Optimum: A high-performance blockchain memory solution based on RLNC, created by the MIT-Harvard elite team | Focus on ultra-early projects

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

In the wave of continuous development of blockchain infrastructure, Optimum has attracted the attention of top investors with its high-performance memory technology.

On February 28, the blockchain-focused high-performance memory infrastructure Optimum announced the completion of its angel round financing, with participation from several industry luminaries, including Polychain CTO Abhijeet Mahagaonkar, DeFiance Capital founder Arthur Cheong, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen, Wormhole co-founder Robinson Burkey, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.

The first tweet from Optimum's official X account was posted a month ago. Currently, the project has not publicly released a white paper or technical roadmap. Although the project is still in the ultra-early stage, the background of the founding team is already impressive: the NEC chair of the MIT Computer Science Department, the president of the Harvard Blockchain Association, and more. What potential lies hidden in this project filled with industry giants?

Founders' Background

The project was co-founded by Professor Muriel Médard, NEC chair of the MIT Computer Science Department, Dr. Kishori Konwar, and Kent Lin, president of the Harvard Blockchain Association.

Professor Muriel Médard is the inventor of Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) technology and is an academician of the engineering and science academies of the United States and Germany.

She completed an interdisciplinary elite education at MIT, earning bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, mathematics, and humanities, and continued her studies to obtain a master's and a Ph.D. As a pioneer in technological innovation, Muriel holds over 60 U.S. and international patents, most of which have been successfully authorized or put into application.

As a technology pioneer straddling academia and industry, Muriel Médard's research has not only transformed traditional communication methods but also laid an important foundation for the development of next-generation encrypted networks.

Kent Lin holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and has studied for an MBA at Harvard University, making him a standout at the intersection of technology and business. He serves as the president of the Harvard Blockchain Association, is fluent in Chinese, English, and Hokkien, and has a working knowledge of German.

Kent's career has focused on venture capital, liquidity investment, crypto research, strategic partnerships, and business development, particularly accumulating rich experience in startup financing, expansion, and corporate venture capital.

Kent Lin quickly rose to prominence at Plug and Play Tech Center, advancing from the head of corporate partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region to the regional head. He has also served as a partner at GSRV, the cryptocurrency investment division of GSR Ventures. GSR Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that has managed 11 flagship funds with a total capital exceeding $4 billion since 2004.

Dr. Kishori Konwar is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the project. He is a postdoctoral researcher in network coding at MIT and has previously worked as a senior engineer and scientist at Meta and as a quantitative analyst at Goldman Sachs. Kishori Konwar has a deep technical background in distributed systems, coding theory, and artificial intelligence.

Project Overview

In today's rapidly developing blockchain technology landscape, scalability bottlenecks remain a key challenge hindering industry progress. Optimum emerges as the first high-performance memory infrastructure applicable to any blockchain, aiming to achieve fast data propagation, efficient storage, and real-time access.

Optimum provides high-performance memory infrastructure for L1/L2 blockchains and node operators, including a P2P data communication layer and a decentralized memory layer (deRAM).

Technical Foundation RLNC

Optimum's core technology is based on Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), a cutting-edge technology widely used in 5G, IoT, and satellite communications. RLNC will significantly enhance network speed, throughput, and decentralization, thereby improving dApp performance and user experience.

This technology is based on 15 years of research results from MIT's Network Coding and Reliable Communication Institute. By converting data into encoded fragments, it allows nodes to efficiently recover information from partial data rather than relying on complete data reception.

Optimum provides RLNC-based high-performance memory infrastructure for any L1/L2 blockchain and node operators, with two core components:

• P2P Data Communication Layer: Optimizes data transmission between nodes, significantly enhancing network efficiency.
• Decentralized Memory Layer (deRAM): Provides efficient, real-time memory access capabilities for the blockchain ecosystem.

Optimum's technology not only addresses the scalability issues of blockchain but also brings multiple benefits to the entire ecosystem:

• For L1/L2 blockchains: Reduces bandwidth consumption and enhances overall performance through faster block propagation and optimized storage mechanisms.
• For validators: Accelerates data propagation, reduces operational costs, while increasing staking APY and MEV income.
• For dApp developers: Improves transaction relaying and prioritization, providing robust support for latency, throughput, and cost-sensitive applications.
• For end users: Speeds up transaction times and enhances interface responsiveness, creating a smooth and seamless blockchain interaction experience.

Optimum offers a new solution through RLNC technology and high-performance memory infrastructure. In March, Optimum's private testnet will be open to L1/L2 blockchains and validators, serving as an initial validation of its technical solution.

In the future, whether Optimum's technical solution can play a role in a broader ecosystem remains to be seen.

(This article only introduces an early-stage project and does not constitute investment advice.)