SUMMARY

Brian Huang, co-founder of Glider, shares insights on direct asset ownership in crypto, eliminating brokers to earn yields on stocks like Tesla, merging fintech UX with DeFi, and the revenue-driven future of on-chain finance.

STATEMENTS

• Brian Huang is a co-founder of Glider and has been involved in crypto since 2014, starting with a third of a Bitcoin from an MIT experiment.
• Glider focuses on creating non-custodial ETFs where users own underlying assets directly, gaining voting rights, dividends, and yield opportunities without intermediaries.
• Traditional fintech offers smooth user experiences but no self-custody, while crypto provides self-custody with poor UX; Glider merges these by abstracting complexities.
• Brokers in traditional finance lend users' stocks to short sellers and keep the yield, such as 1-10% annualized on Tesla stock, without passing it to owners.
• In DeFi via Glider, users can lend on-chain stocks themselves through protocols like Morpho, earning the full yield that brokers previously captured.
• Uniswap's liquidity providing was Huang's "aha" moment in 2019-2020, realizing decentralized capital aggregation eliminates middlemen for trading and borrowing.
• Glider's team prioritizes building products that enhance user economics over token shilling; tokens may come later but are not the focus.
• Working at Morgan Stanley exposed Huang to extractive banking practices, like bullying clients, fueling his drive to disrupt traditional finance with crypto.
• Crypto enables seamless asset movement across platforms without central banks, taking days in traditional systems, increasing money velocity.
• Glider abstracts chains, gas fees, and bridging, allowing trading on EVM chains with SVM support coming, using DEX aggregators and intent-based solvers.
• Users shouldn't care about blockchain specifics; chains are commoditized, and the focus should be on investable on-chain assets like stocks and RWAs.
• San Francisco's AI focus and isolation contrast with New York's vibrancy, but AI-crypto convergence in agents, value transfer, and decentralized compute is inevitable.
• In the A16Z CSX accelerator, Huang learned from in-person cohort interactions among 16 non-competitive companies, covering topics like tokenomics and go-to-market.
• Tokens are not the product; sustainable value requires generating revenue from TVL to return to holders via yields or buybacks, unlike hype-driven pumps.
• Adoption progresses in phases: start with crypto natives valuing no-gas/no-bridging, then shift messaging to normies on yields and ETF-like simplicity.
• On-ramps for fiat to on-chain assets are the biggest adoption blocker; user experience must abstract details like USDC vs. USD.
• Metrics like TVL, wallet counts, and wash volume are easily faked; revenue is the only true indicator of long-term success.
• Institutions will drive retail adoption by bringing on-chain stocks and RWAs, providing real yield from investable assets.
• Wealthy individuals already hold underlying S&P 500 stocks for tax optimization; on-chain versions add yield earning and automation.
• Owning Tesla on-chain should mirror broker ownership with added benefits like lending, without regulatory issuance by Glider.
• DeFi lending is overcollateralized with automatic liquidations via smart contracts, unlike centralized failures like Celsius due to manual interventions.
• In 2025, driving fees to zero via non-custodial holding matters as users reclaim value from trades and assets without extraction.
• Glider generates revenue from market makers' order flow rebates, potentially passing value back to users, enabling paid trading.
• Being on-chain allows smaller teams to operate efficiently, capturing and redistributing revenue that traditional platforms like Robinhood cannot due to costs.

