What kind of Rust work are you set up for?

Protocol-layer code where correctness and performance both matter. Consensus and execution clients, networking layers (libp2p), cryptographic primitives, distributed validator infrastructure, RPC servers, indexers. We are not a fit for general SaaS backends.

Are you available for short engagements or only long programs?

We take both focused engagements and multi-quarter programs. Scoping calls clarify whether the work is a fit before any commitment.

Will you contribute to our open-source repo or work in private?

Either. Most of our engineering output is in the open via Lighthouse, Anchor, and our contributions to libp2p, ethereum_ssz, and other libraries. We can also work on private codebases under standard NDA.

How does this compare to hiring full-time engineers?

A Sigma Prime engagement gets you a small team with deep prior experience on the kinds of problems you are working on. For a permanent role you want a permanent hire. For a project that needs senior engineers who already know the territory, an engagement avoids the recruitment runway.

What is your IP arrangement?

Default is that the client owns work product on private engagements. For open-source contributions, the contributing engineer signs the relevant DCO/CLA for the upstream project. Specific terms negotiated per engagement.

Security-Critical Engineering

When you need protocol-grade engineering for systems where correctness, performance, and security all matter — typically Rust consensus clients, distributed validator infrastructure, networking layers, or cryptographic libraries. We do not take on general application work. We take engagements where the codebase is part of public-good infrastructure or close adjacencies, and where the work informs our broader security posture.

Request a scoping call

Where we focus.

We are set up for security-critical protocol work — the kind of code that runs in production for years, requires real distributed-systems thinking, and where a bug shows up as a stalled chain, value loss, or a network partition rather than a 500 page.

01

Consensus and execution clients. Lighthouse is our reference for this kind of work. We have also reviewed Reth at the protocol layer and have implementation experience on every recent Ethereum hard fork.
02

Distributed validator technology. Anchor — our independent Rust SSV implementation — is the largest example. The skill set generalises to threshold cryptography, multi-party signing, and operator coordination protocols.
03

Networking and libp2p. Sigma Prime engineers maintain meaningful portions of the libp2p Rust stack used by Lighthouse and other clients. Network-layer engagements (peer scoring, gossip, sync protocols) are in scope.
04

Cryptographic libraries. SSZ, BLS aggregation, KZG commitments, hashing layers. The boundary between consensus implementation and crypto library is fuzzy and we are comfortable on both sides.
05

Indexer and RPC infrastructure. Where the workload is high-throughput, latency-sensitive, or has correctness requirements that ordinary backend engineering does not address.

How engagements work.

We scope each engagement individually. The first call covers what you are trying to build, what already exists, what the team looks like, and what success means. From there we propose an engagement structure — feature delivery, embedded engineering team, or a hybrid — with named engineers, calendar commitment, and pricing in writing before any work starts.

For long-running engagements (multi-quarter programs) we typically operate on a retainer structure similar to our institutional audit programs.

We are not a fit for general application backends, web services, SaaS products, Solidity engineering, frontend work, or crypto-adjacent business tooling. Engaging us for those would be a poor use of our team and a poor outcome for you.

When Sigma Prime engineering is a fit.

The work needs a protocol bar

We are strongest where the code has to be correct under adversarial or distributed conditions: consensus clients, networking layers, DVT, cryptographic libraries, RPC and indexing systems with correctness requirements, or infrastructure that will be maintained for years. That is a narrower fit than general software development, by design.

Correctness and operations stay linked

Security-critical engineering does not end at a merged pull request. Release process, test vectors, monitoring, operator guidance, migration plans, and performance limits all affect whether the code is safe to run. We prefer engagements where those concerns are part of the work rather than handed off after implementation.

What we need to scope it

Repository, specification, existing tests, and known correctness or performance targets.
Ownership boundaries between Sigma Prime engineers and the client engineering team.
Release expectations, upstream contribution rules, and any DCO or CLA requirements.
Operational context: who will run the code, how it is deployed, and what failure looks like.

Related research and guidance.

Frequently asked questions.

What kind of Rust work are you set up for?

Protocol-layer code where correctness and performance both matter. Consensus and execution clients, networking layers (libp2p), cryptographic primitives, distributed validator infrastructure, RPC servers, indexers. We are not a fit for general SaaS backends.
Are you available for short engagements or only long programs?

We take both focused engagements and multi-quarter programs. Scoping calls clarify whether the work is a fit before any commitment.
Will you contribute to our open-source repo or work in private?

Either. Most of our engineering output is in the open via Lighthouse, Anchor, and our contributions to libp2p, ethereum_ssz, and other libraries. We can also work on private codebases under standard NDA.
How does this compare to hiring full-time engineers?

A Sigma Prime engagement gets you a small team with deep prior experience on the kinds of problems you are working on. For a permanent role you want a permanent hire. For a project that needs senior engineers who already know the territory, an engagement avoids the recruitment runway.
What is your IP arrangement?

Default is that the client owns work product on private engagements. For open-source contributions, the contributing engineer signs the relevant DCO/CLA for the upstream project. Specific terms negotiated per engagement.

Other engagements you might be considering.

Talk to us about security-critical engineering.

If you have an engineering need that fits the kind of work above, tell us about it.

Request a scoping call

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