First DAG, who has developed the first global digital payment platform as a service, is pleased to announce that Diem Association’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) has appointed its Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Daniel Prinz, as an official Maintainer of the Diem blockchain, a distributed, programmable database designed to serve as the foundation for next-generation financial services.
Prinz joined First Digital Asset Group in January 2019, where he currently leads the teams building blockchain tools and APIs for developers using Diem and those building First’s turnkey solution for large merchants, PSPs, and Acquirers to accept and process Diem and other Stablecoin payments. Prior to that, he was the CTO of the Cyber Division in the Israeli Secret Service, as well as a Software Architect at SAP and Applied Materials.
In his new role as a Maintainer of Diem, and one of the first external maintainers to be appointed, Prinz will play an instrumental role in the development of a robust technical governance framework for the Diem Association’s open-source blockchain project, which aims to introduce a payment system that makes it cheap and easy for billions of users to move money around the world.
“Diem’s potential to be a breakthrough in digital assets and payments, will make financial products accessible to billions of people around the world. For Diem to successfully serve as a fast, simple, secure, and low-fee medium of exchange for a massive market, it’s critical that the infrastructure powering Diem is designed, built, and maintained with security, sustainability, and transparency in mind. This is a very exciting opportunity to shape the future of Diem,” Prinz said.
The TSC also elected other representatives, including Andrew Baine from Bison Trails, Young Yang Liauw from Novi, and Sherry Xiao from Novi as Production Maintainers.
Earlier this year, the TSC - which consists of representatives from five member organizations, including Anchorage, Bison Trails, Novi, Mercy Corps, and Union Square Ventures - had launched the Diem Improvement Proposal (DIP) program, providing the Diem developer community a way to participate in advancing the features and functionality of Diem, either by proposing a change or engaging in discussion about a proposal.
Proposals can address the core Diem Blockchain protocol, the Move development platform, smart contracts, and systems for smart-contract verification, operating standards, APIs, and off-chain mechanisms, among other relevant areas.
The DIP program operates under the governance of the Diem Association, with final authority for technical decisions made by the TSC.