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Figment CEO Lorien Gabriel’s Big Bet on Staking Has Paid Off

Published

5 месяцев ago

28 января, 2025

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Lorien Gabel has spent decades building internet infrastructure companies, from ISPs to cloud security firms. In 2018, recognizing the transformative potential of proof-of-stake networks, he co-founded Figment, which has since become one of the world’s largest independent staking providers, offering technology and services that enable users to stake their tokens without having to use a centralized exchange or custodian.

Today, the company manages $15 billion in assets and serves over 500 institutional clients.

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Here, Gabriel, who will be a speaker at Consensus Hong Kong, discusses Figment’s expansion into Asia, bitcoin staking experiments and his company’s careful process for deciding which new crypto networks to support.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

What led you to start Figment?

This is the fourth company my co-founders and I have built together over three decades. Our previous ventures were all in internet infrastructure. When we started exploring blockchain in 2018, staking was barely a thing — Tezos had launched, and Ethereum was still only discussing it. But we saw a natural alignment between our expertise in network security, cloud infrastructure and scaling B2B solutions and what proof-of-stake (PoS) could become. If PoS gained traction, we believed our experience in building secure, institutional-grade networks would be invaluable.

We originally planned to start a fund, and now we do have a VC fund. But the fund didn’t come first — the staking infrastructure company did, and then we launched Figment Capital. We basically took a flyer on proof-of-stake, believing it had some advantages over proof-of-work, and we were lucky enough that it actually worked and took off.

How large is Figment now?

We currently manage $15 billion in staking assets and serve 500 institutional clients. While employee count isn’t always a meaningful metric, we have about 130 employees and expect to reach 150 by year-end. Asia is our next big expansion focus. We opened our Singapore office last year, and we’re adding Japan, Hong Kong and other key markets. While North America remains our base, Asia’s demand for staking services is growing rapidly.

What challenges do you see to Asia’s adoption of staking compared to other regions?

First, Asia isn’t one market — it’s a collection of vastly different economies and regulatory landscapes. Japan, Indonesia and Korea, for example, have distinct business cultures, adoption levels and regulatory frameworks. We’ve always been compliance-focused, working only with institutional clients rather than retail users. But in Asia, compliance varies widely by country. Unlike the U.S., where you primarily navigate SEC and CFTC rules, each Asian market has its own regulators and policies.

Also, Western companies often fail when expanding into Asia by not understanding local hiring, scaling strategies or customer behavior. I was born in Kuala Lumpur, and I’ve seen North American firms overinvest too quickly or misread market needs. That’s why we started small in Singapore with three people, so we could learn before scaling.

Education is another challenge. In many Asian markets, staking is not well-defined and is sometimes misconstrued as DeFi lending. We spend a lot of time at conferences, client meetings and media interviews explaining what staking is and why institutions should consider it over riskier yield-generating alternatives.

What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business, and how did you overcome it?

The hardest part of any startup is the “zero to one” phase — figuring out whether an idea will work, what customers need and how the business model will evolve.

Early on, we ran multiple experiments — we had a remote procedure call (RPC) infrastructure business, a developer knowledge portal and different revenue streams. But once we found a strong product-market fit in staking, we shut down the rest and focused entirely on scaling one core offering.

The second major challenge is crypto’s volatility. Our business operates like a mix between a data center company, a fund and a software business, but with variable pricing in dozens of volatile digital assets. That complicates planning. I joke that my unofficial title is “Chief Stoic” — I don’t get too euphoric when markets are booming, and I don’t panic when things go south. Whether it’s FTX’s collapse or bitcoin hitting $100,000, we focus on long-term execution.

Are you seeing increased institutional interest in staking in Asia?

Yes, institutional adoption is accelerating, particularly from banks and telecoms. We’ve had institutional equity investors from Asia for a while — big names like Monex and B Capital—but over the last year, we’ve seen more traditional financial institutions actively entering staking. Each market has its own dominant exchanges and custodians, and we often partner with them rather than dealing with end users. As more banks explore staking, we expect adoption to snowball — similar to how institutions in the U.S. started cautiously investing in staking before scaling operations.

How do you decide which tokens to support for staking? Do Asian markets influence this?

We have an evaluation framework that we’ve refined over the past six years. Since we can only support a limited number of new tokens each year, we have to be selective — last year, we added support for 12 or 13, which is quite a lot given the complexity of each integration. Right now, we’re supporting around 40 networks, but every new addition requires careful analysis.

The process starts with the basics: is this a real project or a scam? Does it have a strong thesis and a team capable of executing it? In many ways, it mirrors a VC framework. From there, we dig deeper, speaking with the foundation and founders, assessing the level of custody support available — since that’s crucial for institutional adoption — and evaluating the broader ecosystem.

