Introducing Harbor: Future Proof Finance

We’re entering an era of structural uncertainty, where stablecoins fragment, app chains proliferate, new L1s emerge, assets move on-chain, and quantum computing questions existing implementations. In this environment, networks demand interconnectivity and flexibility. Harbor is built for that reality, future proof by design, enabling fast connection to new chains as they emerge and prove their utility. It operates at the infrastructure layer, ready to navigate shifting market structure and provide the connective tissue needed to bring all of finance on-chain.

This is our story.

Pluto is a True Pioneer in the Cross Chain Space

Pluto is one of the most capable and experienced engineers in crypto. He helped scale THORChain from fragile early infrastructure into a system that powered in-wallet swaps across major wallets, running battle-tested infrastructure on every major chain that processed billions of dollars in volume. Initially, he was brought in to fix security vulnerabilities that plagued the protocol after it was hacked and drained of tens of millions of dollars. He put in place engineering best practices that made the network stable, and eventually relaunched it, helping the team regain the trust of the community. In many ways, he was the technical backbone of the protocol.

He not only proved himself technically. Very quickly, he had a strong voice and influence both on the team and with the community. He led community discussions and governance calls on X and Discord, directing the protocol while the founders had stepped away entirely. During this time, Pluto oversaw the development of chain integrations and features that would allow the protocol to finally achieve PMF, ushering in major new wallet integrations such as Trust Wallet, Ledger, and many others. By combining MPC, AMMs and wallet integrations, THORChain pioneered an accessible approach to Bitcoin DeFi and native cross-chain swaps.

Source: The Block

Despite the progress, THORChain ultimately failed at the governance layer. Decisions were pushed through that prioritized short-term token dynamics over system safety and sustainability. The founders returned to push through ThorFi, a mechanism not unlike Terra Luna, which would sell collateral and buy the native token RUNE, effectively rolling a synthetic BTC/RUNE short into the protocol. Once BTC dominance reverted, the protocol ran out of collateral, sparking a bank-run. The validators had no option but to halt withdrawals and lock the collateral in the protocol, socializing losses. When those choices unraveled and the damage became irreversible, Pluto refused to paper over the truth or lend credibility to a system he no longer believed could be responsibly stewarded. Walking away was not an exit from responsibility, but a refusal to compromise his principles once governance had broken down.

Pluto is a veteran DeFi protocol engineer with high integrity and unmatched experience in native-asset swaps and cross-chain infrastructure. He’s a no BS transparency maximalist, even when it calls for admitting uncomfortable truths. He believes deeply in decentralization, but he is not naive to its drawbacks. I saw it firsthand when we worked together in the AirSwap days: he not only ships, he leads teams, communities, and hard conversations. Harbor exists because he refused to let years of hard-won engineering, community leadership, and real innovation die with broken governance.

Together we have unprecedented Founder-Market Fit.

It’s been a while since I’ve worked on something full time; I had a great run, and wanted to take time off after being early to both HFT and Ethereum, and wait for something really big. I’m an investor and builder who has proven experience navigating turmoil in markets and has launched ventures with a focus on building efficient financial systems that transform how value is communicated globally.

I began my career on Wall Street, rising to Partner at Virtu Financial, a leader in high-frequency and algorithmic trading. At Virtu, I traded nearly every asset class on every exchange globally, and maintained licenses across multiple jurisdictions. We built Virtu Asia, expanding the firm’s international footprint, and contributed to its successful IPO. That foundation in proprietary trading, market microstructure, and data systems instilled a deep understanding of markets and shaped the trajectory of my work in crypto.

After Virtu, we founded AirSwap, one of the first decentralized exchanges on Ethereum, pioneering non-custodial, peer-to-peer trading that has since processed billions in volume. AirSwap was later acquired by MetaMask and ConsenSys, where our team built MetaMask Swaps, now one of the most widely used and highest-revenue products in DeFi. Through AirSwap and MetaMask, we introduced some of the earliest scalable frameworks for decentralized trading, helping define core concepts that underpin today’s DeFi landscape, influenced Web3 UI/UX, and contributed to the legal and technical foundations that shaped modern decentralized markets.

With successful ventures across both traditional and crypto capital markets, I understand the rigor, nuance, and regulatory awareness each domain demands. As Wall Street accelerates its adoption of blockchain and crypto becomes increasingly ubiquitous, my focus is on building the infrastructure that bridges these financial worlds, and I’ll use my experience to make Harbor’s vision a reality.

Bringing Finance On-Chain.

Pluto and I reconnected in New York in early 2025. We had worked together years earlier at AirSwap, so there was already trust. He told me about the dilemma they faced, and wanted to continue the vision. I immediately knew this was the right kind of problem to go after: big, unfinished, and challenging enough to sink our teeth into.

Pluto understood the technology, brought team members and community good will, and I had the network, founder and capital markets experience. Together, we designed a system that incorporates the best of both worlds, decentralized custody and a matching engine capable of servicing sophisticated counterparties, and incorporating all the learnings of the past years in DeFi. A few weeks after first discussing, the team convened to pressure-test the vision. I found them mission-aligned and hungry: the kind of team you can build an L1 with. So I went all in.

Over the spring and summer we completed a strategic round to align partners on our long term success.

Susquehanna Crypto and Triton Capital (formerly Kraken Ventures, the venture arm of one of the leading US exchanges) led the Harbor round. Other investors include market makers Selini, Auros, Hermeneutic, and Kronos Research, as well as notable crypto family offices and top angels, which all have aligned around Harbor’s vision, providing capital, liquidity, and expertise.

We then went heads down, pushing forward our L1, connecting with live liquidity, now servicing real customers in our first wallet. Over the coming months, we will be scaling trades and liquidity, and considering further primitives to launch.

Harbor is Live.

Harbor is a chain-agnostic liquidity layer for DeFi, designed from day one for professional liquidity provision: tight spreads, predictable execution, and real performance. Over time, the protocol will expand to support additional DeFi primitives, centered around Bitcoin and stablecoins, and ultimately cover all global assets as they move on-chain. Our goal is to build a next-generation, future-proof DEX that becomes a ubiquitous backend for wallets and applications, grounded in principled decentralization and a clear-eyed view of how DeFi should operate.

My responsibility is to connect Harbor to the wider market, particularly as Wall Street and institutional capital begin to adopt this technology. Together, this marks the third DEX we’ve helped lead. Collectively, the protocols we’ve built have processed over $200bn in volume.

Pluto brings the technical foundation and mission. I bring deep markets experience, trading DNA, and industry connectivity. Together, we complement each other, and that balance is reflected in the system we’ve designed. We have the vision, team, and partners to make in-wallet DeFi more cohesive, delivering the capital efficiency and performance users expect from traditional finance, while preserving transparency, security, and self-sovereignty.

The primitives, infra, bandwidth, wallets, assets, and user behavior; everything has finally converged. The era of centralized exchange dominance has reached the beginning of its end. The future is high performance, decentralized, native assets exchanges, and we designed Harbor exactly for this moment.

Follow us @Harbor_DEX for the latest news and developments.