Managing $2B+ in On Chain Assets, with KPK Co-Founder Marcelo Ruiz de Olano
In this episode, Lex speaks with Marcelo Ruiz de Olano, Co-Founder of KPK (Karpatkey), an on-chain asset management firm born out of Gnosis DAO. Marcelo recounts KPK’s evolution from stewarding Gnosis’s $1B treasury to advising on more than $2B for leading protocols like ENS, Balancer, and the Ethereum Foundation. The discussion dives into the mechanics of non-custodial treasury management - balancing governance, security, and risk - along with strategies across lending, liquidity provision, and stablecoin yields. Marcelo also shares why the rise of large Ethereum treasury companies could be a turning point for DeFi, injecting institutional-scale liquidity and potentially making ETH more liquid than Bitcoin.
NOTABLE DISCUSSION POINTS:
- Origins and Scale of On-Chain Treasury Management
KPK spun out of Gnosis DAO, which had one of the earliest and largest on-chain treasuries (~$1B). From there, KPK evolved into an independent manager now advising on over $2B of DAO and foundation treasuries (ENS, Balancer, Ethereum Foundation, etc.), pioneering non-custodial, fully on-chain asset management practices. - Conservative, Mission-Driven Approach vs. Yield-Chasing
Unlike many DeFi actors during “DeFi Summer,” KPK deliberately rejected risky high-yield strategies. Instead, they prioritized capital preservation and mission alignment—for example, ensuring ENS’s treasury only supports Ethereum-strengthening initiatives (like minority client staking or avoiding centralization risks). This contrarian, values-driven approach built trust and positioned them as long-term stewards of DeFi treasuries. - Transformative Potential of Ethereum Treasury Companies
Marcelo highlights that emerging Ethereum treasury firms (similar to MicroStrategy’s BTC play) could deploy $10B+ in ETH treasuries. A single such “mega whale” could inject unprecedented liquidity into DeFi—making ETH potentially more liquid than BTC, bootstrapping entire verticals (DEX liquidity, lending, insurance), and creating a flywheel where treasury strategies directly accelerate Ethereum’s adoption and price stability.
TOPICS
KPK, Gnosis, Gnosis Safe, Balancer, Aave, Maker, Sky, Uniswap, Morpho, Ethereum Foundation, on-chain asset management, DAO, decentralized autonomous organization, treasury management, DeFi, tokenization, ETH, Ether, stablecoin, USDC
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TIMESTAMPS
1’08: From Gnosis to KPK: Building the Infrastructure for On Chain Treasury Management
8’00: Playing It Safe: How KPK Built Long Term DeFi Strategies in a Risk Obsessed Market
11’50: DeFi Lending Unlocked: How KPK Assesses Risk and Builds Yield Strategies with Stablecoins and Leverage
17’11: Treasury Playbooks: Matching DeFi Investment Strategies to Risk Profiles and DAO Values
20’32: Stablecoin Farming and DAO Drama: Navigating Risk, Governance, and Community Conflicts
23’18: From Impermanent Loss to Long Term Gain: Liquidity Provision and the Case for OG DeFi Protocols
26’33: Behind the Smart Contracts: Why Human Ops and Governance Still Run On Chain Asset Management
30’11: The Rise of Ethereum Treasury Companies: How On Chain Giants Will Super
