Paradigm CTO launches $20M Ithaca project to revolutionize layer 2 networks

Crypto venture capital firm Paradigm announced the launch of the Ithaca project, which is backed by $20M. Matt Huang, co-founder of Paradigm, will assume the role of chairman at Ithaca, which is considered a portfolio company of Paradigm.

Ithaca launches Odyssey, a next-gen Layer-2 Network 

Ithaca is developing Odyssey, a new layer-2 network dubbed the blockchain “from the future.” They are implementing Reth, OP Stack, and Conduit to deliver scalability and stability. Ithaca ensures a smooth user experience for users who have no deep understanding of complex processes, such as setting up custom RPC or bridging ETH.

The Odyssey testnet is a forerunner to Ithaca’s main event. Its architecture features powerful EIPs to ensure great performance using the Reth SDK. This creates a road towards an open-source network that will draw more developers and contributors to the ecosystem, resulting in faster innovation in decentralized applications. Paradigm’s CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos commented on this development:

Think of Ithaca as the company that is building the full stack of products and tools that developers need to ship faster and that consumers need to have less and less friction.

~Konstantopoulos

Ithaca joins Paradigm’s portfolio with Odyssey

Ithaca will operate independently of Paradigm and will join Uniswap, Coinbase, and Flashbots as a portfolio firm in Paradigm’s records. According to Konstantopoulos, Ithaca and Odyssey are part of Paradigm’s ongoing development work to make “Crypto go faster.”

Konstantopoulos continues to say that Odyssey is different from other layer-2s. He notes that Ithaca’s L2 carries multiple features from the future of the Ethereum roadmap that hasn’t been built yet by any other team.

Layer 2 networks are created on top of Layer 1 blockchains to improve scalability, which is a network’s ability to accommodate an increasing number of transactions while maintaining speed and cost-effectiveness. Popular Layer 2 alternatives include the Ethereum-based Polygon and the Bitcoin-based Lightning Network.

Konstantopoulos stated that while Paradigm would continue to build and do research, the formation of a new firm, such as Ithaca, should not be interpreted as a sign of future developments.