Over 200 subscribers
In this Developer Journey feature, we sit down with Dex Chen from the Semantic Layer team to explore his path into Web3, his experiences building in the Uniswap ecosystem, and his vision for the future of DeFi. Dex shares his insights on innovation, permissionless development, and how Semantic Layer is shaping new possibilities in the space.
Background: how did you get into web3 and into the Uniswap ecosystem?
I first got into Web3 (or crypto) in high school. I went to a boarding school and Bitcoin mining was all the rage in 2014. So I assembled a mining rig with two Radeon 7950s to mine Feathercoin in my dorm room. My first real “job” in web3 was during DeFi summer, when I was hired by a CEX market maker to do CEX/DEX arbitrage, as on-chain trading volume was picking up at the time.
One interesting fact is Uniswap is actually not the first DEX that I used. I used EtherDelta in 2017 and KyberSwap around 2020; neither of them is permissionless. What drew me into the Uniswap ecosystem is the permissionless nature of it and the fact anyone can create and list a token there.
Why do you want to build on v4?
I think v4 is a continuation of the permissionless culture that Uniswap has always pioneered. v4 allows developers to customize each liquidity pool to their content, and v4 hooks run permissionless on Uniswap. I think this will enable a lot of experimentation and rapid iteration for DeFi.
Why did you join UHI? How was the experience being a dev in UHI?
Our team joined UHI because we believe it’s a great opportunity to spend some quality time building and experimenting with interesting ideas. UHI is unique compared to other incubators because there are no strings attached, whereas many other incubators take significant ownership in the protocol even before the team has built anything. We think the transparency and openness of UHI has attracted many devs who have great ideas and just want to ship them.
One aspect of UHI we appreciate is its educational content. Our team came from a smart contract auditor background, and we have audited many Uniswap V2/V3 forks in the past, so we are familiar with the Uniswap architecture and the math. But I can imagine
Tell us about your project: What inspired it? If you presented at Demo Day/won a prize, what was the experience like? What did the project lead to after UHI?
The inspiration behind Degen Options emerged from the need to innovate how trading volume is incentivized in DeFi. As part of UHI, we aimed to create a feature that aligns the interests of traders, liquidity providers, and long-term token holders. We are honored to be invited to present Degen Options on Uniswap Day at ETHCC. Degen Options will launch as a Semantic Layer ecosystem project.
What are you exploring next?
Besides building Semantic Layer, we are exploring creative ways of using Uniswap v4. We believe we will see a lot more on-chain transaction volume coming from AI agents, and we are exploring unique ways that AI agents can use Uniswap v4.
What impact do you hope your work will have?
We hope Degen Options will transform how trading incentives are structured in DeFi by aligning the interests of traders, liquidity providers, and token holders. By rewarding trading volume with non-fungible options tied to a token's future performance, we aim to promote sustainable growth, reduce short-term token dumping, and foster stronger community engagement. Ultimately, we want to set a new standard for incentive design that balances immediate participation with long-term ecosystem stability.
How do you hope to see DeFi evolve over the next few years?
We hope to see smart contract security improved, so users can worry less when using DeFi applications. Currently, we have smart contract audits and bug bounties. We look forward to having more lines of defence in DeFi. At Semantic Layer, we are actively researching how we can support dApps in adding additional lines of defence.
