DFINITY Founder Alleges NEAR Intents Misappropriated Its Technology
Summary
- DFINITY said its technology was used without authorization in a NEAR service and that the matter could carry legal implications.
- DFINITY said a former employee used its research to speed up NEAR Intents' ECDSA implementation, adding that the technology was developed for chain-key cryptography and Ethereum (ETH) integration.
- Founder Dominic Williams said Internet Computer runs the algorithm across distributed subnets, while NEAR uses about eight servers, and criticized NEAR's marketing around decentralization.
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DFINITY, the lead developer of Internet Computer (ICP), has alleged that one of NEAR's services used its technology without authorization.
BlockBeats and other outlets reported on October 22 that DFINITY founder Dominic Williams said additional investigation had led him to conclude that NEAR improperly used DFINITY's proprietary technology. He added that the matter could carry legal implications.
Williams alleged that a former DFINITY employee used the company's research to speed up the implementation of ECDSA, one of the core technologies behind NEAR Intents. DFINITY said it developed the technology for chain-key cryptography and Ethereum (ETH) integration, and that it can nearly triple the speed of the multi-node signing process without compromising security.
He also took issue with NEAR's operating model. Williams said Internet Computer runs the algorithm across distributed subnets, while NEAR appears to rely on about eight servers, criticizing the project's marketing around decentralization.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul