Z. (justz): Cross-functional Web3 & DeFi Operator, Comms × Product

Cross-functional Web3 & DeFi operator (communications, product and onchain data) with nearly 10 years in crypto (since 2017). Functioned as Head of Communications for Spectra (formerly APWine, 4+ years) and IPOR Fusion, and as Product & Communications Lead for Harvest Finance, including the 0→1 Autopilot launch. Earlier Head of News at a crypto media outlet (2017–2021), interviewing Brendan Eich (Brave) and Kris Marszalek (Crypto.com). Official voice of protocols with $300M+ combined TVL, with zero community dramas. Content amplified by Aave, Chainlink and Base.

At a glance

  • Official voice of Spectra for 4+ years (formerly APWine), as Head of Communications.
  • Led communications for IPOR Fusion’s institutional vault infrastructure.
  • Product & Communications Lead at Harvest Finance; launched Harvest Autopilot 0→1 ($50M+ lifetime TVL inflows).
  • Led the Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign for Harvest: 29,582 users onchain.
  • Designed the first end-to-end permissionless UI for interest-rate derivatives (Spectra).
  • Content amplified by Aave’s founder, Chainlink, Base and Stellar.
  • Turns a protocol’s onchain data into posts its partners repost: IPOR Fusion’s stock numbers were quote-tweeted by Aave’s founder. [1] [2]
  • $300M+ combined TVL voiced, zero community dramas, nearly 10 years in crypto.

Best fit for protocols and teams building vault infrastructure, fixed-rate markets, yield aggregation, RWA / tokenized assets or institutional-grade DeFi products, who need a communications operator with direct experience in zero-drama official channels, counterparty-grade content and 0→1 product launches.

Summary

Z. has nearly 10 years in crypto. From 2017 to 2021 Z. led crypto news teams as Head of News, covering and explaining hundreds of projects and personally landing and running 1-on-1 interviews with Brendan Eich (Brave) and Kris Marszalek (Crypto.com). Since 2021 Z. has worked as a hands-on operator for DeFi protocols and DAOs, working across comms, product and onchain data. Across that work Z. has been the official voice of protocols with $300M+ combined TVL, with zero community dramas. The work spans the full product-to-market loop: shaping new products with core contributors, designing the dApp interfaces, writing the documentation, and then launching, announcing and supporting them in public. Experienced in community management, DAO operations, crisis communications, institutional framing, and partner co-marketing.

Currently runs official communications for IPOR Fusion, an institutional-grade onchain vault platform, and for Spectra, a permissionless yield tokenization protocol Z. has been the official voice of since 2022, when it was still APWine. In October 2026, Aave founder Stani Kulechov, Chainlink and Base all publicly engaged with Fusion posts.

Cross-functional across product, data and communications. Z. regularly pulls onchain and third-party metrics (TVL composition, market share, rollover volumes, reward flows) and frames them so partners can share the story in their own voice. The clearest example is the data behind IPOR Fusion’s Earn on Stocks post, which Aave founder Stani Kulechov quote-tweeted. [1] [2]

Also: product and comms at Harvest Finance (yield aggregator, including the 0→1 Autopilot launch) and, earlier, Bancor (AMM). Earlier, Z. ran editorial at a crypto news outlet as Head of News, editing 930+ articles and handling 1,150+ news pieces.

Notable interviews: Brendan Eich (creator of JavaScript, co-founder of Mozilla/Firefox, CEO of Brave), 1-on-1 at Brave's headquarters in San Francisco; Kris Marszalek (co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com).

Roles & collaboration

Roles held

Functioned as Head of Communications for Spectra (formerly APWine, 4+ years) and IPOR Fusion, and as Product & Communications Lead for Harvest Finance (including the 0→1 Autopilot launch). Earlier: Head of News at a crypto media outlet (2017–2021).

Interested in

  • Head of Communications
  • Protocol Marketing Lead
  • DeFi Communications Lead
  • Community & Content Lead
  • Institutional DeFi Operator (vaults, yield infrastructure, fixed-rate markets, RWA)

Collaboration & focus

Open to select collaborations and new opportunities: advisory, fractional or contract, alongside current work where it fits. Remote-first, Europe-friendly time zone.

Primary focus areas: vault infrastructure, yield aggregation and automation, fixed-rate markets, institutional DeFi communications, and RWA / tokenized assets.

Background

Self-taught, with nearly 10 years of continuous, hands-on exposure in DeFi and crypto (2017–present).

Key metrics

The eight figures shown on the home page, in the same order, with how each is counted.

  • ~10 yrs: in crypto: Head of News from 2017 to 2021, then DeFi product and comms from 2021 to today.
  • $980M+: swap volume processed across dApps Z. designed and coordinated the build of.
  • $300M+: combined TVL of protocols Z. has been the official voice of: Spectra peaked at $267M on 20 Feb 2025 [1], IPOR Fusion is at $83M+ [1].
  • $50M+: lifetime TVL inflows into Harvest Autopilot, the 0→1 product Z. launched with IPOR; $15M of it in the first 30 days. [1] [2]
  • 29,582: users completed an onchain task in the Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign Z. led; 19,000+ in the first four days. [1]
  • 230k+: combined followers on project accounts Z. managed: Bancor (150k), Harvest (60k), Spectra (21k).
  • 140k: views on Z.'s Yield-Bearing Stablecoins List (Q2 2025), 723 likes. [1]
  • 0: community backlashes or dramas across all of the above.

