The first quarter in 2021 has been one of historic growth for CasperLabs. We’ve had consistent momentum with partners; our global footprint continues to grow; and, most significant of all, the Casper Network launched on mainnet.
To ensure CasperLabs can help to support a sustainable infrastructure as more organizations start building on the Casper Network, CasperLabs struck a series of strategic partnerships in recent months. In January, CasperLabs announced a partnership with DAO-builder Metis to accelerate development of decentralized applications, economies, and community-based projects. That was followed by several other key scaling partnerships, including one with China’s Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) to accelerate the adoption of the Casper Network among developers around the world.
CasperLabs also teamed up with Covalent to make on-chain data within the Casper Network more accessible to businesses and consumers globally, and joined BitGo in a commitment to provide secure asset custody to enterprises, developers, and users. In efforts to continue expansion, CasperLabs supported the launch of DEVxDAO, an independent DAO that supports the brightest minds and companies in Web3 and crypto.
CasperLabs has also supported some of the market’s most innovative blockchain use cases. In January, a case study was published outlining CasperLabs’ enterprise solution with patent technology provider IPwe to transform the way global patent registries are managed and stored. In February, CasperLabs announced a partnership with HeraSoft to enhance asset tracing and ownership on the Casper Network starting with gold-backed asset token Anthem Gold. CasperLabs also worked with PlasmaPay and PlasmaFinance to enable retail access to the Casper Network and provide wallet infrastructure to users.
In March, CasperLabs announced our partnership with ACDX to allow institutional users to predict and guard against gas prices in derivatives trading on the platform. A more predictable gas model also led to a partnership with BIGtoken, which is migrating its infrastructure to the Casper Network to introduce novel ways for users to monetize their data on the Casper Network.
As global interest surged, CasperLabs opened new offices in China and the United Arab Emirates to support this demand, welcoming Cathy Zhu as Managing Director of China and Saeed Hareb Al Darmaki as Managing Director of the Middle East and North Africa. CasperLabs has been humbled by the significant growth in the Chinese and MENA communities, and our new leadership members are eager to tap into the growing demand for Web3 solutions in these regions with our developer-friendly resources and tools.
The road to Mainnet continued this January when CasperLabs published the final Highway Consensus Protocol Paper, the most detailed technical overview of the Casper Network’s advanced proof-of-stake model which directly addresses the scalability and performance issues that have hindered broader blockchain adoption to date. That same month, CasperLabs also shared results of the Trail of Bits audit of Highway, which notably “did not produce high severity results and showed proper use of security hygiene.” Finally, on March 30, the Casper Mainnet went live with its genesis block.
Most recently, CasperLabs has launched a series of strategic initiatives focused on the growing non-fungible token (NFT) market. We’ve joined forces with Terra Virtua, which facilitates consumer NFT purchases through its digital marketplace, to offer users verified authentication of physical assets that they own or purchase using the Casper Network. CasperLabs will also build a secure, scalable, and environmentally friendly solution for buying and selling NFTs with WISeKey, a leading cybersecurity company who deploys large-scale digital identity ecosystems for people and objects using blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and IoT.
CasperLabs is incredibly humbled by Casper Network’s devoted community that has helped to make this early momentum possible, and we’re just getting started.
Thank you for making the first few months of 2021 so memorable. At CasperLabs, we look forward to what’s to come in Q2 and beyond while continuing to provide services and support for the growing global ecosystem that is gravitating to the Casper Network.
Keep up with what’s next by following along on our blog.
