An experienced finance researcher (3+ years of research experience) with product knowledge, own network and brand, who has had writing published in at least one accredited publication. Relevant experience in Defi and finance
Grant:
Research and writing - $8K USDC, 5KCFG TBC with researcher
Scope:
11-13 pages. Details TBC with researcher
Timing:
For release date: TBC
Objective:
Produce a report of Centrifuge and its approach to on chain credit. Explore the challenge that Centrifuge is solving and explain why it’s so important to the market and to finance
More details:
Deep dive on what matters to RWAs and on chain credit (securitization, modular architecture, privacy oriented tokenization, decentralized community)
Look at how Centrifuge approaches the things that matter
Assess how other projects approach the things that matter
Produce a table that summarizes how different players assess on ‘what matters’
|Target Audience:|Crypto forward funds and institutional investors|
|Perspective:|Research from a user perspective (i.e. a new market entrant fund)|
Interesting research grant for sure, can you tell us a little bit more how the selection of the researcher, based on which critieria, looks like? What kind of background and experience is needed?
Is there a deadline for the grant’s application?
Last question: who is going to evaluate at the end if the defined goals of the grant have been reached?
Ambassador to the Centrifuge DAO and former research analyst at Marcus & Millichap. I have researched and written 100s of investment memos for institutional quality assets and investors.
Newly-appointed Centrifuge Credit Group Facilitator with experience working with on-chain credit protocols. Credit experience spans working in private credit at Nuveen and in digital assets lending at Abra.
Former MakerDAO CES CU member focused on on-boarding RWAs into DeFI. Extensive smart contract blockchain engineering experience at EY and finance and accounting experience from a prior career in Banking and an MBA in Finance.
Founder & CEO of DeFi Capital Markets and active contributor to the Centrifuge DAO. Strong credit and entrepreneurial background in the RWA space having previously served as Head of Capital Markets at Centrifuge.
Please reach out to me directly or post your questions in the forum!!
I would like to indicate my interest in applying for this research grant.
I was the product lead at END-Labs, a real-world-assets tokenization and securitization startup, for the past year (recently closed down due to adverse regulatory changes in the US). To build our product, I had to have a detailed understanding of adjacent RWA tokenizer platforms such as Centrifuge’s and Goldfinch’s, understand the needs of DeFi protocols who could potentially partner with us, and also understand how the sector could realistically improve its product offerings within the tech constraints that we all operate in.
Prior to END-Labs, I worked in front office roles (analyst or portfolio manager) for several hedge funds, and have written hundreds of investment & analytical memos. So I also have a solid understanding of this report’s TradFi audience (credit funds and VCs) and what they will need in order to invest in tokenized RWAs with greater conviction over the next several years.
I would also like to indicate interest in applying for the research grant.
My name is Christian Lantzsch, Co-Founder and Head of Research and Operations at Cicada Partners, an on-chain Defi Risk as a Service Credit Shop. Prior to starting Cicada, I worked at Orthogonal Trading as an Assistant Portfolio Manager and Credit Analyst lending to Market Makers and Arb Funds via the Maple Finance Dapp on Ethereum. I have personally underwritten close to $500 MM of USDC and other on-chain asset loans with an overall 1.2% default rate (industry best). I have also worked to create one of the first interest rate and risk models for on-chain lending, which was successful in detecting Alameda Research as a poor credit in Q2 2022 way before the blow up. Prior to my work in DeFi, I was an Assistant Vice President of Underwriting in the Technology Finance Group at PNC, where I underwrote SaaS LBO, M&A, and Dividend Recap deals for Sponsor Backed companies. Additionally, I did a few transactions in the Asset Based Lending Division as well for Sponsor Backed deals.
Given my experience as one of only a handful of experienced on-chain Defi underwriters, as well as my tradfi experience, I believe I could add a unique perspective to the research project and be able to straddle the line when communicating both Tradfi and Defi principles in a clear manner. I look forward to hearing back!
Thank you all for your submissions so far! The expression of interest will be closed this Friday, April 14th. The submissions will be reviewed by a committee of CNF and k/f members based on the following criteria:
Researcher background and depth of knowledge across both TradFi and DeFi
Researcher experience researching and writing research reports
Researcher network and ability to find contributors and collaborators for the report
Researcher unique POV and ideas for direction to take the report in (as understood from the expression of interest form)
The researcher will be decided and communicated to by April 19th. The researcher will have access to the CNF and k/f teams while writing the report and the report will be reviewed and iterated on with the team.
Thanks for all the interest. We’re starting selection process shortly.
To clarify, this grant is made by the Centrifuge Network Foundation and is not a DAO governance process
Some more info:
Who will determine who will get the grant for conducting the research?
CNF, and k/f team members with advice from relevant DAO active contributors
What criteria will the selection be based upon?
Experience (qualifications and previous work experience in the sector), published work (i.e. quality of publications, number of publications), network (social media followings, reputation in Tradfi and Defi)
This is a note to say that the brief of the report has changed!
We’re focusing on the things that matter to on-chain credit, RWAs, and Centrifuge. We’re still on the search for a good researcher, with decent publications under their belt
I want to indicate my interest in this. I plan to leverage my existing research content, knowledge and audience to deliver insights in an easy to understand structure and backed with onchain data to the crypto native as well as TradiFi audiences.
I currently host the Crypto Adoption Curve show and newsletter with a specialization on private credit and RWA tokenization.
My RWA journey started in 2020 Dec when I was working with Leah from Centrifuge on content to explain this new DeFi primitive to the broader crypto community. You can listen to it here.
Putting RWA/private credit onchain was the conviction moment for my crypto journey. Since then I have done deep dives with founders of Goldfinch, Maple, Credix and borrowers such as Consol Freight and AQRU on these platforms.
Perhaps the best way to give a taste of my background knowledge & writings is to share with you the following 3 articles I recently authored to highlight the various issues/opportunities facing RWA vertical:
My team at FranklinDAO would like to express our interest in the research grant. Coming from diverse and extensive background within the industry (Dragonfly Capital, Kokoa Finance, Kokonut Swap, Circle) we are greatly passionate about DeFi structured products and how Centrifuge app/chain would be a game changer in the area. Our team is equipped with the technical and analytical skillsets/background to conduct the research on behalf of Centrifuge from contract-level analysis to usage data analytics to market opportunity deep-dives on a broader level.
Moreover, the team will take full leverage of FranklinDAO’s connections in the field, as its research group boasts a wide range of past and current research projects with major L1s and protocols, such as MKR, AAVE, L0, Flashbots.
Read the entire brief here
And please share this around if you know researchers with the required experience!