Supporting figures

  • $267M: Spectra TVL peak (Feb 2025), ~12x from $21M in Dec 2024 across the migration window Z. communicated through. [1]
  • $80M+: IPOR Fusion TVL all-time high communicated, up 20%+ from $66M in under four weeks. [1] [2]
  • 3: blue-chip counterparties publicly engaging with Fusion content in Oct 2026: Aave's founder, Chainlink, Base.
  • 3,400+: tweets published across personal and major project accounts.
  • 120+: crypto articles and comms pieces written, edited and published.
  • 930+: Web3/DeFi articles edited and fact-checked against project docs.

Key achievements

1. 0→1 product launch: Harvest Autopilot, $50M+ lifetime TVL inflows

Harvest Finance × IPOR · product, partnerships, launch comms · 2024–2025

Z. met the IPOR team at EthCC 2024, aligned Harvest's DAO contributors on a new product line built on IPOR Fusion, ran a 100-day live lab test (IPOR's co-founder called it “a successful trial phase”), built a dedicated interface, had the setup audited by Halborn, and launched it on 23 April 2025 with Base amplifying the messaging. [1] [2] [3] Autopilot has since taken in $50M+ in lifetime TVL inflows, $15M of it in the first 30 days. Within weeks Harvest's TVL was “closing in on last year's ATH, fueled by the new Autopilot product line”, and Base creator Jesse Pollak replied to the ETH Autopilot ATH with “nice!”. [1] [2] [3]

2. Led the Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign: 29,582 users onchain

Harvest Finance × Coinbase · campaign lead · 2024

Z. led the campaign end to end: budget, legal, funding, content, timelines and comms, with a $300,000 FARM reward pool, launched as Harvest 4. Z. also redesigned the Harvest dApp so it could handle the traffic. 19,000+ users were onboarded to yield farming on Base in the first four days, and 29,582 completed the onchain task. [1] [2] [3]

3. Industry first: end-to-end permissionless UI for interest-rate derivatives

Spectra · product design, before the AI era · 2024

Z. designed the interface for Spectra's permissionless launch, the first end-to-end permissionless UI for an interest-rate derivatives protocol. Anyone can create a fixed-term market on any ERC-4626 yield-bearing token by choosing an asset, a maturity and a target APY, then trade Principal and Yield Tokens and provide liquidity. [1] [2] [3]

4. Industry first: fixed-term pools for Coinbase Tokenized Stocks

Spectra × Coinbase · 2026

Spectra launched the first fixed-term, fixed-rate markets for Coinbase Tokenized Stocks, including AAPLc, GOOGLc, NVDAc and METAc, so stock holders can lock a fixed onchain yield on assets that earn nothing while held. [1] [2]

Founder reviews

“Buying discounted GHO based on fixed income is exactly the kind of ‘Front-end DeFi’ innovation I've been looking for. […] All built permissionlessly.”
Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, quote-tweeting Z.'s discounted GHO landing page (1 Sep 2024)
“IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks. Powered by @coinbase @base and @aave.”
Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, quote-tweeting the @ipor_io post Z. produced (15 Oct 2026)
“Very cool product in general […] Just pure sweet USDC yield. […] Hats off to @justz_eth.”
Darren Camas, co-founder of IPOR, quote-tweeting Z.'s launch of Earnbase (23 Mar 2025)

Case studies

IPOR Fusion · Official communications · Oct 2026

  • Problem: Producing content is easy now. Producing content that Aave, Chainlink or Base want to engage with and push to their own audiences is not. Those teams have high standards and many unwritten rules, and getting it right takes comms craft, knowledge of onchain-economy history, taste, and empathy for what each counterparty needs to say to its audience.
  • Aave: Stani Kulechov posted about stock-backed loans on Aave V4. [1] @ipor_io answered with a quote-post framing Fusion as host of Base's largest Earn on Stocks program, backed by hard numbers. [1] [2] Stani then quote-tweeted it: “IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks.” [1]
  • Chainlink: The team secured the early-integrator spot for CCIP Vault Adapters. [1] Z. kept the interaction smooth, fast to approve and professional: a use-case-driven post explaining what the adapters let operators do, with no “logo x logo” filler. [1] Chainlink replied three times and listed Fusion in its follow-up announcement. [1] [2] [3] [4]
  • Base: Base engaged directly with partner content tagging @ipor_io [1], and Base creator Jesse Pollak reacted to a post from the Fusion co-founder. [1]
  • Result: The counterparties amplified Fusion themselves to their own audiences.

