Ethereum Researcher Dankrad Feist Joins Stripe-backed Tempo Project

Dankrad Feist, a prominent researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, is joining Tempo, a Layer-1 blockchain backed by Stripe and Paradigm.

Feist, who joined the Ethereum Foundation in 2018, is one of the most prominent developers and researchers at the nonprofit aimed at bolstering development of the Ethereum blockchain. The developer announced his move to join Tempo on Friday, Oct. 17.

In a post on X, the co-creator of Danksharding said his goal is to contribute to the growing traction and adoption of crypto payments. Stripe-backed Tempo, which launched in September 2025 and focuses on stablecoin transactions, offers the next step to achieve this.

Feist became a full-time researcher at the EF in 2019 and has been part of the journey that has seen the entity become a crucial player in the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem.

As well as Danksharding, he was instrumental in pioneering PeerDAS, a scaling milestone set to go live with the upcoming Fusaka upgrade.

“I have dedicated the past several years to architecting and scaling blockchains, and I’m excited to leverage my learnings together with the very strong team being assembled at Tempo,” he added.

While he plans to dedicate his efforts to help grow Tempo, Feist says he will remain a research advisor at the EF. The areas he will continue to champion as part of the EF’s strategy and roadmap include L1 scaling, blobs, and UX. His contribution will be via the Protocol Cluster.

Feist and Justin Drake, a colleague at the EF, hit crypto headlines in 2024 when their move to join EigenLayer as advisors drew criticism amid accusations of a conflict of interest. The controversy saw both Feist and Drake exit the new positions at the platform.

Commenting on the latest move, he said:

“Ethereum and Tempo are strongly aligned, as they are built with the same permissionless ideals in mind. I am looking forward to staying involved with the community and continuing to push Ethereum forward.”