Interview with Alex, Founder of deBridge: Building the Internet of Liquidity
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Interview with Alex, Founder of deBridge: Building the Internet of Liquidity
With Season 2 of Points即将开启, hear from the team about their considerations and big plans.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: jk, Odaily Planet Daily
As the decentralized finance infrastructure space continues to evolve, deBridge’s latest developments have drawn widespread attention. From winning a hackathon to becoming one of the largest bridges on Solana, deBridge has navigated a challenging path and is now emerging as a dominant player in the field.
Odaily Planet Daily had the privilege of interviewing Alex, founder of deBridge, to dive deep into how deBridge is redefining cross-chain asset liquidity and governance through its innovative Liquidity Internet architecture and the upcoming DBR token—along with user-focused topics like the points program and Season 2 activities.
Alex also shared insights on key milestones the deBridge community and users should anticipate in the coming months, as well as his grand vision for deBridge’s future. Let’s explore how Alex articulates deBridge’s unique value proposition and its role in driving innovation within the wave of decentralized finance.
Alex, founder of deBridge. Source: deBridge
Below is the full interview:
Odaily:
Nice to meet you, Alex! We’re honored to have this opportunity to speak with the deBridge team. To begin, could you introduce yourself and your team, and explain what your project does?
Alex:
Absolutely. Thank you for having me today. My name is Alex, CEO and co-founder of deBridge. But I’d prefer if you thought of me more as a core contributor to deBridge, especially as we transition toward becoming a DAO. At our core, we are building the “Internet of Liquidity.”
deBridge is recognized as one of the fastest and most secure bridges on the market. We began our journey in early 2021, and since then, we’ve undergone significant transformation. Our initial breakthrough came when we won Chainlink’s global hackathon. Yes, we started as a hackathon project, but over the past three and a half years, we’ve rapidly evolved. From day one, our mission has been enabling the free flow of information and liquidity.
The reason we began working on bridges was to solve the problem of liquidity transfer. Our team engaged in cross-chain arbitrage and needed to rebalance inventory using centralized exchanges. However, we often encountered challenges such as withdrawal delays or insufficient hot wallet liquidity. That’s when we realized we needed a truly decentralized solution to facilitate the movement of information and liquidity.
We’ve been committed to this mission for quite some time. As you may know, security is the biggest challenge in this space. We’re proud that deBridge has never experienced a single exploit or security incident. Our bridge infrastructure has maintained 100% uptime since launch. Additionally, we’re known as the fastest bridge due to our unique model, which differs from traditional cross-chain infrastructure.
Odaily:
Thank you for that overview. Let’s dive deeper into deBridge’s product side. We’ve noticed some impressive metrics, particularly around deBridge’s extensive use between EVM chains and Solana. For example, in June, $280 million worth of assets were launched on Solana, with $154 million flowing through deBridge compared to $125 million via Wormhole—a very significant difference.
What data metrics does your team consider when deciding which chains to support? Do you look at growth in specific sectors such as farming, meme tokens, or staking on certain chains? What are your key decision-making indicators?
Alex:
Great question. Initially, we developed deBridge for EVM chains because any cross-chain infrastructure consists of two layers: the protocol layer, which involves smart contracts deployed on each chain; and the infrastructure layer, involving validators who sign and verify cross-chain messages. EVM was an obvious choice at the time, as the entire DeFi ecosystem was originally built around EVM, primarily centered on Ethereum.
As we saw more Layer-2 solutions emerge, we began discussing which non-EVM chain to support first. After internal deliberations, we evaluated various tech stacks and ecosystems that were gaining momentum around 2021. Ultimately, we chose Solana because we were excited about the growth and potential of its ecosystem.
It all started with a small $20,000 grant from the Solana ecosystem, which became the foundation of our long-term involvement. We spent roughly two years building out the protocol layer, infrastructure, and everything necessary to be ready for mainnet launch. Today, deBridge is one of the primary bridges in the Solana ecosystem, handling a large portion of inbound liquidity and transaction volume through our infrastructure.