IDEAS

• Glider enables users to create personalized ETFs with direct ownership of tokenized stocks, unlocking voting, dividends, and lending yields previously monopolized by brokers.
• Crypto's programmable rails allow instant, permissionless asset transfers across ecosystems, bypassing the multi-day delays of traditional banking systems.
• Uniswap's AMMs revolutionized finance by enabling permissionless capital pools where anyone can earn yield without banks aggregating funds.
• Behind Glider's seamless UX, intent-based solvers and DEX aggregators route trades efficiently, leveraging order flow to negotiate better rates for users.
• Tribalism over chains distracts from true value; composability across blockchains will make users indifferent to underlying infrastructure.
• AI agents and autonomous systems will rely on crypto for on-chain value transfers, merging the two fields in decentralized compute and data.
• Accelerators like A16Z CSX foster deep, non-competitive relationships among startups, accelerating learning in tokenomics and policy far beyond remote programs.
• Token launches fail without revenue mechanisms; treating tokens like a central bank's currency requires constant economic monitoring for sustainability.
• Early adopters crave gasless experiences, but mass adoption demands reframing value props around familiar concepts like ETF yields.
• Faked metrics plague crypto; revenue alone validates protocols, as TVL chases yield and wash trading inflates numbers.
• On-chain S&P 500 baskets allow tax-loss harvesting plus automated yield earning, democratizing strategies reserved for the ultra-wealthy.
• DeFi's overcollateralization and automatic liquidations provide safer lending than centralized intermediaries, enforced purely by code.
• Market makers can rebate order flow value directly to users via on-chain protocols, flipping the model where platforms pay traders.
• San Francisco's dystopian isolation contrasts with crypto's global, interactive ethos, yet AI-crypto synergies are unavoidable.
• Glider's embeddable tools turn any app into an asset manager, enabling seamless integration of yields across fragmented financial services.
• Institutions onboarding RWAs will bootstrap retail crypto by validating real-yield assets over speculative tokens.
• Non-custodial vaults eliminate performance fees, empowering users as their own asset managers in a passive investment era.
• Crypto's low operational costs from smart contracts allow tiny teams to capture massive value, redistributing it unlike bloated tradfi firms.
• Adoption hinges on societal readiness; products must lead slightly ahead without leaping too far, balancing crypto natives and normies.

INSIGHTS

• Direct asset ownership in DeFi eliminates broker extraction, returning full yields to users and accelerating wealth building through programmable efficiency.
• Seamless cross-chain composability boosts money velocity, a core crypto advantage that traditional systems cannot replicate without central intermediaries.
• Revenue generation is the bedrock of token longevity, transforming hype-driven assets into sustainable economies mirroring central banking principles.
• Abstracting blockchain complexities shifts focus from technical hurdles to economic benefits, bridging crypto's self-custody with fintech's intuitiveness.
• Institutional RWA integration will catalyze retail adoption, grounding speculative crypto in tangible, yield-bearing real-world assets.
• Automatic, code-enforced liquidations in DeFi create robust risk management, surpassing the leniency that doomed centralized lenders like Celsius.
• Order flow rebates from market makers enable platforms to pay users for trading, inverting traditional finance's value capture model.
• AI's future depends on crypto rails for autonomous value transfer, forging an inevitable convergence in decentralized infrastructure.
• Personalized on-chain ETFs democratize elite strategies like tax optimization and yield farming, making advanced finance accessible to all.
• True adoption metrics lie in revenue, not inflated TVL or wallets, exposing the fragility of non-sustainable crypto projects.
• Building trust through tasteful design and non-custodial UX counters DeFi's reputation for complexity, fostering broader participation.
• Phases of adoption require evolving value propositions, starting with native efficiencies and progressing to universal yield narratives.

QUOTES

• "There's nothing between you and your assets."
• "The biggest thing and the most simple thing that you can do on Glider is create an ETF... You own all of the underlying assets and you actually get direct ownership of them which means you get the voting rights associated with them."
• "People shouldn't care what chain they're on."
• "Revenue is the only thing that's important ultimately. TVL doesn't matter anymore."
• "Tokens are not the product... the only way that you will have sustainable tokens in the long term is if you can generate revenue return that revenue back to token holders."
• "We can actually pay you to trade."
• "It's your assets. Why are there middlemen between you and your assets?"
• "Chains are commoditized. Block space is commoditized. It doesn't matter."
• "What we're building here is not just a direct to consumer platform. It is a way for anybody to take what we've built and embed it into their application."
• "We're very early... the institutions are going to bring on onchain stocks, RWAs, and that's something that we're leaning heavily into."