At some point, though, when you have 20 strong candidates but can only support 10, you have to make a bet. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. Over the years, we’ve seen enough network launches to develop a strong intuition about what works and what doesn’t. We try to offer guidance to projects where we can, though ultimately, it’s up to them whether they take our input.

Customer demand is another factor in our decision-making, and the Asian market is an important part of this. Occasionally, a major institutional client will request support for a project we might not have otherwise considered — or even heard of — so we conduct an expedited evaluation. In some cases, we’ve had to tell clients no, either because we don’t see the project as legitimate or we suspect it might be a scam. Those are tough conversations, but they’re necessary. Ultimately, we also look at how many of our clients are likely to hold or stake a given token, which plays into our final decision.

With many Asian investors seeking high-yield opportunities, how does Figment ensure competitive returns while staying secure and reliable?

Staking is not the highest-yield activity in crypto, but it’s the safest way to earn yield without counterparty risk. We focus on providing the highest risk-adjusted staking rewards. While some providers chase higher returns by cutting corners (e.g., ignoring OFAC compliance or MEV risks), our clients — mainly institutions — prioritize security and compliance.

In crypto, staking is the equivalent of a 10-year Treasury bond — it’s the stable, reliable option compared to high-risk DeFi strategies. Some investors prefer liquidity pooling or lending for higher yields, but institutions typically choose staking for its security.

Are there any staking-related trends or innovations in Asia that excite you?

Some of the most exciting trends in staking right now include liquid staking and re-staking, with EigenLayer leading the charge globally in these areas and having a strong presence in Asia. Bitcoin staking is another area of interest, with projects like Babylon exploring its potential, though demand remains uncertain. Additionally, we’re seeing new chains with significant Asian influence, such as BeraChain, which is rapidly growing its user base in the region. We’re actively supporting BTC staking while closely monitoring new staking models emerging from Asia.

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ETH Price Surges as $2.9B Inflows, EthCC, and Robinhood’s L2 Fuel Bullish Sentiment

Published

3 часа ago

30 июня, 2025

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Ether (ETH) 3.5% in the past 24 hours to $2,519 as of 18:59 UTC on June 30, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model, supported by continued institutional demand, network upgrades, and major retail platform integrations.

Institutional interest remains robust, with CoinShares reporting $429 million in net inflows into ether investment products over the past week and nearly $2.9 billion year-to-date. This trend has coincided with a declining ETH supply on exchanges and rising staking levels, with over 35 million ETH —a round 28% of the total supply — now locked in proof-of-stake contracts. Market analysts suggest that these factors are reducing liquid supply and bolstering ether’s long-term investment thesis.

Robinhood announced on Monday that it is developing its own Layer-2 blockchain using Arbitrum’s rollup infrastructure. The network is not yet live, but the initiative will eventually support Ethereum staking, tokenized stock trading, and perpetual crypto futures. Although the L2 is under development, the decision to build it on Ethereum’s rollup ecosystem is seen as a long-term vote of confidence in Ethereum’s scalability roadmap.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also introduced a new digital identity framework using zero-knowledge proofs. This system allows users to verify traits or credentials without revealing private data and is designed to help Web3 apps incorporate privacy-preserving identity systems. Analysts view this as a key step toward wider adoption of decentralized applications requiring sensitive user authentication.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) kicked off in Cannes, France, gathering more than 6,400 attendees and 500 speakers. The event showcases Ethereum’s ongoing developer momentum through presentations on new tools, scaling strategies, and protocol improvements.

Despite the positive momentum, ETH remains just below its 200-day moving average, suggesting technical barriers still exist. However, the confluence of inflows, developer progress, and scaling plans continues to support a constructive outlook.

Technical Analysis Highlights

Ether traded between $2,438.50 and $2,523 from June 29 19:00 to June 30 18:00, marking a 3.47% range.
The largest spike occurred during the 22:00–23:00 UTC window on June 29, when ETH surged 2.9% on volume of 368,292 ETH, briefly pushing through the $2,500 barrier.
On June 30 at 15:00 UTC, ETH found strong support around $2,438 on above-average volume, confirming a bullish floor.
A local high of $2,523 was reached earlier in the day, establishing resistance just above the psychological $2,500 level.
During the final hour from 18:00 to 18:59 UTC on June 30, ETH retraced from an intraday peak of $2,499.19 to close at $2,487.19.
A sharp upward move between 18:20–18:21 saw ETH climb 1.6% on 6,318 ETH volume, stalling near $2,499.
As of 20:23 UTC on June 30, ETH traded at $2,519, up 3.49% in 24 hours, signaling renewed bullish momentum into the Asia open.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

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Circle Applies for National Trust Bank Charter

Published

4 часа ago

30 июня, 2025

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Circle (CRCL), the company behind the USDC stablecoin, said Monday it has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to form a federally regulated national trust bank.

