BitMine, Sharplink, Joe Lubin Back New Ethereum Research and Development Lab

Ethlabs, a new non-profit research and development organization founded by former Ethereum Foundation researchers, aims to better prepare the network and its native token for institutional adoption. 

The effort is being funded by the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury firms, BitMine Immersion Technologies and Sharplink, as well as Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin.

More than 50 other ecosystem contributors are listed as community supporters, including those from layer-2 networks, venture capital, and decentralized projects on Ethereum. (Disclaimer: Lubin, through Consensys, and Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee are investors in Dastan, the parent company of Decrypt). 

“The core belief: This is a unique moment for Ethereum. Adoption is here, the global economy is moving on-chain,” Ethlabs Executive Director and co-founder Ansgar Dietrichs posted on X. “We want to help Ethereum realize its potential and become the shared global settlement layer.”

The lab’s launch comes one week after Ethereum Foundation co-director Hsiao-Wei Wang left her post, continuing the trend of exits from the foundation chiefly responsible for promoting the network’s success and future.

That future now has a new player, one that says its mission is “to make Ethereum the settlement layer of the global economy.”

“We believe Ethereum is positioned to grow significantly in adoption by institutions and by AI agents. And naturally, the ecosystem needs to dramatically expand its investment in talent and research to support this growth,” said Lee in a statement. 

“The formation of Ethlabs demonstrates that key stakeholders are stepping up to help ensure Ethereum remains a leading platform for decentralized finance.” 

The lab’s founding researchers previously contributed to efforts in finality, scaling, protocol economics, among other things, but its initial focus will be on getting institutions operating on-chain at scale. 

“We sit between two worlds: real usage from the builders at the frontier, and the protocol that has to support it,” the organization posted on X, adding that it works with users and developers to “turn what they actually need,” into standards and products. 

Ethereum advocates have long criticized the Ethereum Foundation over its long-term vision and stewardship of the network. 

Last month, Ethereum researcher Dankrand Fiest, who left his post at the Ethereum Foundation for a role with Stripe’s stablecoin network Tempo, suggested a new group could “save Ethereum” if it economically aligned itself with the network and its native token, ETH. 

Precise funding details for Ethlabs were not disclosed. The organization’s funders will not have influence over the research agenda, according to the organization’s announcement. 

The price of Ethereum has not reflected the optimism among crypto participants amid the news, jumping 0.1% in the last 24 hours. The second-largest crypto asset was recently changing hands around $1,732, down more than 16% in the last month and now 65% from its all-time high of $4,946. 

A representative for Ethlabs did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.