On the 24th of November 2022, Georgios Konstantopoulos, a research partner at Paradigm, which is a crypto/Web3 investment firm, tweeted that the company is building a special Ethereum client referred to as Reth, a Rust Ethereum execution layer.
https://twitter.com/gakonst/status/1595648232226291712
Georgios described Reth as a program independent of code from any existing client. He stated that it isn’t a fork or rewrite of any other client implementation. It is a new Apache/MIT-licensed full-node implementation of Ethereum that stands on the shoulders of giants like Geth, Erigon, and Akula, with its core goals being contributor friendliness, modularity, and performance.
Every component of Reth is built to function as a python library. It’s heavily documented, well-tested, and benchmarked. The goal is for developers to import the node’s crates, mix, match, and innovate on top of them.
The Apache/MIT license contributes to the increased modularity of the project. It works by letting any library or component be generously used in any other project regardless of the project’s license.
Another core goal is performance, which explains why Rust, the Erigon node architecture, and Ethereum libraries battle-tested via Foundry were employed in the project.
Similar to the Foundry, testing and documenting is a vital part of the work culture, hence the presence of a compilation of the Ethereum execution layer specs containing the consensus specifications related to the Ethereum execution client for network upgrades.
To prevent tensions, speculation, or miscommunication from flying, Paradigm clarified that the project was sponsored in the interest of client diversity. They also apologized for any possible chain reaction that led to the end of development for other projects, as it was never the intention or part of the plan and is considered a loss for the entire community.
They want to build a project they wished was existing. And the component they want to be a part of and make on top of. So Paradigm stated that the development of Reth to be a FOSS, modular and performant implementation of Ethereum for the general community, stems from that desire.