A federal trust charter would bring Circle under direct OCC oversight, aligning it with how traditional financial institutions are regulated. If approved, the new entity, which would be called First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. would oversee custody of USDC reserves and offer services tailored to institutions. If approved, Circle would join the ranks of federally chartered institutions like Paxos and Anchorage, both of which previously secured trust bank status to offer crypto-related services nationwide.

The trust bank status would allow Circle to operate across state lines without obtaining separate licenses in each state — a hurdle that has complicated expansion for many digital asset companies. It would also permit Circle to offer regulated digital asset custody services to institutional customers.

The move signals a strategic effort by Circle to solidify its regulatory standing as the U.S. mulls legislation like the GENIUS Act, which would create new guardrails for dollar-backed stablecoins. The company said becoming a national trust bank would help it meet anticipated requirements under the bill, which passed through the Senate earlier this month and now awaits a vote in the House of Representatives.

«By applying for a national trust charter, Circle is taking proactive steps to further strengthen our USDC infrastructure,» Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement. «We will align with emerging U.S. regulation for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins, which we believe can enhance the reach and resilience of the U.S. dollar, and support the development of crucial, market neutral infrastructure for the world’s leading institutions to build on.”

Circle went public last month and issues the world’s second-largest stablecoin, USDC, and the leading euro-pegged token EURC.

The OCC, which oversees national banks and federal savings associations, must still review and approve Circle’s application. The agency has granted similar charters to a handful of crypto firms in recent years, signaling growing regulatory acceptance of digital asset companies operating within the traditional banking framework.

UPDATE (June 30, 2025, 20:50 UTC): Adds additional information.

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HBAR Climbs 2.1% as Traders Digest ETF Review, AI Launch, and Energy Governance Move

Published

4 часа ago

30 июня, 2025

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Hedera’s native token HBAR HBAR extended its rally on Sunday, trading up 2.1% to $0.1519 as of 19:56 UTC on June 30, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model.

The move follows a flurry of ecosystem updates that broaden Hedera’s enterprise reach and reinforce its growing footprint in AI, gaming, and sustainability.

On June 24, Blockchain for Energy (B4E), a nonprofit focused on sustainability data management in the energy sector, officially joined the Hedera Governing Council. B4E already runs its carbon tracking platform on the Hedera network, and its addition brings domain expertise in emissions reporting and digital MRV (measurement, reporting, and verification) standards. As a council member, B4E will run its own node and contribute to governance decisions—particularly those aligned with environmental transparency and enterprise accountability.

Just two days later, Hedera unveiled its AI Studio, an open-source software development kit designed to help developers build decentralized applications powered by artificial intelligence. The suite includes an Agent Kit that integrates with LangChain and enables AI agents to interact directly with Hedera’s consensus and token services using natural language commands. The goal is to lower the barrier for AI-native apps while maintaining onchain auditability, transparency, and regulatory alignment.

On the gaming front, Hedera Foundation announced on June 19 a partnership with The Binary Holdings (TBH), a Web3 infrastructure firm. The collaboration aims to bring Hedera-based gaming apps to mobile users in Southeast Asia via OneWave, TBH’s decentralized app store. Integrated into native telecom platforms across Indonesia and the Philippines, OneWave is expected to onboard over 169 million users with built-in Web3 rewards and onchain verification.

Meanwhile, in mid-June, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began a formal review of the Canary HBAR ETF, which would offer direct exposure to HBAR via a regulated investment vehicle. A public comment period is now open ahead of the SEC’s July 7 deadline. If approved, the ETF could catalyze broader institutional access and further legitimize HBAR’s role in capital markets—though regulatory scrutiny remains high, and analysts remain divided on long-term token utility.

Technical Analysis Highlights

HBAR traded in a 4.1% range from $0.1478 to $0.1538 between June 29 19:00 UTC and June 30 18:59 UTC.
A strong breakout occurred during the 22:00 hour on June 29, with price surging to $0.154 on volume of 104.5M units.
Major support formed at $0.148 between 14:00–15:00 UTC on June 30, with 80.6M units traded.
From 18:00–18:59 UTC on June 30, HBAR showed a V-shaped recovery, dipping to $0.149 before rebounding.
During the 18:20–18:21 UTC window on June 30, price stabilized with 1.3M in volume, forming short-term support at $0.149.
As of 19:56 UTC on June 30, HBAR traded at $0.1519, up 2.1% for the day with resistance seen at $0.1538.