Data-led content: IPOR Fusion × Aave

IPOR Fusion · onchain data, comms · Oct 2026

  • Context: Stani Kulechov posted that stock-backed loans on Aave V4 were growing. [1]
  • Data: Z. pulled IPOR Fusion's share of that market from onchain data: $2.5M+ in Coinbase Tokenized Stocks, 10K+ stock units, 400+ wallets, 27.7% of Aave V4 stock supply on Base and 55.7% of NVDAc. [1]
  • Post: The numbers framed Fusion as host of Base's largest Earn on Stocks program, in a quote-post on Stani's own thread. [1]
  • Result: Stani quote-tweeted it: “IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks. Powered by @coinbase @base and @aave.” [1]

Spectra 2026: MetaVaults, XRP Finance and the move past emissions

Spectra · Official communications · 2026

  • Context: Four years into the protocol, Spectra moved from classic PT/YT pools to curated MetaVaults, a non-EVM chain and real-world assets, while switching off token emissions.
  • Actions: Communicated the MetaVaults launch (Feb 2026). [1] Positioned Spectra as the main venue for fixed-term XRP markets on Flare. [1] [2] [3] Announced Stellar, the first non-EVM deployment, which runs on an order book. [1] Published quarterly ecosystem reports. [1] [2]
  • Result: Q3 2026 was the first full quarter at zero SPECTRA emissions: growth came from usage alone. [1] 23M+ FXRP units flowed into the protocol in FXRP's first year. [1]

0→1 launch: Harvest Autopilot (with IPOR), $50M+ lifetime TVL inflows

Harvest Finance · Product, partnerships, launch comms · 2024–2025

  • Context: Harvest needed a new product line; IPOR had complementary vault tech.
  • Actions: Met the IPOR team in person at EthCC 2024 and aligned on shared goals. Convinced DAO contributors on the direction. Ran a 100-day live lab test (Darren Camas: “a successful trial phase”) [1], built a dedicated interface, and had the setup audited by Halborn before public launch. [1] [2] Pre-hyped and communicated the launch, and brought in Base, which approved and amplified the messaging. [1] [2] [3]
  • Result: $50M+ in lifetime TVL inflows, $15M of it in the first 30 days. USDC Autopilot reached $4.38M TVL and 258 users by 11 May [1]; within weeks Harvest TVL was “closing in on last year's ATH. Fueled by the new Autopilot product line.” [1] ETH Autopilot hit a new ATH in July, and Base creator Jesse Pollak replied “nice!” [1] [2]

Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign (campaign lead), 29,582 users onchain

Harvest Finance · Campaign lead, product

  • Scope: Led the entire initiative end to end: budget, legal, funding, content, timelines and comms. Launched as Harvest 4 with a Coinbase Wallet quest and a $300,000 reward pool. [1]
  • Product: Redesigned the Harvest dApp to handle the campaign's traffic spike. [1]
  • Result: 29,582 users completed the on-chain task. Over 19,000 users had been introduced to yield farming on Base within the first four days. [1] [2]

Structural transition: APWine → permissionless Spectra → $SPECTRA on Base

Spectra · Official voice through rebrand, permissionless launch, token migration and governance shift · 2023–2025

  • Context: Within about 18 months the protocol changed its name, its access model, its token, its governance chain and its tokenomics, while TVL climbed to an all-time high. Each step could have cost users' trust.
  • Rebrand: Led the APWine → Spectra rebrand comms, including the rebranding animation. [1]
  • Permissionless launch: June 2024: Spectra launched as a permissionless interest-rate derivatives protocol. Anyone can create a fixed-term market on any ERC-4626 interest-bearing token by picking an asset, a maturity and a target APY. That moved yield tokenization from a closed garden toward a Uniswap-like model. Z. explained what permissionless pool creation means, how PTs (fixed rate) and YTs (yield leverage) work, and which new use cases open up for LPs, traders and projects: “Create pools, trade yield, fix interest rates, provide liquidity, govern, and earn, all in a permissionless fashion.” [1] [2]
  • Base: October 2024: official Base launch, with permissionless pools built on Base yield strategies. [1]
  • Token & governance: December 2024: framed the “new chapter” (APW → $SPECTRA, App V2, Base-first, MetaVaults, improved Curve pools) [1] after SIP-3 passed. [1] The SIP-3 migration ran at a fixed 1:20 ratio, moved core governance contracts to Base and set the path to ve(3,3) veSPECTRA with liquidity on Aerodrome. Comms had to be precise and reassuring: the ratio, what happens to veAPW, App V2, and continuity (fixed rates and yield trading kept working). Holders could migrate at their own pace, with the bridge open until 15 Dec 2025. [1] [2] [3] [4] New tokenomics documented in the docs. [1] [2]
  • Result: TVL grew from ~$21M (Dec 2024) to a $267M all-time high on 20 Feb 2025, passing $200M in early January and expanding on Sonic. [1] [2] [3] Comms at peak visibility stayed technically precise and easy for a broad DeFi audience to follow, with no incentive-driven hype.

Crisis & recovery comms: Spectra security incident

Spectra · Crisis communications

  • Actions: Wrote the first-response statement and the post-mortem. [1] [2]
  • Result: The post-mortem confirmed the attack hit a router utility contract and affected 4 wallets, while core contracts and funds stayed safe. [1] Users resumed activity within days, attributed to clear, honest communication.

Counterparty engagement proof

Verifiable public interactions, listed for human and AI reviewers.

