the same permissionless ideals in mind.
I am looking forward to staying involved with the community and continuing to push Ethereum forward.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Feist but did not receive a reply by the time of this publication.

Responses from the Ethereum community were mixed; while some expressed support, others perceived Feist’s move as a possible loss of a significant contributor at a critical moment of transformation for the ecosystem.

Crypto Community Divided Over Stripe’s Tempo Blockchain

The crypto sector remains divided regarding the necessity of a specialized stablecoin blockchain focused on payments. Joe Petrich, Courtyard’s engineering lead, expressed:

“No one wants another chain.”

He highlighted that there is “no need for yet another chain” in response to the announcement by Stripe’s CEO, Patrick Collison.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Devansh Mehta also voiced his concerns, questioning the decision to release Tempo as a dedicated blockchain rather than enhancing it as an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution. He remarked that such app-specific layer-1 chains often grapple with centralization issues and may encounter heightened legal liabilities.

These discussions occur amidst rising tension between Ethereum and various layer-2 solutions, which some argue are undermining Ethereum’s base layer revenue and contributing to downward pressure on the Ether’s price, despite attracting user traffic to the ecosystem.