In terms of expansion and chain selection, our goal is to make deBridge truly permissionless. As I mentioned earlier, we’re building the “Internet of Liquidity” for DeFi. One of the internet’s greatest strengths is that it’s permissionless—you don’t need approval to access websites or connect. We believe this concept should apply to DeFi as well. Any blockchain ecosystem should be able to connect to deBridge and communicate seamlessly with any other supported chain.
To achieve this, we developed a unique framework called IaaS—“Interoperability as a Service.”
It’s similar to the SaaS model popular in Web2. With IaaS, any blockchain ecosystem can initiate a subscription via smart contract, pay $10,000 per month, and instantly connect to deBridge.
Right now, if you’re building your own chain or Layer-2 solution, you absolutely need a bridge—it’s foundational. But if you approach most major bridge providers, they typically require multi-million dollar grants or substantial liquidity commitments, which isn’t feasible for everyone. With deBridge, there’s no need to negotiate with our team or request integration. You simply initiate a subscription via smart contract, and the deBridge infrastructure will be deployed on your chain. Our validators will automatically establish a connection with your network.
Solvers within our liquidity network will automatically detect all incoming and outgoing transactions created for your ecosystem and decide whether to fulfill them. This is how we realize the “Internet of Liquidity.”
To date, deBridge supports two types of IaaS adapters. The first is EVM, allowing any EVM-compatible chain to connect. The second is SVM, enabling connectivity for any Solana-compatible or general-purpose ecosystem. We’re now exploring ways to enable connections for more complex chains like Aptos, Sui, or Cosmos. The next step in this framework will be IaaS adapters that leverage existing codebases, allowing developers to build their own adapters for more complex chains.
For instance, a developer could port deBridge’s smart contracts from Solidity or Rust into a target chain’s native language, audit them, deploy the contracts, and then connect to deBridge in the same way. We believe anyone should be able to build, and as we transition to a DAO, much of our effort and funding may focus on incentivizing developers to integrate additional blockchain ecosystems.
This is our vision for deBridge’s future.
Odaily:
So, what major milestones are coming up on deBridge’s product roadmap?
Alex:
Excellent question. The next big milestone is the launch of our token and the transition to a DAO. To date, deBridge is one of the fastest-growing bridges and the only one to successfully establish an efficient value capture mechanism.
deBridge isn’t just fast—it was the first bridge to reach profitability. It generates sustainable daily revenue because every user initiating a transaction or cross-chain transfer pays fees. In our case, these fees fund security and speed, making deBridge one of the most secure bridges on the market. Users want confidence that their transactions or token approvals won’t result in lost funds.
Simply building a bridge isn’t enough. Without fees, you can inflate metrics and trading volume, but without effective value capture, those numbers are meaningless. You might integrate with any wallet, but the real challenge is building a high-performance bridge with a sustainable economic model—one that not only achieves meaningful metrics but also accumulates value, channeling fees into the treasury. Without such mechanisms, it’s impossible to build a truly decentralized protocol or ecosystem.
In my view, deBridge may be the first bridge to achieve this. If you check platforms like Token Terminal or DeFiLlama, deBridge ranks among the top bridges in fee generation. So far, we’ve accumulated approximately $12 million in the protocol treasury—an amount that actually exceeds our total fundraising to date.
Apologies if I’m going off track. But regarding the roadmap—the token launch is a crucial step, serving as the cornerstone of our transition to a DAO. That said, we’re also steadily executing our mission of building DeFi’s “Internet of Liquidity,” which involves numerous improvements and new product features.
One particularly exciting direction we’re pursuing is custody—similar to how Bitcoin existed before custodial solutions emerged. We plan to bring native Bitcoin onto Solana, enabling native cross-chain swaps between existing assets on Solana, other EVM chains, and native BTC. Essentially, you’ll be able to deposit BTC into a specific address on the Bitcoin chain and receive SOL on Solana or MATIC on Polygon. This will be a major leap forward in user experience and liquidity, given that Bitcoin is one of the largest assets in the crypto market by market cap.
