Julien Bouteloup Quietly Builds DeFi While Others Chase Hype

• Julien Bouteloup prefers building quiet infrastructure over chasing crypto trends or personal branding.
• He founded Stake DAO, co-developed Curve, and launched Rekt News to push transparency in DeFi.

When Julien Bouteloup’s name is mentioned in DeFi circles, the reaction is usually one: respect. Not because he talks a lot on social media or often appears on conference stages, but because of his concrete track record. He’s not the typical entrepreneur who rides the hype, but rather someone who builds from the ground up with a highly technical—and sometimes stubborn—approach.

Julien doesn’t come from a background in finance or business. He started out in engineering, with two master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. His focus used to be on artificial intelligence, embedded systems, and distributed networks.

But over time, that focus shifted to blockchain. It’s fair to say that it wasn’t the money that got him into crypto, but rather the logic of open systems that got him hooked.

Julien Bouteloup: More Than a Founder, He Connects the Dots in DeFi

Julien doesn’t like to be seen as a lone figure behind a single protocol. He’s more like a tailor who sews together the fabric of the DeFi industry into one ecosystem.

Among his most famous works is Stake DAO, a decentralized asset management platform. Here, users can choose a crypto investment strategy without giving up control over their assets. Meanwhile, BlackPool is a data-driven NFT exploration space, not just digital art.

But his contributions don’t stop there. He is part of the Curve Finance development team, one of the most resilient protocols amidst the ups and downs of DeFi. Recently, he is also known as the founder of Rekt News, a media that bluntly reveals cases of exploitation in the crypto space. To be honest, not many developers dare to criticize their own industry, let alone while still being a part of it.

Interestingly, Julien’s thinking style is almost always the opposite of trend chasers. While some people turn to Layer-2 solutions or strange concept tokens, he focuses on developing infrastructure-level digital wallet systems, such as Dfns.

On the other hand, he supports payment streaming platforms like Superfluid and decentralized portfolios like Nested. His goal is clear: to create an open financial system that can actually be used, not just collected in a MetaMask wallet.

Stays Behind the Code, Not in Front of the Cameras

If you ask Julien about his main motivation, the answer might be simple: to build the tools the world needs. He is not obsessed with personal branding. In fact, when the Hermez project he helped build was acquired by Polygon for around $250 million, he did not leave the industry to enjoy the results. Instead, he went deeper, helping develop Polygon zkEVM from within.

Julien is also not one to hide his criticism. Through Rekt News, he has exposed cases such as rug pulls and smart contract exploitation. This is not because he wants to bring down the perpetrators, but because he believes that this industry can only survive if it is continuously audited by the people inside it. It’s like, if you make a car without brakes, it’s better for someone in the factory to say so, rather than waiting for an accident.

Now, he is scheduled to speak at several major conferences. But interestingly, he prefers to talk about the foundations and systems rather than discussing the token that just went up 300%. That has become his trademark: diving deep, not just surfing the surface.