Liam Horne

Projects

Optimism is a protocol for scaling the ethereum protocol without compromising on security or decentralization. Combining research from several teams over ~3 years, rollups are a means of doing off-chain computation with periodic on-chain state commitments that can be “double-checked” by any honest verifier at a future date, and “slashed” if a fault proof can be provided to the blockchain. Read why I started working on Optimism here, became CEO of OP Labs here, and transitioned into an advisory role here.

ETHGlobal is the most valuable developer community in the Ethereum ecosystem to be a part of. Over the last 4 years we have welcomed over 30,000 hackers from across the world to hack on bleeding-edge blockchain projects, Web3 applications, and cryptoeconomic research. Events have been held in Waterloo, Denver, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Bangalore, Singapore, San Francisco, and more. In addition to in-person hackathons, ETHGlobal has ran over 20 virtual events and produces thousands of hours of education online content, supported the launch of hackathon projects that have collectively raised over $250M and distributed over $7M in prizes.

L4 is a small team building Web 3: a decentralized web that removes middlemen and incentivizes users to contribute. We’ve done research on blockchain scalability, launched open source projects, contributed heavily to the Ethereum Foundation, and launched large ecosystem support funds in the industry, investing in companies like OpenSea, Celer, Ramp Network, and others.

Ether Capital provides public market exposure to the Ethereum and Web 3 ecosystem. We make large investments in these ecosystems, attract institutional investors, and push forward the narrative for blockchain based financial systems to the traditional world of banking finance.

Terminal helps companies create world-class technical teams through “Remote Operations as a Service” — we help global companies recruit great teams, provide them end-to-end ops support (e.g., payroll, office space, etc), and offer workspace development, human resources support, and professional learning and development for every member.

PiinPoint is a fast, intuitive, and affordable platform to help businesses find the best locations for expansion. Over the last 5 years we have powered large retail and real estate organizations like Tim Hortons, Colliers, H&R Block, and Cushman & Wakefield.

Hack the North is the world’s biggest collegiate hackathon. We bring thousands of students from around the world to Waterloo to collaborate and create something extraordinary in 36 hours. Exceptional people have been guest speakers such as: Vinod Khosla, Justin Trudeau, Sam Altman, Jack Dorsey, and Chamath Palihapitiya (twice).

State Channels is a blockchain application framework that supports zero-fee state transitions on Ethereum with instant finality between finite groups of parties. We introduced the concept of generalized state channels in 2017 at L4. Our work is the combined effort of L4, Magmo, and Prototypal.