Gavin Wood Steps Down as CEO of Parity Tech While Retaining the Chief Architect Position

Gavin Wood, founder of Polkadot and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Parity technologies has officially resigned as CEO of Parity.

According to news reports from Parity, Wood will continue to be a major stakeholder and chief architect but will give up his role as CEO. The next CEO will be Parity co-founder Bjorn Wagner.

Wood’s decision to step down as the CEO comes from his need to find eternal happiness and also have enough time for the things he enjoys doing such as coding, designing, creating ideas, and working on Polkadot token (DOT) so as to deliver value toward fulfilling the company’s mission.

“My retained efforts will be geared toward ensuring that Polkadot and Web3 become available to a large amount of the population,” says Wood, adding that he believes the first step in doing this will be to assist the community in creating a number of intriguing chain-integrated social primitives, which are essential for the company to create a truly Web3 platform. 

Parity technologies is a key provider of blockchain technology built to disrupt centralized online services and provide institutional innovation. 

This was made available with the creation of Parity Ethereum, a prominent Ethereum Client. Currently, Parity is concentrating on Substrate, a blockchain foundation that is industry standard. It has made use of it to create Polkadot, a decentralized web blockchain meta-protocol that connects and secures global crypto-economies.

Through the Polkadot Relay Chain, the Polkadot Protocol can link public and private chains, permissionless networks, oracles, and emerging technologies. This enables these separate blockchains to share data and transactions in an untrustworthy manner.

Many Polkadot users do not seem to be bothered by the news. A Twitter user @Qinwen_Wang says “anything Gavin does or chooses, we support.”

The news of Wood’s resignation as the CEO of Parity comes after Alex Mashinsky recently tendered his resignation as CEO of the troubled crypto loan company Celsius Network.

Peng Zhong, CEO of Ignite, the organization that created the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem also announced his departure from the company earlier in July.

Zodia Custody and Parity Technologies Forge Strategic Partnership for Polkadot Ecosystem

Zodia Custody, a leading digital asset custodian backed by shareholders such as Standard Chartered, SBI Holdings, and Northern Trust, has announced a strategic alliance with Parity Technologies, a software development company passionate about building an inclusive internet. Parity, with offices in Berlin, London, Lisbon, and Singapore, successfully launched Polkadot in 2021 and remains a primary contributor to the network.

This collaboration aims to bolster institutional access to the Polkadot ecosystem, a pioneering blockspace ecosystem that fosters innovation and facilitates Web3’s top innovators to swiftly bring their ideas to fruition. The partnership will be realized through joint research and development initiatives.

Enhancing Institutional Access and Compliance

The primary outcome of this partnership will be Zodia Custody’s provision of custody services for the Polkadot ecosystem. This move will ensure secure market access and offer bank-grade digital asset custody services to financial institutions. Zodia Custody, empowering institutional investors globally to harness the potential of the digital asset future securely, upholds stringent standards related to AML, FCC, and KYC. It is registered with regulatory bodies in the UK, Ireland, and Luxembourg.

Broadening Participation through Staking

The subsequent phase of this collaboration will facilitate financial institutions in staking DOT, Polkadot’s native token. This will occur while assets remain securely stored in Zodia Custody’s cold storage, expanding institutional participation in the Polkadot ecosystem. The service is crafted to be seamless, promoting a wider contribution to fortify the decentralized Polkadot network.

Bridging the Gap between Traditional Finance and Digital Assets

Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody, remarked, “The gap between the world of digital assets and traditional finance is coming together, but strategic partnerships such as this one will help bridge that gap at scale.” He emphasized the importance of the partnership with Parity in fostering future institutional participation and making Polkadot’s technology more institution-friendly.

Echoing this sentiment, Björn Wagner, CEO of Parity Technologies, stated, “This collaboration with Zodia Custody is a win-win.” He highlighted the potential for financial institutions to actively engage in the Web3 future on Polkadot and the opportunity for the Polkadot ecosystem to directly interact with these institutions.

Long-Term Growth and Education

Beyond immediate implementations, Zodia Custody’s collaboration with Parity will support the Polkadot ecosystem’s sustained evolution. This includes enlightening institutions about Polkadot technology through collaborative research and development. Additionally, Zodia Custody will champion various global initiatives associated with Parity and Polkadot.

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Polkadot Developer Parity Technologies Reportedly Cuts Over 300 Staff This Week

After making a statement on the 10th of October 2023 outlining changes in its operational emphasis, the blockchain technology company Parity Technologies, which is the service provider behind the Polkadot (native token: DOT) blockchain, is said to have let go of more than 300 workers this week. According to a tweet published by Parity Technologies, the firm is “sunsetting its go-to-market functions” in order to make room for more extensive community-driven initiatives amid the expansion of Polkadot’s ecosystem.

In a series of tweets, Parity Technologies focused on its strategy move towards a more community-centric approach, highlighting its view that the “strength of any ecosystem lies in the diverse builders, where competition meets collaboration.” This was done in order to highlight the company’s strategic transition toward a more community-centric approach. The move also aligns with a bigger narrative around Polkadot’s development and the obstacles faced by its ecosystem, including an imminent huge supply event with over 400 million parachain unlocks slated in less than two weeks, followed by a 110 million unlock in January. Specifically, the move coincides with an impending large supply event with over 400 million parachain unlocks scheduled in less than two weeks.

Concerns have been raised among community members as a result of the supply dynamics, which have been contrasted with what seems to be a lack of demand, as seen by the fact that recent parachain auctions have garnered just 1-2 million dollars in interest. Notably, Astar, Polkadot’s most active parachain, has changed its attention towards becoming an Ethereum Layer 2 solution utilizing Polygon, which further emphasizes the difficulties that are present within the ecosystem. As a result of the scenario, some have begun to wonder whether or not Polkadot will be able to keep its market valuation of $5 billion by the end of the year, particularly in light of the fact that other projects, such as Optimism, are presently valued at $4.2 billion.

On social media, members of the community have expressed a range of opinions, with some expressing worries regarding the supply and demand dynamics of Polkadot in the near term, while others have shown an interest in seeing how the lifespan of a mature blockchain ecosystem evolves. The possible influence of these developments on the larger blockchain ecosystem, in particular for other alternative Layer 1 solutions, was another topic that was brought up throughout the conversations.

The dedication of Parity Technologies to bringing Polkadot’s next-generation technology to market, enhancing the overall quality of the developer experience, and cultivating a robust developer community has been reaffirmed. There are high hopes that many teams from Parity will continue to contribute to the expansion of Polkadot with the introduction of the new financing scheme offered by the Web3 Foundation.

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