Ethereum

Just wrapped up Ethereum App Builders Roundtable #4 featuring ether.fi & vaults.fyi

We covered staking, DeFi yield, protocol insights, and building on Ethereum   

Overview thread for the lazy who don’t want to listen to the recording  

1/15 🧵👇

Just wrapped up Ethereum App Builders Roundtable #4 featuring ether.fi & vaults.fyi

We covered staking, DeFi yield, protocol insights, and building on Ethereum   

Overview thread for the lazy who don’t want to listen to the recording  

1/15 🧵👇
https://x.com/i/spaces/1BdGYqBENeYGX

/ethereum foundation | opinions are my own but more than likely they come from Vitalik's blog paragraph.xyz/@chaskin

2/15 🧵ether_fi: From Staking to a Crypto-Native Bank

- Started with liquid staking & restaking (~5% of all ETH staked)
- Now expanding into a full DeFi suite: yield vaults, non-custodial wallets, credit cards, and borrowing
- The goal? A crypto-native Revolut/Chime alternative

4/15 🧵Challenges in Building ether.fi Cash: 

- Regulatory grind: Licensing (EMI, VASP, Visa/Mastercard approvals)
 - Bootstrapping a banking alternative while staying compliant 
- Long-term goal: Cut reliance on TradFi, create an onchain payments network

5/15 🧵On Staking & Decentralization:

- ether.fi delegates across 20+ node operators + supports solo stakers with DVT
- Pre-Pectra, built safeguards against node operators holding funds hostage
- Focused on reducing centralization risk in Ethereum staking

6/15 🧵Thoughts on Ethereum Scaling:

"If I had a magic wand, I'd scale L1 in addition to L2 improvements. The goal should be increasing Ethereum’s throughput while keeping decentralization."

7/15 🧵Where does ether.fi’s yield come from?

- Some DeFi yields still fueled by speculation
- Now supplemented by tokenized RWAs like US Treasuries
- Long-term goal: Real economic activity driving on-chain yield

8/15 🧵vaults.fyi Making Onchain Yield Easy

- A onestop shop for DeFi yield, aggregating 500+ vaults across 40+ protocols
- Helps users find, compare, and manage yield strategies across Ethereum & L2s
- No smart contract custody, just surfacing data, risk insights, & execution

9/15 🧵 How vaults.fyi approaches risk:

- Risk in DeFi is complex: Smart contract risk, governance, exploits
- They focus on reputation-based scoring (protocol longevity, collateral quality, L2 security)
- Future: More tools for user risk transparency & alerts

10/15 🧵How vaults.fyi is growing:

- Word of mouth, organic growth from DeFi power users
- Partnering with protocols to help users discover & manage yield
- Focus on wallet integrations to make DeFi yield accessible natively

11/15 🧵Smart Wallets & UX:

- Integrated Coinbase Smart Wallets for seamless deposits & account abstraction
- Excited for EIP-7702 to bring smart accounts to more users
- Long-term vision: A DeFi super app for yield, embedded into wallets & dApps

12/15 🧵Challenges in Building on Ethereum:

- Multi-chain complexity: Which L2 to launch on? How to bridge assets?
- Need better interoperability & account abstraction for users
- Predicts DeFi UX will be unrecognizably better in 1-2 years

13/15 🧵 Advice for DeFi Builders:

- Focus on clean, user-friendly products, not just complex mechanics
- Solve real problems & avoid overly technical UX
- Talk to users directly, listen to their concerns, make DeFi intuitive

14/15 🧵Final Message from vaults.fyi:

"Go onboard your friends. Talk to people about DeFi, help them get started, listen to their concerns, and build accordingly. That’s how we make this space better."

15/15 🧵Massive thanks to ether.fi & vaults.fyi for sharing their insights

If you're building on Ethereum & want to be featured in a future space, reach out!

3/15 🧵 ether.fi Cash:

- A non-custodial smart wallet & credit card for direct spending
- 1:1 spending, no fees, 3% cashback, and borrowing against DeFi positions
- Future vision: A full banking replacement built on Ethereum