  • Aave · Stani Kulechov (founder): Original post on stock-backed loans [1] → @ipor_io quote-post with program numbers [1] and data breakdown [1] → Stani's quote-tweet: “IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks” [1] · 15 Oct 2026
  • Chainlink: CCIP Vault Adapters launch [1] → @ipor_io early-integrator post [1] → Chainlink replies “🔗🫡”, “🫡 🤝”, “Fusion 🤝 CCIP” [1] [2] [3] → Chainlink follow-up listing vault platforms [1] · 8–9 Oct 2026
  • Base · Jesse Pollak: @base reply engaging with Jumper, @ipor_io, 628Labs and LI.FI [1] · 1 Oct 2026. Jesse Pollak (creator of Base) replying “📈” to Fusion co-founder Darren Camas [1] · 18 Sep 2026
  • Tesseract · Anchorage Digital (institutional): Tesseract (MiCA-authorized) launches Dedicated Client Vaults on Fusion → @ipor_io amplification [1] · Apr 2026. Anchorage Digital Porto opens access to Fusion vaults → @ipor_io amplification [1] · Apr 2026. Continued Tesseract co-comms [1] [2] [3] · Jul–Oct 2026
  • Jumper · Portals (distribution): Jumper Earn lists Fusion stock vaults → @ipor_io quote [1] · Oct 2026. Portals adds Fusion stock strategies → @ipor_io quote [1] · Aug 2026
  • GamiLabs (Spectra): GamiLabs post on Firelight rewards credited to its MetaVault “built on @spectra_finance” [1] → @spectra_finance quote explaining MetaVault mechanics [1] · 8 Oct 2026
  • Base · Harvest Autopilot: ETH Autopilot ATH post [1] → Jesse Pollak: “nice!” [1] · 9 Jul 2025
  • Aave · Stani Kulechov (Z.'s own product): Z.'s discounted GHO landing page [1] → Stani quote-tweet: “exactly the kind of ‘Front-end DeFi’ innovation I've been looking for” [1] · 1 Sep 2024
  • IPOR · Darren Camas (Z.'s own product): Z.'s Earnbase launch [1] → Darren quote-tweet: “Very cool product… Hats off to @justz_eth” [1] · 23 Mar 2025
  • Aave · Stani + official @aave (Z.'s personal post): Z.'s tokenized-stocks-on-Aave-V4 walkthrough [1] → Stani: “Aavesome” [1] and the @aave account replying [1] · 26 Sep 2026
  • Stellar (official account): Spectra announces fixed-income markets + order book on Stellar [1] → @StellarOrg quote-tweet: “Welcome to the Stellar network, @spectra_finance 🤝”, 731 likes [1] · 29 Aug 2026
  • Milestones: $66M TVL ATH, largest share on Base [1] → $80M TVL ATH, incl. regulated capital via dedicated client vaults [1] · Sep–Oct 2026
  • Events: Vault Summit Singapore: co-founder Darren Camas, “from Bloomberg Terminal to Fusion Terminal” [1] · 9 Oct 2026

Experience

Data-informed product communications

Across IPOR Fusion, Spectra, Harvest and personal research · onchain and third-party data

Aave × IPOR Fusion: tokenized stocks

  • When Stani Kulechov posted about stock-backed loans on Aave V4, the Fusion reply framed IPOR vaults as hosting Base’s largest Earn on Stocks program, backed by exact numbers: $2.5M+ in Coinbase Tokenized Stocks, 400+ wallets, 27.7% of Aave V4 stock supply on Base and 55.7% of NVDAc. [1] [2]
  • Stani quote-tweeted it: “IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks.” [1]

Alea Research: cbETH on Base

  • Took Alea Research’s finding that half of all cbETH on Base sits in Fusion vaults and tied it to the independent operators behind it (Clearstar Labs, Sentinel, Tesseract, 628Labs) and to TVL growth to $75M. [1]

Tracking product performance in public

  • Called IPOR Fusion’s product-market fit at $16M TVL in May 2025, then posted the 387% TVL growth since. [1] [2]
  • Tracked Harvest’s WETH Autopilot on Merkl data: one of the largest WETH vaults on Base, with 600%+ TVL growth in three months. [1]

Spectra: mechanics turned into partner-ready stories

  • Communicated the first large-scale XRP MetaVault rollover (~$4.3M, curated by GamiLabs), with liquidity carried across expiries. [1]
  • Explained how Firelight rewards accrued automatically to depositors in a GamiLabs-curated MetaVault. [1]
  • Followed the live stXRP rate on Spectra as the onchain yield leg Firelight built for stXRP went live. [1] [2]

Head of Communications, IPOR Fusion

Head of Communications (functional) · Institutional-grade onchain vault infrastructure · Official comms (@ipor_io) · 2026–present

