Keyrock: Keeping crypto liquid and the future of DeFi

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Summary

Keyrock is a market maker that facilitates the adoption of tokenized economies. It trades on over 85 exchanges and in 500 markets, with a trading volume of billions of dollars. Juan David Mendieta is Keyrock's co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer.

Mendieta is a serial entrepreneur, strategist, and business developer with a master's degree in innovation and management from Solvay. He founded four successful businesses and is an angel investor who believes in Bitcoin as an economic model.

Juan-David grew up in Colombia as part of a family involved in monetary policy, so he was exposed to concepts such as interest rates and money supply. He was drawn to Bitcoin as an alternative economic model to the central bank model he was familiar with.

Mendieta believes that financial systems have the potential to empower society and create wealth, but he also recognises their vulnerability to systemic failure. He is particularly interested in the long-term impact of financial markets and economic models on societal development. Mendieta is a thought leader and entrepreneur who has made significant contributions to the digital asset space.

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Key takeaways

• Juan-David questions the traditional economic model and how it relates to Bitcoin, suggesting that Bitcoin could be a viable alternative to the traditional economic model.
• Piers and Juan-David discuss the differences between a store of value and fiat currency, as well as the impact of a deflationary asset such as Bitcoin on debt and interest rates.
• Because rising asset values might result in higher interest rates, the deflationary nature of Bitcoin can have an impact on debt.
• Juan-David suggests that in the future, we could live in a world where all value is held in digital assets, and we would no longer need a separate exchange asset. He uses an example of headphones with an NFT (non-fungible token) to illustrate how this could work.

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Chapters

[01:14] The source of Juan-David’s passion for cryptocurrency

[02:51] The unique perspective of a central banker on Bitcoin's potential value

[05:30] Differences between fiat currency and store of value: impact on debt and interest rates in a Bitcoin-based hard money system

[08:55] Piers' thoughts on Juan-David's thesis that all value can be held in digital assets without the need for a separate exchange asset and blockchain's potential to facilitate value exchange with a time component

[12:55] Piers and Juan-David discuss a universal method for exchanging cryptocurrency, mentioning Bancor's ICO and expressing admiration for Carbon, an AMM developed by Bancor DAO contributors.

[14:35] Juan-David's idea that everything has a value and can be traded for everything else — Keyrock's role and thoughts on the current and future importance of token liquidity and market making

[19:37] The differences between market making and the Uniswap model — When should a project move from a bootstrap liquidity model to a market maker?

[25:54] The Keyrock DeFi team and its unique approach to market making, focusing on both centralised and decentralised exchanges

[28:48] The Keyrock team's research findings on up-and-coming DeFi companies, specifically GMX 

[32:52] The GMX protocol for advanced capital providers allows for selective positioning and efficient price discovery.

[35:13] Upcoming developments in the DeFi space, such as Carbon

[37:41] The potential of derivatives on decentralised exchanges: incorporating pricing models into derivatives

[41:43] How projects looking for a market maker can get in touch with Keyrock

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Further resources

• Website: keyrock.eu 
• Twitter: @KeyrockTrading
• Juan-David’s Twitter: @JuanDMendieta
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/keyrock/ 

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