Taiko’s Mainnet Launch: $15M Boost for Ethereum L2 Development

Ethereum scaling solution Taiko is revving its engines with a fresh $15 million funding round as it preps for its much-anticipated mainnet launch. This news comes just nine months after the project secured $22 million in two separate funding rounds.

Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital co-led the Series A round, with participation from Wintermute Ventures, Flow Traders, Amber Group, OKX Ventures, and GSR. While the announcement suggests the round might not be fully closed, details regarding structure (equity, token, or mix) and valuation remain undisclosed.

Co-founder Terence Lam declined to comment on specifics but confirmed all three funding rounds share the same structure. Taiko launched its sixth testnet, Katla, in January, boasting over 1.1 million wallet addresses and 13 million transactions to date. Built on the “based contestable rollup” design, Katla features a contestation mechanism and “based sequencing”.

But what exactly is Taiko?

It’s a Layer 2 scaling solution aiming to make Ethereum transactions cheaper while preserving the core blockchain’s security, censorship resistance, and permissionless nature. Taiko is building a “Type 1” ZK-EVM, a special type of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible ZK-rollup that leverages zero-knowledge proofs for efficient transaction processing.

As Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin himself stated in 2022, “Type 1 ZK-EVMs strive to be fully and uncompromisingly Ethereum-equivalent. They do not change any part of the Ethereum system to make it easier to generate proofs. Type 1 ZK-EVMs are what we ultimately need to make the Ethereum Layer 1 itself more scalable.”

Taiko’s initial mainnet launch target was Q1 2024. While details are still under wraps, Lam hinted at potential delays due to the need for Katla testnet upgrades to support EIP-4844 (a key Ethereum scaling improvement proposal) and additional security audits. With an expected completion before the end of Q2 2024, Taiko is also looking to expand its team across engineering, community, and ecosystem development roles.

Furthermore, Taiko plans to collaborate with its investors to establish an ecosystem investment fund, though the specific amount remains undecided. This initiative follows Taiko’s December 2023 announcement of a $30 million allocation for its second grants program, aiming to nurture a vibrant developer and user base within its ecosystem.

With a growing team, a well-funded war chest, and a focus on developer-friendly solutions, Taiko positions itself as a potential frontrunner in the Ethereum Layer 2 scaling race. Whether it can successfully navigate the technical challenges and establish a robust ecosystem remains to be seen. However, Taiko’s recent funding round and development milestones suggest they’re gearing up to play a significant role in Ethereum’s future.