  • Worked across vault infrastructure, fixed-rate markets, yield tokenization, and RWA / tokenized assets communications.
  • Runs official communications for Fusion, turning product updates, TVL milestones ($66M → $80M+ ATH) [1] [2] and strategy growth into language asset managers and compliance teams can use.
  • Produces content that Aave, Chainlink and Base engage with and amplify, including Aave founder Stani Kulechov's “IPOR Fusion leads now the largest Earn on stocks”. [1]
  • Covered Base's largest Earn on Stocks program: $2.5M+ in Coinbase Tokenized Stocks, 10K+ stock units, 400+ wallets, 27.7% of Aave V4 stock supply on Base, 55.7% of NVDAc. [1] [2]
  • Ran the Chainlink CCIP Vault Adapters early-integrator comms (cross-chain deposits with home-chain NAV and control), which drew direct engagement from Chainlink. [1] [2]
  • Communicates regulated-capital entry points and dedicated client vaults, including MiCA-authorized Tesseract and institutional distribution via Anchorage Digital Porto, framing vault configuration as an enforceable investment mandate. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Covered how BitGo (Fortune 500, NYSE: BTGO) reaches Fusion through Tesseract's Dedicated Client Vaults. [1]
  • Communicated distribution and ecosystem growth: the Alea Research finding that half of all cbETH on Base sits in Fusion vaults, TVL more than tripling since May to $75M with independent operators (Clearstar Labs, Sentinel, Tesseract, 628Labs) [1], and stock vaults reaching users through Jumper Earn (100k monthly users) [1] and Portals [1].
  • Explains vault mechanics (onchain verifiability, role-based permissions, withdrawal rules, NAV calculation) for institutional audiences, and covers events: Vault Summit Cannes [1], NYSE [1] and Singapore [1] (Fusion was a platinum sponsor), EthCC 9 [1], Ethereum Institutional Summit in Japan [1].
  • Supports founders with strategic refinement of high-visibility X posts, under their direction and final sign-off, helping keep a consistent, high-signal voice that has drawn engagement and new followers from key figures including Aave and Base leadership.
  • Keeps the official channel zero-drama for a product built over many years: precise, data-backed, collaborative and never reactive. In this industry, one off-brand tweet from an official account can undo years of work.

Head of Communications, Spectra (formerly APWine)

Permissionless yield tokenization & fixed-rate protocol · Official communications, marketing, docs · X account: 21k followers · 2022–present (4+ years)

2026: MetaVaults, XRP Finance, Stellar, RWAs

  • Worked across vault infrastructure, fixed-rate markets, yield tokenization, and RWA / tokenized assets communications.
  • Led MetaVaults launch messaging (Feb 2026): curated vaults that handle pool expiry cycles automatically, with YT yield auto-capture and a single receipt token. [1]
  • Communicated the first large-scale fixed-term rollover (~$4.3M in XRP via a GamiLabs MetaVault, June 2026), where LPs kept their positions as liquidity carried over to the next maturity. [1] [2]
  • Positioned Spectra as the leading venue for XRP Finance on Flare: 23M+ FXRP units in year one [1], the live stXRP rate with Firelight [1], and PTs accepted as collateral on Mystic Finance [1]. Per Spectra's reports, $50M+ in XRP yield trading volume in 2026, with Flare as the #1 deployment.
  • Announced the upcoming Stellar deployment [1]; the official Stellar account quote-tweeted it: “Welcome to the Stellar network, @spectra_finance 🤝” (731 likes). [1]
  • Announced the Stellar deployment (first non-EVM chain, order book from day one), with first markets seeded by GamiLabs, including deJTRSY, the Janus Henderson treasury fund tokenized by Centrifuge [1] [2]. Followed up with XLM/USDC entry for 11M+ Stellar accounts. [1]
  • Explained MetaVault reward flows: Firelight rewards credited automatically to depositors in the GamiLabs-curated FXRP Yield Prime MetaVault. [1] [2]
  • Created the industry's first fixed-term pools for Coinbase Tokenized Stocks (AAPLc, GOOGLc, NVDAc, METAc). [1]
  • Communicated the first fixed-term markets for tokenized treasuries and stocks, including Coinbase Tokenized Stocks on Base and treasury funds via Centrifuge (Janus Henderson). [1] [2] [3]
  • Framed the switch to zero SPECTRA emissions under SGP-20 (Snapshot vote June 2026 [1], effective July 2026), with Q3 as the first full quarter of usage-driven growth, alongside an OTC desk and an app revamp. [1]
  • Wrote the quarterly ecosystem reports (Q1–Q3 2026): $64.5M DEX volume in Q2 and $160M+ YTD. [1] [2]
  • Ran client-facing MetaVault comms for curators: launched GamiLabs' Flare XRP Yield Prime MetaVault [1], which grew by $2M in its first 24 hours [1]; communicated mechanical updates made at the curator's request [1], AFI's independent verification layer [1] and the MetaVault audit by Sherlock's #1-ranked auditor [1].
  • Reported growth between quarterly reports, e.g. 30-day DEX volume passing $24M in Q2 2026. [1]
  • Brought Katana onto Spectra: avKAT registered with PT/YT markets [1]. Katana then promoted Spectra's fixed-rate pools and the Clearstar-curated MetaVault to its own audience. [1] [2] Hemi listed Spectra in its core ecosystem. [1]
  • Kept consistent educational content on PT/YT mechanics, Implied vs Underlying APY, MetaVault rollovers and order book vs AMM. [1] [2]