We’re also focused on scalability and supporting new chains. Tron could be a valuable addition for deBridge due to its massive liquidity. Currently, no bridge effectively handles the high transaction volumes on Tron, so enabling transfers of assets like USDT between Tron and other ecosystems could unlock significant value.
We’re also enhancing deBridge’s liquidity network, which operates on our unique “zero TVL” model for cross-chain asset transfers. Traditional bridges rely on liquidity pools, which face multiple bottlenecks in security, scalability, and capital efficiency. Liquidity pools are vulnerable to major exploits. We pioneered the zero TVL model for cross-chain transfers, and now we’re further improving it—making it faster and minimizing operational costs for both users and dApps. As a result, GLM (Gasless Liquidity Mining) will become more affordable for users and Solvers alike, enhancing UX and expanding utility.
We’re also developing highly requested user features. One is gasless operations. For example, anyone can initiate a gasless cross-chain transaction without signing or broadcasting a transaction. Instead, you simply sign an encrypted message (like a permit), and a Solver broadcasts the transaction on your behalf, completing it instantly on the destination chain. This feature enables gas separation, opening doors for interesting SocialFi mechanisms on deBridge, such as copy trading.
Or even Telegram-integrated bots or embedded apps where users can participate in copy trading or delegate their liquidity to specific vaults, allowing others to execute trades on their behalf. Many creative mechanisms can be built, but gas-separated cross-chain operations will significantly improve UX. Another exciting feature is gasless cancellation—if a pending transaction cannot proceed, users won’t need to broadcast a transaction to cancel it. Instead, they’ll be able to cancel the intent completely gaslessly.
These are some of the key product features and plans we’re currently focused on.
Odaily:
Let’s shift to technical solutions: What kind of technology does deBridge use for cross-chain asset transfers? What are the advantages and limitations of your solution in terms of efficiency and security?
Alex:
Great question. Let me start by explaining the distinction: Historically, most bridges were built as liquidity protocols, meaning settlement or cross-chain transfers occur within liquidity pools. Here’s how it works—you deposit assets into a pool on one chain and wait for confirmation, which can take up to 20 minutes (e.g., finality on Polygon takes a long time).
After those 20 minutes, your transfer settles from the liquidity pool on the destination chain. But this model has fundamental flaws. It’s synchronous, often requiring automated market makers (AMMs) with price discovery via curves. Additionally, the liquidity pool itself becomes a bottleneck. For example, if a pool only holds $2 million in liquidity, you can’t transfer $3–4 million due to insufficient settlement capacity. There’s also slippage—you don’t know exactly how much you’ll receive. While waiting for finality, someone else might front-run with a large transaction, causing yours to fail due to slippage or insufficient liquidity, or you might receive far less than expected. This is a major UX issue.
Another issue is capital efficiency. To attract liquidity to these pools, you must spend heavily on rewards and incentives. For instance, U.S. Treasury yields are around 6% annually, but due to higher risk, bridges must offer at least 15%. Imagine a bridge with $100 million in TVL—that means paying at least $15 million annually to LPs. To cover this, the bridge would need to generate over $15 million in fees—nearly impossible. Hence, this model is inefficient, and liquidity inevitably drains from such solutions over time.
The final issue is security. A bridge with $100 million in TVL becomes a prime hacking target. That’s why we see so many attacks in the cross-chain space. Interacting with a high-TVl bridge is inherently risky, in my opinion.
We identified these flaws early and began rethinking the model—from pool-based to a zero-TVL or network-based design that doesn’t rely on pools for settlement.
We introduced the concept of “zero TVL” using Solvers or private market makers. Here’s how it works: Anyone can create an intent—essentially saying, “I’m offering 100 USDC on Polygon; who can give me 99 USDC on Solana?” This intent functions like a limit order. Any Solver or market maker on Solana sees this immediately, and the first to deliver 99 USDC sends a cross-chain message to unlock the liquidity I provided. The small spread—$1 in this example—is how the system operates, and it’s extremely efficient.
