The world of work is changing ever faster and more intensive. New technologies and improvements in productivity mean that people have to constantly adapt to changing circumstances and developments. Most people who work actively notice this. This applies in particular to the information technology sector, in which I have been working professionally for many years. Hardly a quarter goes by without having to understand or use at least a new software or technology.

In recent years, the industry Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has emerged from the rise of blockchains. To put it simply, DeFi means that bank-related services are programmed and published on blockchains. This ensures, for example, faster transactions and cost savings for the end user, since an intermediary is not required (such as a bank or clearing house). New technical solutions will therefore support disruption especially in finance, insurance, and real estate. However, established players from the financial sector can profitably use this technology for themselves.

In January 2022 I joined BLOCKSIZE as “Head of DeFi/Node Operations”. The company offers institutional investors high-end infrastructure to analyze, trade, and manage Digital Assets. Customers can understand market opportunities, analyze risk exposure, access aggregated liquidity, and execute trades with the highest precision. BLOCKSIZE has offices in Frankfurt, New York City, and Singapore.

The area of ​​responsibility, which I took over in January 2022, is in the blockchain space. A wide variety of blockchain solutions will change software applications in the coming years and decades (often not visible to end users). I have been working with blockchains since 2015, but it wasn’t until the DeFi boom of the last two years began to seriously spark my interest in blockchains. Today I know my way around the crypto market, actively pursue innovations, and will actively develop solutions in this area.

A “Head of Decentralized Finance” takes on coordinating functions in the DeFi area of a company. The tasks can include, for example:

• Follow new developments in the DeFi market
• Bring corporate vision and DeFi knowledge into harmony
• Understand and describe great technical complexity in simple words
• Develop and/or evaluate concepts, roadmaps, prototypes, products, user stories, as well as mockups
• Implement tasks from concepts and the roadmap successfully
• Grow the products as well as ensure quality and customer satisfaction
• Expand the DeFi team and manage co-workers
• Train colleagues from various technical and non-technical departments
• …

These tasks can best be done if you have a large amount of technical, commercial, financial, and interpersonal skills. My extensive practical experiences in various companies help me assess issues.

During 2022 I also worked at BLOCKSIZE as “Head of Node Operations”. A Head of Node Operations typically takes on tasks such as:

• Understand and evaluate the functionality of blockchain nodes of different protocols
• Technical setup, operation, and improvement of nodes
• Building knowledge about nodes and training colleagues
• Preparation of material for training and marketing
• Collaboration with and development of colleagues in the systems engineering area
• …

All in all, the new job descriptions in the DeFi area are new and innovative. So there are exciting developments ahead.

UPDATE: At the beginning of 2023 I got promoted as Chief Information Officer.