The innovative project blends elements from Ethereum, Solana, and more to enhance blockchain scalability.
Eclipse Labs, a forward-thinking startup, has successfully garnered $50 million in funding as it gears up for the launch of its mainnet, expected to happen in the coming weeks. This platform aims to enhance Ethereum's scalability by incorporating technology from various blockchains including Solana.
During a recent conversation, CEO Neel Somani kept the valuation of his two-year venture under wraps. It's worth noting that Eclipse Labs' valuation hit the nine-figure range in its last funding round in September 2022.
This influx of funds equips Eclipse Labs with the resources to recruit talent in key areas such as growth, HR, and research, as it stands on the cusp of unveiling its mainnet to the developer community. We have reason to believe that the platform's launch is imminent.
Eclipse Labs is setting its sights on a scalable solution that leverages the best of both worlds: Solana's speed and Ethereum's security, along with technology from Celestia and RISC Zero. The platform aims to make it seamless for applications designed for Solana to transition to Eclipse, with SOL poised to be the primary token.
Neel Somani envisions mutual benefits for both the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems through Eclipse's introduction.
He stated, “From an ETH perspective, this is an important way for Ethereum to scale. For Solana, we’re bringing more people into the Solana Virtual Machine,” or SVM, which is crucial for running Solana-based DeFi protocols.
Eclipse plans to adopt a similar approach, enabling easy portability for Ethereum-based protocols to its platform. Notably, significant Solana protocols, such as the lending platform Solend, have expressed intentions to establish a presence on Eclipse upon its debut.
Rooter, a developer behind Solend, views this development positively, remarking, “It’s a good bet, in my opinion.”
Somani clarified that the mainnet's initial phase would be developer-focused, suggesting that user-friendly bridges for easy asset transfers into the ecosystem might not be available from the get-go.
Despite this, the crypto community's enthusiasm remains high, as seen in instances like Coinbase’s Base blockchain, which saw substantial inflows even before its official launch, driven by traders eager to engage with new Ethereum layer 2 opportunities.
Regarding the governance of Eclipse, Somani shared plans for a gradual shift towards a decentralized model, entrusting significant decisions to the community. While he remained non-committal on the topic of a token airdrop, he acknowledged the role of tokens in facilitating decentralized governance within crypto projects.