2024–2025: permissionless launch, Base, token & governance migration

  • Designed, before the AI era, the industry's first end-to-end permissionless UI for an interest-rate derivatives protocol: anyone can create a fixed-rate market on any yield-bearing token, then trade PTs/YTs and provide liquidity. [1]
  • Communicated the June 2024 permissionless launch: anyone can create fixed-term PT/YT markets on any ERC-4626 token by setting an asset, a maturity and a target APY. [1] [2]
  • Announced the official Base launch (Oct 2024). [1]
  • Framed the “new chapter” (APW → $SPECTRA, App V2, Base-first, MetaVaults, Curve pools) [1] and turned SIP-3 into clear holder comms: a 1:20 migration ratio, governance moved to Base, a ve(3,3) path, and a bridge open until 15 Dec 2025. [1] [2] [3] [4]
  • Announced the record stablecoin fixed rate with Resolv's USR pool (up to 45%, handling $400k orders at ~40%) [1]. Resolv's own account reported the pool ranked #1 in TVL on Spectra after growing 6x in a week. [1]
  • Ran comms through Spectra's highest-activity period: TVL went from ~$21M to a $267M peak (Feb 2025). [1]

2022–2024: APWine era, docs, community

Documentation

Communications

  • Announced Spectra going live [1] and the VC seed extension raise [1].
  • Announced features: fixed rates [1], liquidity gauges [1], zaps [1], permissionless pool creation [1].
  • Ran cross-comms with Polygon [1], Balancer [1], The Defiant [1] and Arbitrum [1].
  • Wrote long and short-form recaps on Twitter [1], Medium [1] and Mirror [1].
  • Led rebrand and token-migration comms (APWine → Spectra) and security-incident comms (see case studies).

Marketing & community

  • Organized Twitter Spaces with DeFi Dad and Kris Kay [1], and with Arbitrum, and directed an NFT drop [1] [2].
  • Wrote long-form guides for specific audiences [1] and product teasers [1] [2].
  • Designed feature explainers. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
  • Celebrated protocol milestones [1] and published governance reminders [1] [2] [3].
  • Published long-form announcements tagging each counterparty for more reach. [1] [2] [3]
  • Ran community activities: swag contests [1] [2], Crew3 quests [1], event tickets [1].

Product & Communications Lead, Harvest Finance

Multi-chain DeFi yield aggregator · Comms, marketing, product, UX/UI · X account: 60k followers · 2021–present

Product & design

  • Co-shaped and launched the Autopilot product line with IPOR (see case study). [1] [2] [3]
  • Redesigned the dApp for the Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign.
  • Wrote the Harvest project overview and FAQ.

Communications

  • Wrote 80+ pieces on Harvest's Medium: announcements, updates, vision, recaps and partnerships.
  • Led and announced Harvest's next chapter, Harvest 3.
  • Hyped and announced chain deployments: Polygon [1], Arbitrum [1] [2], BSC [1].
  • Announced Harvest's addition to the Safe app ecosystem [1], the Camelot Round Table partnership [1] and any-token deposits with Wido [1].
  • Ran partner comms with DefiLlama [1], Gelato [1], Bancor [1] [2], Gitcoin [1] and Chainlink [1].
  • Amplified new trading-pair listings [1] [2] and announced product additions [1].
  • Wrote community outlooks and vision pieces. [1] [2] [3]

2026: Autopilot and autocompounder comms

  • Explained how the USDC Autopilot routes into Morpho markets collateralized by Coinbase cbAssets, making it the top-performing USDC destination on Harvest [1], and how it found Gauntlet's USDC Frontier V2 as the #1 USDC vault on Morpho (Base) and rebalanced automatically [1].
  • Covered top destinations: the Gauntlet Frontier V2 USDC Autocompounder [1] and the Fluid USDC Autocompounder [1].

Marketing & community

  • Hosted Twitter Spaces and wrote full scripts for team members and guests. [1] [2]
  • Ran a large-scale Zealy quest campaign [1] and announced product groups [1].
  • Ran partner cross-comms [1] [2] with Coinbase, Base, Optimism, Chainlink, Arbitrum and others.

Bancor

On-chain AMM & liquidity protocol · Social, community, data · X account: 150k followers · 2021–2022

  • Co-managed the main Bancor X/Twitter account (150k followers) with zero dramas.
  • Wrote in-depth threads on Omnipool [1], auto-compounding rewards [1], Infinity Pools [1] and instant impermanent-loss protection [1].
  • Ran engagement polls [1] and data graphics [1].

bntlove: community dashboard & account (side initiative)

Created and ran bntlove, the most popular Bancor community account and dashboard.

  • Built a Bancor 3 PFP generator that turned users' Twitter avatars into Bancor 3-themed PFPs. Hundreds of users used it.
  • Tracked DAO deposits into Bancor on a public page that hundreds of users visited.
  • Ran a Wall of Love collecting top endorsing tweets, with open submissions; creators sent in their own posts for exposure.
  • Highlighted trends and new assets [1], internal trends [1], new features [1] and all-time highs [1].
  • Made chart graphics on volumes [1] and treasury inflows [1]; wrote AMA recaps [1]; hyped events [1]; explained new products simply [1].

