Mar 7, 2025

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Unto Aims to Improve Solana’s Performance by Tenfold

Liam Heeger, previously a core engineer for Firedancer, announced the creation of a new layer-1 blockchain named Unto after leaving Jump. Shortly thereafter, Jump sued Heeger for violating his non-compete agreement, but the case was settled in February.

Key points about Unto include:

• Unto aims to significantly improve performance compared to Solana.
• The virtual machine design will avoid rapid design pivots made by Solana.
• The startup raised $2.5 million in seed funding at a $50 million valuation.
• Consensus mechanism will not use traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake; instead, it will rely on a globally distributed validator set.
• Heeger noted issues with existing proof-of-stake networks, emphasizing the need for competitive block production.
• Focus is on hiring engineers and developing its virtual machine rather than media outreach.

Heeger stressed that there are no guarantees on performance improvements but emphasized the goal is to ship functional products.