Ready for Merge Ep. 20 👾

Meet Preston, a developer working for Offchain Labs on the Ethereum consensus layer (CL) client, Prysm.Preston’s biggest contribution to Ethereum development is co-founding the Prysm team. Preston, along with three other developers, formed the first dedicated team to build software for Ethereum’s proof-of-stake transition.The software they built, called Prysm, was the most widely used CL client during and in the first few years after the launch of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake blockchain, also called the Beacon Chain.In this interview, Preston recounts the story behind Prysm's founding in 2018, its acquisition by Offchain Labs in 2022, and its continued development in 2025.This interview was recorded on September 2, 2025.Timestamps:(3:26) Preston’s biggest contribution to Ethereum(5:24) How Preston found out about crypto(22:06) The early days of Prysm development(34:54) Key role models in Preston’s journey as a core developer(38:47) How Prysmatic Labs got acquired(58:02) How to get involved in Prysm developmentLinks: - Preston van LoonX (https://x.com/preston_vanloon)LinkedIn (http://linkedin.com/in/prestonvanloon)GitHub: (https://github.com/prestonvanloon)- Offchain LabsOfficial Website (https://www.offchainlabs.com/)Blog (https://medium.com/offchainlabs)- PrysmOfficial repository (https://github.com/OffchainLabs/prysm)Discord (https://discord.com/invite/prysm)- Ethereum Protocol FellowshipGitHub (https://github.com/eth-protocol-fellows)Wiki (https://epf.wiki/#/)  Get full access to Christine D. Kim at christinedkim.substack.com/subscribe