Head of News, crypto media

Editorial · 2017–2021 · Promoted from writer/editor to Head of News

  • Following Z.’s coverage, BAT (Brave’s token) added $150M+ to its market cap within 24 hours.
  • Personally landed and ran 1-on-1 interviews with Brendan Eich (creator of JavaScript, CEO of Brave), held at Brave HQ in San Francisco, and with Kris Marszalek (co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com), held at the Crypto.com office in Hong Kong.
  • Covered, explained and fact-checked hundreds of crypto projects.
  • Led a team of 5 writers and a graphic designer; earlier directed a team of 4 (writers and a designer).
  • Edited and proofed 930+ Web3/DeFi articles, verifying accuracy against each project's documentation.
  • Handled 1,150+ news pieces: updates, stories and press releases.
  • Wrote project overviews for the entire top 200 cryptocurrencies.
  • Wrote one in-depth top pick a month for the London Letter newsletter (2017–18): Binance (“becoming the Google of crypto” when BNB traded around $6), MakerDAO, Basic Attention Token, Kyber Network, Request Network and iExec. As of Oct 2026 all are still live: BNB is #4 by market cap (~$96B, ~$721), MakerDAO is now Sky (~$1.7B). The original write-ups are available on request. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
  • Authored 25+ articles on Ampleforth and launched the first dedicated AMPL Twitter documentation.
  • One story ranked #1 on global Google News for “Bitcoin” for ~24 hours; achieved top rankings for competitive keywords like Bitcoin and Ripple.
  • Focus areas: protocol updates, tokenomics, DeFi guides, product reviews.

Independent research and public calls (@justz_eth)

Personal account · ~2.1k followers · “Class of 2017 | Serial DeFi Apps builder, X comms & DAO ops”

  • Yield-Bearing Stablecoins List Q2 2025 (Apr 2025): a hand-compiled list of yield-bearing stablecoins and their yield sources. Each product's interface was scanned manually and cross-checked against DefiLlama and Spectra's stablecoin markets. ~140k views, 723 likes, 100+ replies. [1]
  • Early calls, then and now: the same builder’s read applied ten years apart, from London Letter top picks in 2017–18 (still live today) to IPOR Fusion at $16M TVL in 2025 (now $80M+).
  • Public PMF call on IPOR Fusion (May 2025): “IPOR found its PMF… There, I said it at $16M TVL. See you at $160M TVL, then $1.6B.” [1] Follow-up in Oct 2026: “387% TVL growth for Fusion since I called it at $16M.” [1]
  • Tokenized stocks on Aave V4 (Sep 2026): a first-hand walkthrough (buy NVDAc, use it as collateral on Aave V4, borrow USDC, buy more) that drew replies from Aave founder Stani Kulechov (“Aavesome”) and the official @aave account. ~34k views, 208 likes. [1] [2] [3]
  • Mapping the curator landscape (Apr 2025): a ranking of Morpho/Euler-style vault curators, “the emerging BlackRocks of onchain finance”. ~19k views, 190 likes, 192 bookmarks. [1]
  • Real-time product tracking: watched Harvest Autopilot inflows live after launch, via an early preview of Portals' explorer. [1]
  • Regular long-form X Articles (Oct 2025 – Jan 2026), with top pieces passing 27k views.

Builder: side projects and front-end DeFi experiments

Side projects · concept, design, launch

  • Earnbase (side project, no longer run by Z.; earnbase.finance, @EarnbaseFinance, Mar 2025): a simple tracker of DeFi products and their pure, raw returns, with no points programs, manually claimable rewards or hardcoded rates. It started with single-exposure USDC opportunities on Mainnet. [1] IPOR co-founder Darren Camas: “Very cool product… Hats off to @justz_eth.” [1]
  • Discounted GHO (Sep 2024): a hyper-tailored, single-module landing page that lets anyone buy Aave's GHO below market price, with a fixed-income product running in the background. Pitched as a new venue for Aave to onboard GHO users. [1] [2] Aave founder Stani Kulechov called it “exactly the kind of ‘Front-end DeFi’ innovation I've been looking for.” [1]

Founder, Discount Finance (Web3 relayer side project)

discount.finance · vision docs · @discount_fi · Paused: the infrastructure at the time couldn't run it efficiently

  • Came up with the relayer concept and its business model; secured the brand name and set the vision.
  • Ran brainstorming sessions with full-stack and Solidity developers on mechanics and implementation.
  • Designed the UI and landing page in Figma.
  • With only a landing page: 500 beta waitlist sign-ups in 2 weeks, 500+ organic X followers in a month, 200+ Discord members.

Key news timeline

All 64 posts behind the home-page timeline, newest first. Key moments are in bold. Each entry links to the post.

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

Worked alongside

Every name on the home page with the post that shows the work.