The key advantage? No static locked liquidity. Instead, a Solver completes the trade using their own liquidity—whether in their wallet or balance sheet. This liquidity only briefly interacts with the smart contract during settlement. Another benefit: Solvers assume all user risks, including finality and reorganization risks. It’s their job, and they’re rewarded accordingly.
Therefore, users don’t wait 10–20 minutes. Solvers manage finality risk, enabling settlements in seconds—making deBridge the fastest by design. It’s also highly capital-efficient. deBridge doesn’t need to incentivize liquidity providers because no liquidity is locked. With no locked assets, there’s nothing to hack—making the model significantly more secure.
Another critical point: Users know the exact output upfront, eliminating slippage. When creating a transaction, users specify precise parameters. For example, I can say I’m offering 1 USDC on Polygon and want 1000 SOL on Solana. While no Solver would fulfill that, I still control the execution price. If profitable—say, offering 1 SOL at $200—Solvers will compete to execute it. Thus, I know exactly what I’ll receive, without worrying about slippage or AMM-based pricing.
For instance, if I want to buy a $100 hoodie, I don’t want to pay $101 or $99 due to slippage. This precision is only possible within deBridge’s liquidity network.
This comparison highlights the advantages of our zero TVL design over traditional approaches, addressing core issues in each.
Odaily:
Actually, we noticed a recent example where a market maker executed the largest single cross-chain transfer on Solana—$4 million in USDC. If you’re familiar, could you walk us through how deBridge handled this and how it demonstrates your capabilities?
Alex:
Yes, absolutely. That was indeed one of our largest settlements. This particular transfer was facilitated by Wintermute, a market maker. These firms typically distribute liquidity across chains and aim to optimize markets through arbitrage or MEV (Maximal Extractable Value). If they have liquidity, they want to put it to work, so adding intent resolution to their infrastructure makes sense.
In this $4 million transfer from Ethereum to Solana, a large fund needed to move liquidity quickly. During volatile markets, you can’t rely on centralized exchanges—they often require 64 block confirmations, which is risky when facing liquidation or wanting to buy assets during a dip. This is where deBridge shines: it’s the fastest solution, giving users a competitive edge whether buying assets or managing liquidity more efficiently and securely.
In this case, the fund needed to rapidly shift liquidity from Ethereum to Solana. Smaller Solvers in the deBridge network couldn’t handle it due to insufficient liquidity. Wintermute stepped in. Notably, the person transferring liquidity to Solana immediately deposited it into Drift to start trading. I saw Drift’s founder Cindy tweet about it—a cool example of composability in DeFi. People no longer worry about where their assets are or which chain they’re on—they can move freely and instantly across chains. That’s how the Internet of Liquidity works.
Odaily:
Absolutely, that’s really cool. We know deBridge is entering the second phase of its points program. What benefits can users expect?
Alex:
The points system is our way of measuring each user’s or partner’s contribution to deBridge’s overall success.
We redesigned the points system to distribute points in a meaningful way, proportional to fees paid to the protocol. Fees act as an effective monetary barrier, reducing Sybil attack vectors where users might burn gas just to farm free airdrops.
From day one, deBridge has charged fees, so all users understand they pay a small amount for security, speed, and decentralization. We launched this points campaign as the first to tie points directly to protocol fees—essentially 100 points per $1 spent. We created a leaderboard showing statistics and activity for all addresses interacting with deBridge’s infrastructure.
We also added a referral component. For example, integrators like Jupiter using deBridge earn 25% of the referral points generated by their users. Similarly, active community members or leaders sharing referral links on blogs or social media earn 25% of the points generated by their referrals. This mirrors referral programs used by centralized exchanges, incentivizing people to spread the word.