HABITS

• Hiring team members driven to change DeFi rather than pump tokens, focusing on product enhancements for user economics.
• Contracting human designers in Paris for all visuals to build brand trust and moat through tasteful, non-AI-generated experiences.
• Prioritizing non-custodial architecture in product development to ensure users retain full control over private keys and assets.
• Consistently evaluating product lifecycle against societal trends to stay slightly ahead without overreaching adoption timelines.
• Abstaining from token shilling early, building sustainable revenue models before considering token launches.
• Engaging in ongoing introspection of tokenomics as if managing a central bank's currency for long-term value.
• Abstracting all blockchain complexities in UX, avoiding jargon like "USDC" in favor of simple terms like "USD."

FACTS

• MIT distributed one-third of a Bitcoin to students in 2014 as part of an experiment, which Huang sold in 2017 for a triple return.
• Brokers can earn 1-10% annualized yield by lending client stocks like Tesla to short sellers, keeping it without user benefit.
• Early crypto trading on GDAX (pre-Coinbase Pro) had no fees, allowing free maker-taker trades in a less regulated era.
• A16Z CSX accelerator involves 16 in-person companies over 10 weeks, covering topics from tokenomics to regulation with expert sessions.
• Wealthy investors hold underlying S&P 500 stocks directly for tax-loss harvesting, avoiding ETF fees like SPY's 10 basis points.
• DeFi lending protocols require overcollateralization, with automatic liquidations incentivized by profits, unlike centralized models.
• Robinhood receives 50 basis points from market makers like Wintermute for order flow, which on-chain platforms can redistribute.

REFERENCES

• Glider (platform for on-chain ETFs and asset management).
• Uniswap (AMM for liquidity providing and yield earning).
• MIT Bitcoin experiment (2014 distribution of one-third BTC).
• Morgan Stanley (banking experience in trading bonds).
• Circle Wallet (early custody solution).
• GDAX/Coinbase Pro (early free trading platform).
• Morpho (DeFi lending protocol).
• A16Z CSX accelerator (program with 16 cohorts).
• Y Combinator (accelerator comparison).
• Sprinter (solver network for cross-chain liquidity).
• Paradigm and Standard (projects hiring co-founder John).
• Matcha at Zerox (early DEX aggregator built by co-founder).
• BlackRock (traditional ETF issuer, e.g., Magnificent 7).
• SPY (S&P 500 ETF).
• Wintermute (market maker paying rebates).
• Robinhood (traditional trading app).
• Celsius (failed centralized lender).
• EigenLayer and Symbiotic (DeFi insurance mechanisms).
• Pump.fun and Uniswap (revenue-generating platforms).
• Sena (mentioned for TVL vs. revenue discussion).

HOW TO APPLY

• Assess your current assets in traditional brokers and identify yields they capture, like stock lending, to understand potential gains from direct ownership.
• Create a personalized on-chain ETF on Glider by selecting tokenized stocks like the Magnificent 7, ensuring you hold underlying assets for dividends and voting.
• Lend your on-chain holdings via DeFi protocols such as Morpho to earn full yields, monitoring overcollateralization without manual interventions.
• Use intent-based solvers for cross-chain trades to rebalance portfolios seamlessly, abstracting gas fees and chain specifics.
• Evaluate tokenomics for any crypto project by focusing on revenue mechanisms, like buybacks, rather than TVL, to gauge long-term viability.
• Build or embed non-custodial asset management tools into apps, allowing users to earn yields across services without performance fees.
• Phase adoption strategies by starting with crypto natives on efficiency features, then pivot messaging to yields and simplicity for mainstream users.
• Partner with market makers for order flow rebates, routing trades to capture and redistribute value, potentially paying users for volume.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Embrace on-chain direct ownership to reclaim broker-captured yields and build sustainable wealth without middlemen in programmable finance.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Prioritize revenue-generating protocols over TVL-focused ones to invest in sustainable crypto ecosystems.
• Migrate stock holdings to on-chain versions for automatic yield earning and tax optimization, bypassing broker fees.
• Abstract DeFi complexities in personal tools to ease entry for non-experts, starting with simple ETF creations.
• Join or form non-competitive cohorts like accelerators to accelerate learning in tokenomics and cross-industry synergies.
• Demand non-custodial platforms that return order flow value, seeking those that rebate or pay for trades.
• Focus on RWA integrations from institutions as early signals for retail opportunities in yield-bearing assets.
• Evolve product value props gradually, aligning with societal readiness to avoid hype cycles and build lasting adoption.
• Treat token management like central banking, implementing buybacks only after establishing core revenue streams.
• Leverage AI-crypto convergences by exploring on-chain value transfers for future autonomous agents.
• Avoid faked metrics; verify projects by scrutinizing actual revenue against wallet or volume claims.
• Embed DeFi primitives into everyday apps to make users their own asset managers without added friction.

