Bankless

SotN #42: Ethereum Devs Building DeFi | Preston Van Loon and Will Villanueva

Apr 14, 2021
Preston Van Loon, co-founder of Cryptex and former Google engineer, teams up with Will Villanueva, CEO of Element Finance and ex-ConsenSys member, to explore the cutting edge of decentralized finance. They dive into the evolution of DeFi applications, discussing innovative synthetic assets like TCAP and the complexities of yield generation. The conversation highlights their past contributions to Ethereum development and the ongoing challenges within the crypto landscape, while showcasing the potential of DeFi to transform traditional finance.
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ANECDOTE

From Google Ads to Ethereum

  • Preston Van Loon left Google to pursue his passion for Ethereum after seeing its potential.
  • Vitalik Buterin's 1,000 ETH grant enabled Prismatic Labs to become the most popular ETH2 client.
ANECDOTE

From Ads to ETH2 to DeFi

  • Will Villanueva, like Preston, transitioned from the ad space to crypto, initially building the Bounties Network.
  • He then shifted to ETH2 sharding research at ConsenSys before founding Element Finance.
INSIGHT

Fixed-Rate Income in DeFi

  • Element Finance offers fixed-rate income on crypto assets like ETH and BTC, purchased at a discount.
  • This provides an alternative to variable APRs and simplifies yield generation for casual users.
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