The Good Tech Companies - How Enclave Markets is Building a Privacy-First, Fully Encrypted Crypto Exchange

Starting point is 00:00:00 This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. How Enclave Markets is Building a Privacy First, Fully Encrypted Crypto Exchange, by A'Shawn Pondy. Welcome to Behind the Startup, Hacker Noon's series uncovering the real stories behind cutting-edge blockchain projects. Today, we dive into privacy-preserving infrastructure and the future of encrypted, trustless markets with Phil Wirtjes, CEO of Enclave Global. From his early career in health tech to leading a fully encrypted exchange built to tackle front-running, slippage, and permission trading, Phil offers a transparent look into how Enclave X is reshaping digital asset markets. Let's get right into it.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Ashant Pandey Phil, great to have you here. Before we jump into Enclave Markets, could you walk US through your own journey, from early stage startups T-O-B-E-C-O-M-I-N-G the CEO of a privacy first exchange? Phil Wirtjes I actually have a bit of an unorthodox path to working in crypto since I spent the early part of my career working for health tech companies. EHA'd been a participant in crypto markets since 2016 or so and had started to disown independent

Starting point is 00:01:08 work on the side of my desk but it wasn't until I met the team at Ava Labs in 2020 that I decided to jump full-time into the industry. Ashan Pandey. What's the story behind the creation of Enclave Markets? Was THEREA specific event-OR problem that triggered the decision to build AFULLYENCRYPTED exchange? Phil Wirtjes. Unfortunately, even though I was trading crypto since 2016, I had no idea what I was doing and fell victim to all of the classic mistakes that plagues rookie traders. No risk management, no understanding of slippage, liquidity and a fondness for getting unknowingly liquidated. In 2020, when everything was shut down I started to learn

Starting point is 00:01:50 more about payment forwarder flow and when trading started to move more on chain, MEV began to get HOTAS a discussion topic and we thought that there had to be a better way to create an exchange for traders like me, which led to Enclave. Ashaan Pandey. Can you help US unpack the phrase, fully encrypted exchange, beyond marketing? What makes this architecture distinct from STANDARDECENTRALIZEDOR Centralized exchanges? Phil Wirtjes. The fully encrypted exchange really is centered around the USOFA secure Enclave as the lynchman of our architecture. The master secret to the Enclave is broken into pieces and shared with trusted third parties,

Starting point is 00:02:29 we call them, attesters, which allows for distributed control amongst the attesters. This prevents us, the central operators, from being able to take critical unilateral action, such as accessing user funds a la FTX, and cryptographically protect our users from malfeasance. Ashaan Pandey. With ENCLAVEX, you're transitioning from a permissioned model to APERMISSIONLESS1. What risks o are tradeoffs did you need to manage to make that shift possible, Phil Wirtjes? There are both permissioned and permissionless models of the FEX model we developed at Enclave. There are different use cases and target audiences for each model, and we believe both models will continue to exist in crypto more broadly.

Starting point is 00:03:13 Ashant Pandey. Many protocols claim decentralization, but rely on single POINTSOF custody OR governance. How does Enclave's decentralized custody MODELCOMPARE fill word use? Enclave leverages a decentralized network of third-party attesters that collectively secure the encrypted environment where the code for the exchange lives along with wallets for users. This is similar to how MANL2s use a group of nodes or validators to secure their protocol that settles to a larger chain.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Ashaan Pandey. What metrics or milestones do you use internally to defineeproduct market fit in a sector that's still largely experimental? Phil Wirtjes. There are a bunch of ways to define PMF but we try to keep it simple by tracking new deposits, daily active users, monthly active users and things like open interest and volume traded over certain timeframes, 24 hours, one week, one month. As long as the trendline is moving up and to the right, you are moving towards PMF.

Starting point is 00:04:17 At the end of the day, building a profitable company is the goal said those metrics are the leading indicators to positive margins. Ashawn Pondy. Looking 12 months ahead, what would success look like for ENCLAVEMARKETS? What would surprise US most about where you're going next? Phil Wordius. I'm not sure it will come as a surprise, but we feel really good about our roadmap towards building a custom-made hedge fund for each of our users to put in their pocket. What do I mean?

Starting point is 00:04:45 The amount of returns generated by systematic trading firms across multiple asset classes is crazy and is usually gate-kept from individual users due to capital constraints or general knowledge. Through our alpha strategies, we are changing this. Soon every user will be able to select their risk profile, aggressive, neutral, passive, and will be recommended trading strategies that are operated by professional trading firms on Enclave. All the user needs to do is deposit their stables, as low as $10 USDC, USDT, and our strats will trade perpetual contracts across native crypto assets, tokenized real-world assets and more, allowing the user to maximize profits on the platform. Inbound interest on the SEST RADS has been quite encouraging so we are looking forward to

Starting point is 00:05:30 continually shipping over the next 6-12 months. Don't forget to like and share the story! Tip Vested Interest Disclosure This author is an independent contributor publishing via our business blogging program. Hacker Noon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. Hashtag DYO. Thank you for listening to this Hacker Noon story, read by Artificial Intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.

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The Good Tech Companies - How Enclave Markets is Building a Privacy-First, Fully Encrypted Crypto Exchange

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