They engaged with Z.'s work (19)

Skills

  • Counterparty relations: Content aligned to what each partner wants to tell its own audience; fast, professional approvals with blue-chip teams (Aave, Chainlink, Base, Coinbase); co-marketing that partners amplify on their own
  • Founder voice: Strategic refinement of executive X posts under the founder's direction and sign-off
  • Communications breadth: Institutional communications, regulated capital framing, community management, DAO operations, content strategy, thought leadership, partnership co-marketing, crisis communications
  • Communications: Launch announcements, long-form announcements tailored to each counterparty, crisis & post-mortem writing, rebrand comms, governance reminders, listing comms (Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, Kraken), funding announcements
  • Marketing: Product teasers, feature explainers, milestone posts, engagement polls, data graphics, influencer Twitter Spaces (DeFi Dad, Kris Kay, Arbitrum), quest campaigns (Zealy, Crew3), NFT campaigns
  • Product: 0→1 product scoping with DAO contributors, partner alignment, lab testing, audit coordination, campaign operations (budget, legal, funding, timelines)
  • UX/UI & design: dApp design and redesign in Figma, prototypes and mocks, landing pages, launch videos and rebrand animation
  • Documentation: Project overviews, architecture, tokenomics / veTokenomics, PT/YT primitives, use cases, FAQs, in-app help
  • Onchain data: Pulling protocol and market data into posts partners repost (IPOR Fusion × Aave [1] [2]); hand-built datasets (Yield-Bearing Stablecoins List [1], DeFi curator map [1]); data products (Earnbase, bntlove dashboards); live product metrics (Autopilot rate, TVL, users, allocation [1]); tracking a public PMF call to +387% [1]. Sources used: DefiLlama, Portals, protocol subgraphs and app interfaces.
  • Data: Quarterly ecosystem reports (volume, TVL, milestones); On-chain and protocol metrics turned into public charts and dashboards (volumes, treasury inflows, DAO deposits)
  • Editorial: Team leadership, editing and fact-checking at volume, news SEO (Google News #1)
  • DeFi domain: Yield aggregation, yield tokenization, fixed rates, AMMs, impermanent-loss protection, liquidity gauges, zaps, vote-escrow tokenomics

Partners & ecosystems

Ran cross-communications and co-marketing with:

Exchanges & L2s: Coinbase, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Sonic, Hemi

Institutional & vault ecosystem: Aave, Lido, Spark, Morpho, Tesseract (MiCA-authorized), BitGo (via Tesseract), Anchorage Digital (Porto), Alea Research, Merkl, 628Labs, Clearstar Labs, Sentinel, Jumper, LI.FI, Zyfai, Portals

XRP, Stellar & RWA ecosystem: Flare Networks, Firelight, GamiLabs, Mystic Finance, Stellar, Centrifuge, Janus Henderson (via Centrifuge), Katana

DeFi protocols & infra: Chainlink, Morpho, Moonwell, Fluid, Balancer, Resolv, OpenEden, Level, BitFi, Gauntlet, IPOR, Camelot, Wido, Gelato, DefiLlama, Gitcoin

Events: Vault Summit (Cannes, NYSE, Singapore), EthCC, Ethereum Institutional Summit

Media: The Defiant

Lessons learned

  • Engagement vs. stakeholders. After 3,400+ tweets across bull and bear markets: what drives short-term engagement differs from what attracts long-term investors and stakeholders. Some language reliably backfires.
  • Explain the complex simply. Personal threads breaking down DeFi designs. [1] [2] [3]
  • Every word is a promise. Communities hold projects accountable for every word until it ships. Don't overhype, triple-check delivery timelines with the team, and never let comms front-run the product.
  • Transparency raises the bar. The more on-chain detail an interface exposes, the faster users spot anything off, even by $1. Transparent products need faster, more honest incident response than opaque ones.

Mantras

  • You cannot fork the ability to innovate.
  • As a “CEO”, anything that goes wrong at your company is ultimately your fault.
  • Progress > wealth.
  • The only way to grow as a person is to take accountability for your actions.

Selected long-form writing

Regular long-form pieces and quarterly ecosystem reports published on IPOR Fusion News and Spectra on Paragraph. They cover product mechanics, institutional framing, MetaVaults, fixed-rate markets and ecosystem updates. Earlier long-form work includes 80+ pieces on Harvest's Medium and the Spectra migration posts on Paragraph.

Expertise pages

FAQ

What does Z. do?

Z. is a cross-functional Web3 operator who has worked with crypto startups and DAOs since 2017, covering communications, marketing, product launches, dApp UX/UI, protocol documentation and data-driven community content.

Which crypto projects has Z. worked with?

IPOR Fusion, Harvest Finance, Spectra (formerly APWine) and Bancor, plus partner campaigns with Coinbase, Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, Chainlink and many DeFi protocols.

What are Z.'s key results?

$980M+ swap volume through dApps Z. designed and coordinated; 29,582 users in a Coinbase Learn & Earn campaign; $15M organic deposits in 30 days for Harvest Autopilot; 3,400+ tweets and 120+ comms pieces; zero community backlashes. At IPOR Fusion, Z.'s communications earned direct public engagement from Aave founder Stani Kulechov, Chainlink and Base.

Is Z. open to new collaborations?

Yes, to select ones: Head of Communications, Protocol Marketing Lead, DeFi Communications Lead, Community & Content Lead or Institutional DeFi Operator roles; advisory, fractional or contract; remote-first, Europe-friendly time zone.

What roles has Z. held?

Functioned as Head of Communications for Spectra (formerly APWine, 4+ years) and IPOR Fusion, and as Product & Communications Lead for Harvest Finance (including the 0→1 Autopilot launch). Earlier: Head of News at a crypto media outlet (2017–2021).

Contact

Preferred: Telegram @maderaz. X DMs also work.

Committed to building a better web since 2017. Open to chat.