Optimum Blockchain Transmission Layer mump2p launched on the Ethereum mainnet, ether.fi requires all nodes to adopt

A network startup company called Optimum, led by Professor Muriel Médard from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced that its block propagation software mump2p has officially launched on the Ethereum mainnet. The Ethereum liquid staking protocol ether.fi has made mump2p a mandatory requirement for all 12 of its node operators, whereas previously the software was optional for its operators.

Optimum stated that there are currently 16 node operators running mump2p in production environments, collectively managing approximately 22,000 validator keys and over 1.4 million staked ETH, accounting for more than 3% of the total staked amount on Ethereum. Partners include Blockdaemon, Everstake, P2P.org, Stakefish, and Bitcoin Suisse. The software operates in a sidecar gateway manner, not replacing Ethereum's default GossipSub, but rather overlaying it on top of libp2p and utilizing random linear network coding technology. Optimum claims that the block arrival speed is 2.42 times faster than GossipSub, with an approximately 7.88 times reduction in arrival time variance.

Rok Kopp, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of ether.fi, stated that they will not require the entire validator set to adopt a new infrastructure unless they are confident that it can enhance the overall level of stakers and the network. Médard mentioned that traditional financial institutions invest billions of dollars to shorten execution times to the millisecond level because speed is money. Optimum launched its private testnet in June 2025, having previously completed a $11 million seed round financing led by 1kx, and plans to expand the protocol to other high-throughput blockchains after Ethereum.