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How a Ph.D. Student's Research Paper Turned Celestia Into $345M Blockchain Project Overnight

This week's launch of the new "data availability" network Celestia came with an airdrop of the project's TIA tokens, one of the most anticipated giveaways in the crypto industry of the past year.

According to the Celestia Foundation, this photo was taken shortly after Celestia CEO Mustafa Al-Bassam (then a Ph.D. student) published the "LazyLedger" research paper in 2019. Al-Bassam is on the right, with Celestia executives Ismail Khoffi (left) and John Adler (center). (Celestia Foundation)
According to the Celestia Foundation, this photo was taken shortly after Celestia CEO Mustafa Al-Bassam (then a Ph.D. student) published the "LazyLedger" research paper in 2019. Al-Bassam is on the right, with Celestia executives Ismail Khoffi (left) and John Adler (center). (Celestia Foundation)