MEMO

Brian Huang, co-founder of the A16Z-backed Glider platform, has long seen the inefficiencies of traditional finance up close. A 2014 MIT graduate with a double major in computer science and management, Huang received one-third of a Bitcoin in a campus experiment—a windfall he sold in 2017 for triple its value amid crypto's early, unregulated days. His stints at Morgan Stanley and a crypto-trading firm exposed the extractive underbelly of brokers, who lend clients' stocks like Tesla to short sellers, pocketing 1-10% yields without sharing. This "chip on the shoulder" drove him to build Glider, a non-custodial tool that merges fintech's smooth UX with crypto's self-sovereignty, letting users create personalized ETFs of tokenized assets.

At Glider's core is direct ownership: users hold underlying on-chain stocks, claiming voting rights, dividends, and lending yields that brokers hoard. Unlike BlackRock's 10-basis-point fee ETFs, Glider charges nothing initially, undercutting middlemen by automating rebalances via DEX aggregators and intent solvers across EVM chains (with SVM imminent). Huang's "aha" moment came during DeFi Summer 2019-2020 with Uniswap's AMMs, which democratized capital pools—no banks needed for permissionless yielding. This vision powers Glider's abstraction of chains and gas, making users indifferent to infrastructure; as Huang puts it, "People shouldn't care what chain they're on." The result? Seamless money velocity, a crypto hallmark that slashes traditional transfer delays from days to instants.

Yet adoption lags, Huang argues, due to fiat on-ramps and jargon overload—think Chrome wallet extensions baffling 90% of users. Crypto feels nascent: wallet counts inflate easily, TVL chases fleeting yields, and wash trading fakes activity. Revenue reigns supreme, the sole metric for longevity, as seen in Pump.fun's success versus hype pumps that crash post-vest. Institutions will ignite retail by tokenizing RWAs like stocks, providing real yields over speculative tokens. Glider leans in, enabling S&P 500 baskets that mimic ultra-wealthy tax strategies—sell losers, keep winners, earn yield—all with one-click simplicity.

Huang's A16Z CSX accelerator experience among 16 AI and DeFi peers underscored tokenomics' depth: treat tokens as currencies, not products, with rigorous economic oversight. San Francisco's AI isolation irks the New Yorker, but he foresees convergence—crypto rails for AI agents' value transfers in decentralized compute. Glider's embeddable tech turns any app into an asset manager, stripping vaults' performance fees. Risks? DeFi's overcollateralized lending auto-liquidates via smart contracts, a safeguard absent in Celsius' manual leniency that led to collapse.

By 2025, Huang predicts fee compression to zero, with users as sovereign managers. Glider profits not from users but market makers' rebates—50 basis points from order flow, like Robinhood's deal with Wintermute, but on-chain efficiency lets tiny teams (Glider's eight) pass value back, even paying traders. This flips finance: why extract when you can redistribute? As crypto matures, Huang urges building for investable futures—tasteful design from Paris studios builds trust, phasing from native efficiencies (no bridging) to normie appeals (ETF yields). Early days, yes, but with institutions onboarding RWAs, the pie grows for all.

Glider embodies Huang's ethos: enhance user economics without shilling. Tokens may follow, backed by revenue, not vice versa. In a space rife with fakes, his focus on sustainable businesses—revenue over TVL—offers a blueprint for crypto's wealth front, empowering direct ownership in an on-chain world.