Why We Invested in Aleph Zero

block54.capital
4 min readMar 4, 2022

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What’s Going On With Block54

After a couple of years of investing in amazing projects without making a big splash ourselves, we will play with operating slightly out of the shadows in 2022.

As such, we will begin a series of posts about our recent investments and why we believe they are aligned with the fund’s strategy and approach to all things web3.

We believe the future is multichain. We also believe that, in the grand scheme of things, we are all early and the pieces of the puzzle are nowhere near even being all out on the board yet.

These are pretty fun times in web3. L1s building their own ecosystems; L2s coming out of the gates to further enhance the ETH ecosystem; all types of bridges popping out all over the place. A lot of energy is being spent on making all types of experiences seamless and user-centric.

We’re not far from people using crypto not knowing they’re using crypto, having fun on their phones while things are happening for them simultaneously on multiple chains. We’re early — but we’re not far.

Different L1s are here to stay, with the best ones having a unique chance of being a crucial building block of the future. Having invested in awesome leaders in the field before, we were on the lookout for the next big thing.

With Aleph Zero, we’re convinced we’ve found one.

Why We’re Excited About Investing In Aleph Zero

Much has been said about the project over the last year — and it’s in no small part thanks to the awesome community they managed to create, as well as their own super high standards of communications. Lots of good content out there already — and for all the right reasons.

From the point of view of our investment thesis, these are the key points that matter to us:

  • In the end, this space belongs to the builders. Buzzwords come and go, hype is as controllable as the weather, lots of flavours of the week and heroes of the hour. We get it, it’s all part of the dance we all dance. But it is the builders, the grinders, the dreamers and the visionaries who, collectively, push the space forward and bring us ever closer to the bold future we all envision. We believe that Aleph Zero is right at the forefront of that group. Their world class team has been hard at work since 2018. That’s eons in web3. Matthew, Adam, Antoni, Michal and dozens of others are really good at what they do. A lot of people still do not fully appreciate just how big and committed their team is. With an unprecedented number of PhDs as well as other cryptographic big brains onboard, they are destined for great things — and we are more than happy to be a part of that journey with them.
  • Their peer-reviewed DAG with unique architecture combining L1 and L2 structure elements lets them offer an array of world class solutions to the existing pain points of the industry. This approach enables the team to take on challenges of scalability, security, privacy, but also speed and cost, all in very effective, and potentially revolutionary, ways. This type of thinking — and executing — is exactly what the industry needs to tackle the limiting issues one by one, and thus getting us all closer to the future we know is waiting.
  • Take Liminal. It’s their multichain privacy layer built into a scalable infrastructure. The privacy-enhancing stack is based on the combination of ZK-Proofs + sMPC, and will be compatible with all the major chains such as Ethereum, BSC, Cosmos, Kusama, and others. Read more here. It’s a pretty powerful, privacy-centric framework that we believe to be the most competitive on the market — and we already know of some top notch teams looking to build on it. That alone would be enough of a reason to seriously consider partnering with the team — and with the guys and girls over at Aleph Zero, it’s just “one of the things they put together”. Unbelievable stuff.
  • Speaking of privacy — it’s at the absolute core of all they build. This is a hugely relevant point. With much-needed regulatory efforts on one side, and the still-nascent blockchain technology on the other, it’s important to strike the right balance and walk the line properly. GDPR says blockchains should be “privacy-preserving by design,” meaning developers must consider user privacy while designing and developing crypto platforms, as well as crypto-based products and services. That’s exactly where we believe Aleph Zero is leading the field.
  • And last, but not least — the community and how amazingly they manage it. Ever since the start, this hasn’t been the project to look for cheap hype points and cutting corners. They’re putting in the work — and it makes people rally around the project and create one of the most vibrant communities in the space. Their Twitter is a joy to read, the lists of their ambassadors goes on and on, their blog is a trove of knowledge — you get the picture. Everything that you would think a successful crypto project should be doing on the communication front — they’re doing it, and they’re doing it really well. The future’s bright.

Aleph Zero have a unique approach, they’re hard-working, they’re really good at what they do and they deliver.

Bring on 2022 and beyond — and watch out for the relentless progress these guys will make.

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block54.capital
block54.capital

Written by block54.capital

we are a web3 investment fund. The best way to own the future is to build it. Get in touch.

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