Get ready for the next wave! Chainlink hires former BitGo CTO to build second-layer scaling solution.
The former CTO of BitGo, a cryptocurrency custody service provider, Ben Chan, has joined Chainlink Labs with the primary goal of assisting the protocol in building a second-layer scaling solution to address the high transaction fees issue faced during Ethereum congestion.
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Chainlink Appoints Former BitGo CTO
Decentralized oracle protocol Chainlink announced on October 17th that it has appointed Ben Chan, former Chief Technology Officer of digital asset custody provider BitGo, as the Vice President of Engineering at Chainlink Labs. Ben Chan's primary task at Chainlink will be to assist in building a Layer 2 scaling infrastructure for Chainlink's decentralized oracle network, aiming to reduce operating costs for node operators and prepare for the widespread adoption of DeFi.
Ben Chan, former BitGo CTO & WBTC architect, has joined #Chainlink Labs as VP of Engineering. He will enable the engineering team to scale the Chainlink Network's security. Learn more about @bencxr & his role in the recent fireside chat with @SergeyNazarov.https://t.co/9yNqEewwLw
— Chainlink (@chainlink) October 16, 2020
In an interview, Ben Chan stated:
"I am excited to be working at Chainlink and thrilled to be contributing to the development of decentralized oracles. The scalability, security, and reliable data infrastructure of DeFi will be the next foundation for unlocking the future of smart contracts."
As the most mature oracle in the market currently, Chainlink enjoys a high adoption rate within the industry. According to data from Coingecko, Chainlink's adoption in the DeFi space is as high as 31.3%, including platforms like derivatives trading platform Synthetix and stablecoin protocol Ampleforth. In a recent Chainlink YouTube interview, Ben Chan mentioned:
"In my opinion, Chainlink is going through an amazing phase. As the trusted data infrastructure for DeFi, Chainlink's adoption has seen tremendous growth. But what excites me even more is the greater potential of decentralized oracles in other industries and use cases."
Layer 2 Scaling Solution – Threshold Signatures
However, despite Chainlink's high adoption rate in the industry, the protocol still faces unresolved issues. As reported earlier, Chainlink's data aggregation process, being entirely on-chain, requires significant Gas fees. Soravis Srinawakoon, CEO of Band, stated in an interview:
"If you've been following Chainlink, you'll notice that executing a data request can now cost almost $450. Assuming a user submits a data request, 20 data providers would need to receive the request, and each of these 20 providers would need to initiate transactions to respond, ultimately calculated by the aggregation contract and submitted to the user, all of which incur significant Gas costs."
The imminent second-layer expansion solution for Chainlink, and the primary reason for Ben Chan's appointment, is the implementation of Threshold Signatures. This solution aims to allow nodes to achieve consensus on final data securely, efficiently, and at a lower cost off-chain, thereby reducing interaction costs with Ethereum.
Although the congestion and high fees on the Ethereum chain have temporarily eased due to the cooling of the DeFi craze, the next wave of excitement may push the network to its limits once again. This will pose a significant challenge to Chainlink's operational efficiency and customer usage costs. The implementation of Threshold Signatures is crucial and imminent for Chainlink.