Our goal has always been decentralized governance without dominance by venture capitalists, which is why we didn’t raise large marketing budgets. Instead, our marketing ambassadors are our users—those impressed by deBridge’s speed and security who naturally share it with friends and family. The points program is an effective tool to engage our community and incentivize protocol usage. Think of it like an airline miles program—I choose Emirates because I enjoy accumulating miles to upgrade flights, which benefits me. It’s a powerful user acquisition tool.
For deBridge, the points program has worked exceptionally well. We designed and built it as part of our platform. Season 1 recently concluded and converted into an initial token airdrop—the largest allocation to the community. After the snapshot, Season 2 will begin, continuing the program. We envision three key stakeholder groups in the future deBridge DAO.
First, the community. We have a “Community Launch” allocation of 20% of the total token supply, distributed over three and a half years. Core contributors receive the same—20% over the same period. Additionally, 20% is reserved for strategic partners who supported us early, before we generated any revenue, and continued supporting us over the past three and a half years.
Thanks to this balanced approach and minimal fundraising, we maintain a healthy distribution—each group (community, core contributors, strategic partners) ultimately holding ~20% of the total supply. These tokens will vest gradually, quarterly, over time.
Season 1 of our points program just ended, allocating 6% of the total supply to users and participants. The remaining supply will be distributed in future campaigns. Season 2 begins immediately after Season 1, continuing to incentivize users. If you use deBridge for cross-chain transfers, you’ll earn points reflected in the app banner. You can view all stats and explore your points. These points qualify you for future token distributions managed by the DAO.
This system applies not just to users, but also to integration partners. Wallets integrating deBridge’s API or widget qualify for allocations based on accumulated referral points. This is how we’ve structured the points and token distribution system.
Odaily:
Thank you. How did the community react to Season 1? Was it smooth, or were there challenges?
Alex:
Yes, of course. You can never please everyone—that’s just how the world works. There will always be extremes. When you satisfy one group, another may feel less satisfied. It’s somewhat like Newton’s third law.
Overall, we’re optimizing deBridge for loyal users—those who’ve been with us long-term and understand our vision of building the Internet of Liquidity for DeFi. In any points campaign, you’ll have different users—some deeply invested in the project, others just chasing quick airdrops. Historically, large airdrops like Arbitrum and Uniswap gave people (including myself) unexpected windfalls—like receiving $2,000 in tokens overnight. It felt magical because airdrops weren’t common then.
But now, some expect this to continue indefinitely—believing protocols will keep giving away free money. Yet economics follows rules—there’s no magic, only math. With my math background, I always seek to understand where value comes from. At deBridge, we’re building a sustainable business, so we focus on long-term users.
Generally, most of our loyal users and those aligned with our vision were satisfied with Season 1. However, those mainly interested in airdrops may have been less happy. One major complaint concerned the timeline. The deBridge Foundation announced an airdrop checker where users could connect their address and view their allocation. The top 10% on the Season 1 leaderboard had a lockup: 50% on day one, the remaining 50% after six months. Some users expressed dissatisfaction: “You’re making us hold tokens for six months—we’re not happy.” A valid concern.
I’m excited about both groups—our long-term supporters and short-term participants.
Indeed, some were unhappy about waiting six months and wanted quicker access. So we listened. The deBridge Foundation introduced an option to withdraw early with a 20% penalty. That penalty is redistributed to those willing to wait six months.
This is an interesting mechanism that helps differentiate loyal users who see long-term value and understand our vision from short-term “airdrop hunters” seeking quick flips. We respect both groups—they each play important roles.
We frequently discuss ideas with the community, listening to feedback. If suggestions make sense, we adapt or implement them. If not, we disregard them. Our community includes many smart individuals with great ideas, and we try to listen. The 20% penalty feature was an excellent suggestion adopted by the deBridge Foundation. I think most people are thrilled. The foundation’s announcement received over 1,200 likes, and I believe that tweet will soon surpass one million views. Seeing that is fantastic—it shows we’re moving in the right direction.
