Charles d'Haussy (dYdX): "We need to get away from the tribal aspect of crypto".

You head up the foundation of one of the most high-profile crypto platforms, but we don't know much about you. What is your background?

I'll try to keep it short! When I finished my business studies at ESC Rennes, I quickly made the choice to travel by sailing across the Atlantic. It was the only holiday where I didn't know when I'd be coming back (laughs). Then I started my professional life in Asia, where I learnt Mandarin. I then went to Hong Kong where I co-created an electronics company. I then recreated another company, which I sold after taking it public.

And the link with cryptos?

After that, I moved into the world of finance by joining 8 Securities, an investment company with which we launched the first robot advisor (automated portfolio, editor's note) in Asia. I then held the position of Head of FinTech at the Hong Kong Department of Finance. I had followed Bitcoin and Ethereum quite a bit in their early days, but it was at this point, between 2016 and 2019, that I got very serious about blockchain.

I worked with a bit of everyone. I helped Pascal Gauthier from Ledger, the Cardano teams, Joseph Lubin from ConsenSys, and so on. My business card allowed me to go wherever I wanted and talk to whomever I wanted. That's one of the great advantages of working for a government!

How did you take the plunge?

Joseph Lubin hired me at ConsenSys in 2019 to set up the Hong Kong office. I then managed the entire Asia zone for four years. We did a lot of work on central bank digital currencies with Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Dubai, China and South Korea. We really did some incredible things at ConsenSys.

How did the adventure end with ConsenSys, which is a bit 'the' start-up in the Ethereum ecosystem?

ConsenSys was an exceptional adventure and training. However, after Covid I had a desire for new things. When the opportunity arose to join the dYdX Foundation, I didn't hesitate. But I'm still very close to the ConsenSys alumni network.

What do you like about this new experience?