Encode Denver Modular DeFi Research Day
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On 25th February 2025, immerse yourself in the forefront of decentralised finance at our Modular DeFi Research Day. This event offers a platform for top academics and protocol researchers to share advancements in Bitcoin, scaling, cross-chain innovation, and more.
Schedule:
10:00am - Kick Off!
10:50am - The Future Is Verifiable- Zhenfei Zhang (Chief Cryptographer, Polyhedra), Grigore Rosu (President & CEO, Pi Squared)
11:15am - Introducing Pico: A Modular and Performant zkVM - Alan Li (CSO, Brevis)
11:40am - Modular Security and DeFi 2.0 - Misha Putiatin (Co-Founder, Symbiotic), Mads Mathiesen (Researcher, Maven11)
12:05pm - L2 Interop Endgame: Modular Breakthrough or Vertical Takeover? - Terry Chung (CSO, Eclipse), Avi Zurlo (CEO, =nil; Foundation), Nick Dodson (CEO, Fuel Labs), moderated by Felix Lutsch (Head of Ecosystem, Symbiotic)
12:55pm - Fair, Fast, or Final? The Future of Rollup-Based DeFi - Ben Fisch (Co-Founder and CEO, Espresso), AJ Park (Founder, Radius), Filip Rezabek (Co-Founder, Spacecoin)
1:00pm - Nibbles
1:20pm - Yield-Bearing Stablecoins: Innovation or a House of Cards? - Antonina Norair (CTO, M^0 Labs), Gerrit Hall (Ambassador, Curve), moderated by Bram Van Roelen (Head of Product, Maven11)
1:45pm - Unlocking Infinite Liquidity of Bitcoin - Periwinkle Doerfler (CTO, Glittr), Derek Rein (CTO, Reown)
2:10pm - Title TBA - Dan Albert (Executive Director, Solana Foundation)
2:35pm - Breaking the L1 Performance Ceiling - Jason Li (Co-Foudner, Solayer), Zon (Co-Founder, Initia), Keone Hon (Co-Founder and GM, Monad), moderated by Sam Kim (Managing Partner, Big Brain Holdings)
3:00pm - Aligned or Not-aligned L2 - Rushi Manche (Co-Founder, Movement), Ed Felten (Founder, Arbitrum)
3:25pm - How CrossChain DeFi Can Scale Global Finance - Gagan Mac (VP and Head of Strategy, Circle), Nick White (COO, Celestia), Maghnus Mareneck (Co-Founder of SKIP, Interchain Foundation)
3:50pm - Intent-pilled DefAI - Alex Shevchenko (CEO and Co-Founder, Aurora), Will Nuelle (General Partner, Galaxy Digital), Renç Korzay (Co-Founder, Giza), moderated by Jeff Wilser (Podcast Host, AI-Curious)
4:15pm - Verifiable AI and the Future of DeFi - Leo Chen (CTO, Story Protocol), Jason Morton (CEO, Ezkl), Ben Fielding (Co-Founder, Gensyn)
4:40pm - Lightning Talk - Dan Ugolini (Co-Founder, Rysk), JonJon Clark (Co-Founder, Envio), Pierre Ni (Co-Founder and CEO, Cede Labs), Magnus Ahmad (Head of Product, Blocksense)
5:05pm - Digital Finance vs Decentralised Finance: Where Are We Headed? - Gil Rosen (Managing Partner, BBF), Jay Kurahashi-Sofue (CMO, Eco), Garrett Hughes (Director of Engineering, Dune), moderated by CJ Huntzinger (Head of Platform, Galaxy Digital)
5:30pm - Being Right With No Size Is the Same as Being Wrong - GM (Research Partner, Dragonfly), Nicola Santoni (Partner, Lemniscap)
6:00pm - Hackathon Finale
7:00pm - Doors Close
📍 Venue: 2109 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205 (Just a 7-minute drive from ETHDenver!)
👥 Audience: Leading academics, protocol researchers, and Web3 professionals
🎯 Focus: Showcase groundbreaking research, foster knowledge sharing, and spark new collaborations.
What to Expect:
Expert talks covering the latest DeFi innovations.
Interactive discussions with thought leaders in Web3.
Opportunities to network with academics, researchers, and professionals shaping the space.
Themes:
Be part of the conversation shaping the future of DeFi. Join us for a day of insights and inspiration!
Interested in joining as a speaker or a sponsor? Apply here!
Speakers
Partners
Want to see other Encode Events?
The Pit Hacker House, 2023
📍 Location: 2109 Larimer Street, Denver
❇️ Website: Here
🌿 Summary: Here
Encode London Hackathon and Research Day, 2024
📍 Location: Shoreditch Exchange
❇️ Website: Here
🤖 Summary: Here
For upcoming Encode programmes, check out our website!