Odaily:
Next, regarding DBR—can you share any data or details about its launch on LFG Launchpad?
Alex:
LFG Launchpad is a method for bootstrapping on-chain liquidity and is actually the largest launch platform in the Solana ecosystem, built by the Jupiter team. The Jupiter team is outstanding—Jupiter DAO is one of the largest. I’m always impressed by their focus on UX, and deBridge has drawn significant inspiration from Jupiter. We’re fortunate to be participating in LFG Launchpad, supported by a vote from Jupiter DAO.
The challenge is ensuring a fair launch—so the token isn’t dominated by MEV bots or VCs, but accessible to everyone. That’s what LFG is for—to bootstrap on-chain liquidity, especially within Solana, which is perfect for deBridge.
We’ve designed our LFG uniquely—not a classic Jupiter-style launch, though those are great too. Ours will be super unique.
Only eligible addresses can participate, based on loyalty. Specifically, users who’ve used deBridge on at least 10 different days qualify to deposit into the LFG vault. Additionally, users who’ve staked a certain amount of Jupiter (I believe over 600 JUP) also qualify. Details are available on the Jupiter research forum. So, the top 10% of JUP stakers can participate and deposit into the LFG vault.
This ensures fairness—everyone gets tokens at the same price. The secured liquidity will bootstrap the on-chain pool on Meteora, specifically the Meteora Dynamic Pool. Another interesting aspect: each address is capped—not just whitelisted, but deposit-limited. The cap is set at $25,000, preventing any single whale from depositing $10 million and dominating the pool.
This approach ensures fair distribution and equitable on-chain liquidity launch. We have two distribution paths: an airdrop claimable by everyone, and the LFG liquidity bootstrapping mechanism. Tokens from both distributions will be claimable simultaneously, with equal rights for all users in terms of timing and process.
Odaily:
Thank you. Beyond that, our readers are especially interested in token utility. From a demand perspective, can you explain DBR’s use cases and future plans?
Alex:
Of course. DBR will be a utility token, primarily used for governance. All token holders will be able to participate in DAO decision-making. They can propose ideas—such as which chains to integrate via the IaaS framework, which product features to prioritize, or how the DAO treasury should be managed.
For example, deBridge has already accumulated around $12 million in transaction fees, which will be under DAO control. Token holders will have a say in how these funds are used—whether for protocol development, distributing incentives to partners or integrators, or other purposes. Treasury governance will be a key responsibility for token holders.
The second use of DBR is staking. To participate in governance, token holders must stake their tokens and use their voting power to approve proposals. These may include adjusting key parameters like transaction fees, managing the list of active validators, or rotating validators when needed. Essentially, token holders will have control over the entire protocol.
Odaily:
This is the final question: Looking ahead, what’s deBridge’s next major milestone? What features or initiatives should users expect?
Alex:
The token launch is undoubtedly a major milestone, requiring extensive preparation. But I believe the transition to a DAO is equally critical—it’s what makes the Internet of Liquidity truly unstoppable.
On the product side, several exciting developments are underway. For example, we’re working on integrating new chains like Tron, which will happen soon. We’re also advancing gasless transactions, enabling gasless cancellations and more complex operations like DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging), allowing large trades to be split into smaller ones over time.
We recently launched P2P functionality on the deBridge Liquidity Network (DLN), enabling customized transactions where you can specify the recipient’s address—ideal for OTC-style deals. It’s a pretty cool addition.
Another key area is custody. We have dePort, our custody solution, which allows assets to be transferred between chains and effectively creates derivatives of them. deBridge’s next major milestone will be enabling custody for BTC, allowing users to conduct native BTC trading on any asset across any other chain.
We’re also improving various aspects related to transaction costs and gas efficiency, making the protocol more economical for users. Staking is another major upcoming feature, adding further utility to the token. Users will be able to stake and participate in governance.
These are the primary milestones and functional developments we’re currently focused on.
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