Federico Carrone, a core developer of Ethereum, recently issued a warning that the increasing influence of the venture capital firm Paradigm on the Ethereum network could potentially pose a risk to the ecosystem. Carrone stated on social media that while Paradigm has created value for the community, as a profit and influence-driven venture fund, its goals may not align with the philosophy and political ideals of Ethereum.
Paradigm is gradually expanding its influence in the ecosystem by hiring key Ethereum researchers and funding crucial open-source libraries for Ethereum. The company recently collaborated with the fintech giant Stripe to incubate a competitive Layer-1 blockchain called Tempo, which is a network centered around stablecoins and payments, controlled substantially by Stripe, in stark contrast to the decentralized and open-source nature of Ethereum.