This article comes fromThe Block, original author: Ryan Weeks
Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang
Summary:
This article comes from
, original author: Ryan Weeks
Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang
secondary title
Summary:
- Fuel Labs completes $80 million in financing, led by Blockchain Capital and Stratos Technologies.- The startup wants to provide the best developer experience in blockchain with its "modular execution layer".。
Fuel Labs, a startup aiming to speed up crypto transactions, announced it has raised $80 million, backing some of the biggest investors in the space.
The startup did not disclose further details of the financing, such as its valuation for the project, or the structure of the deal. A spokesperson for the company said Fuel Labs does not have a headquarters. Last September, CoinFund led a $1.5 million funding round in Fuel.
Fuel Labs’ latest funding round comes as the race to back crypto projects heats up. New Layer 1 blockchains—challengers to mainstream public chains like Ethereum—are attracting significant investment, promising greater efficiency and reliability. For example,
Fuel Labs offers a different approach to address blockchain-perceived problems. It is envisioned as a Layer 2 scaling technology and will be the first Optimistic Rollup to launch on ethereum in late 2020, according to Tuesday's announcement.blog postNow, more than 60 engineers are working on this project. Fuel defines itself as a "modular execution layer" (MEL) - comparable to Layer 2 protocols such as Polygon, but with subtle differences. Fuel hopes to provide smoother execution without sacrificing the security and decentralization advantages of Ethereum.
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blog post
, Fuel Labs announced the transition to MEL. In the paper, it defines MEL as "a verifiable computing system designed for a modular blockchain stack." The post criticized Ethereum scaling tools like Optimistic and zero-knowledge (ZK) rollups because, while they offer some cost savings to crypto users, “throughput increases are modest at best.”
"The main difference between 'Layer 2' and 'Modular Execution Layer' is context." said Arnold Toh, an analyst at The Block Research. "In the current state of blockchain development, almost all Layer 2 projects are Modular execution layer. However, not all modular execution layers can be called "Layer 2".'” He cited StarkNet’s
The so-called "Layer 3"
As an example, in this scenario, StarkNet will serve as the settlement layer of MEL.
"That's why I think the number of layers is arbitrary. It will define a layer more clearly by the project's responsibilities and stakeholders," Toh added.
