Publications

This piece argues that Europe's digital sovereignty debate is asking the wrong question. The focus on who owns the infrastructure – American or European companies – misses the more fundamental issue of how it's built. Replacing AWS with a European cloud provider changes the flag on the data center; it doesn't remove the single point of failure. Blockchain networks, by contrast, deliver the resilience properties Europe's own regulatory frameworks demand, no central operator, no kill switch, no single jurisdiction, and have been proving it in production for over a decade. The infrastructure exists. The question is whether Europe will recognize it as part of the answer.

DeFi has historically required liquidity providers (LPs) to deposit assets into smart contracts to participate in liquidity provision and trading. This model enabled composability and atomic execution, but it also concentrated risk and led to structurally inefficient capital usage. A new class of DeFi primitives is now emerging that flips this model: liquidity remains in user wallets and is permissioned for execution only when needed. Rather than owning liquidity, protocols orchestrate access to it. This piece explores wallet-permissioned liquidity as an emerging DeFi design pattern, using 1inch Aqua and Barter Superposition as concrete case studies, and examines its implications for capital efficiency, risk, and adoption – including by more risk-aware and institutional capital.

Token listings remain one of the least transparent yet most influential parts of the crypto market structure. Despite the promise of permissionless finance, access to liquidity is still largely governed by centralised exchanges. Their dominance has created a system where entry to the market depends on opaque decisions, high costs, and limited access, with a dynamic that favours scale and reputation over innovation. At the same time, new on-chain mechanisms are beginning to challenge this model. As programmable markets mature, they offer a path toward transparent price discovery, direct issuer participation, and fairer value capture. This piece explores why on-chain listings are growing in importance and how they could evolve into the blueprint for the next generation of public markets.

Ever since the turbulent events of 2022, the DeFi landscape – and with it, the protocol go-to-market (GTM) playbook – has been constantly evolving. We’ve seen protocols rise to prominence and maintain their positions, while others have lost their early momentum just as quickly as they gained it. This research takes a retrospective look at some of the most notable and ambitious DeFi GTM strategies – analyzing which approaches succeeded, which fell short, and why. By identifying common patterns across these launches, we aim to distill key lessons and actionable insights that today’s protocols can apply to design more resilient and effective GTM strategies.

Last year, we shared our predictions about what could shape the year ahead. This time, we’re taking a different route. Rather than claiming to know what the future holds, we want to share what we hope to see: a 10-point wishlist of ideas, problems, and products we’d love founders to take on in 2026. By anchoring these reflections, we gain a nuanced understanding of where the next set of meaningful opportunities may emerge across Infrastructure, DeFi, and Consumer – and in how evolving regulation will shape the ground beneath them.

A central question has emerged for DeFi investors and founders alike: Do fundamentals truly matter when it comes to DeFi token valuations, or are prices still largely driven by speculation and broader crypto market sentiment? As the space matures and institutional participation grows, there is an increasing expectation that price discovery will begin to reflect real usage and revenue, much like traditional equity markets eventually anchor to fundamentals. To explore this, we developed quantitative models based on a broad dataset to systematically analyze whether, when, and how fundamentals play a role in DeFi. The models reveal patterns supporting the current “revenue meta” narrative gaining traction across the ecosystem.