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Buidl Europe 2026: The State of Decentralization

Jan 15, 2026

Guest

Aurora Orellana

Join Ben Lakoff of Bankless Ventures, Matthew Arrow from Dark Forest, and Aurora Orellana of G20 Strategies as they explore the future of decentralization. They debate whether Cypherpunk values like self-custody can survive as institutions influence adoption. The panel also tackles the FATF's impact on individual freedoms and discusses the 'DeFi Mullet'—a blend of centralized fronts with decentralized operations. They highlight the importance of jurisdictional competition and the evolving definitions of privacy in the blockchain landscape.

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INSIGHT

Self-Custody And Permissionless As Core Values

Self-custody and permissionless deployment remain core cypherpunk values worth defending.
These principles matter for individual sovereignty and the ability to exit platforms without permission.

INSIGHT

FATF As A Powerful Unaccountable Influence

The FATF exerts outsized influence on global regulation despite limited accountability.
That regulatory pressure creates a persistent tension between surveillance and financial freedom.

INSIGHT

Portability Enables Jurisdictional Competition

Portability of value, identity, and data enables competitive pressure between jurisdictions.
Competition across jurisdictions can check bad monetary policy and preserve individual choice.

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In this episode, recorded live at Buidl Europe 2026, host Sebastian Couture leads a panel with Ben Lakoff (Bankless Ventures), Richard Muirhead (Fabric Ventures), Aurora Orellana (G20 Strategies), and Matthew Arrow (Dark Forest). Together, they tackle the existential question facing the industry: can Cypherpunk values like self-custody and permissionless survive as multi-billion dollar institutions become the primary drivers of adoption?

The discussion delves into the tension between individual sovereignty and the regulatory reach of organizations like the FATF, which they describe as a "Goliath" accountable to no one. They explore the concept of the "DeFi Mullet" a centralized user interfaces powered by decentralized backends and how privacy tech is becoming essential not for institutions seeking defensible competitive moats. Finally, the conversation looks at how global competition between jurisdictions will define the next decade of financial freedom and what it truly means to be a Cypherpunk in 2026.

Topics

00:00 Intro & Context
04:15 Cypherpunk Values in an Institutional World
09:30 Permissionless Deployment & Self-Custody
15:00 The Regulatory Spectrum: KYC vs. Freedom
21:45 The FATF & Global Financial Surveillance
27:10 Jurisdictional Competition & Portability
35:20 Selling Privacy to Institutions vs. Individuals
42:15 The DeFi Mullet & Atomic Settlement
49:00 Barriers to Entry: Legacy Mainframes & Career Risk
55:30 What it Means to be a Cypherpunk in 2026

Links

Ben Lakoff on X: https://x.com/benlakoff
Richard Muirhead on X: https://x.com/RichardMuirhead
Matthew Arrow on X: https://x.com/mattarrow
Bankless Ventures: https://bankless.ventures/
Fabric Ventures: https://www.fabric.vc/
Gnosis: https://gnosis.io/

Sponsors: Gnosis: Gnosis has been building core decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem since 2015. With the launch of Gnosis Pay last year, we introduced the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Start leveraging its power today at http://gnosis.io