Hey all, we’re excited to introduce ourselves as the Research Team at Eigen Labs!
Following up on our recent announcement of the new EigenLayer Security Model, this will be the first of many posts from us on the EigenLayer Forum.
The Forum will be our space to share research on the protocol, to preview elements and ideas that may or may not become part of upcoming releases, and to explore ways of using, analyzing, and thinking about the EigenLayer protocol and ecosystem. Unlike our blog posts and social media announcements, which focus on formal updates and decisions, the Forum will be more interactive and experimental, allowing us to exchange ideas and gather feedback from a wider group.
Why the Forum?
We’re using the Forum to foster openness and transparency for our community and stakeholders as we develop the protocol. It will give us a space to discuss protocol features and use cases at earlier stages, to answer (and ask) questions of particular interest to certain stakeholders, and to enable prioritization and rapid iteration based on your feedback.
Meet the Team!
Each member of the Research team comes to Eigen Labs with a unique background and perspective. Though we work collaboratively, we’ll be posting as individual contributors and may even disagree on certain topics. Here’s a bit more context so you can see where each of us is coming from!
Brandon Curtis:
Brandon is the Director of Research at Eigen Labs. Previously, Brandon was a cofounder at Rio Development Inc, which was acquired by Eigen Labs in June 2024. Brandon was also the Senior Vice President of Research at Core Scientific which acquired RADAR where he was the Chief Research Officer responsible for the company’s product and protocol research and development efforts. Brandon has been working in crypto since 2011 and is an active advisor and investor across 20+ crypto companies. He has expertise in process design and analysis (from a past life as a chemical engineering graduate researcher at UC Berkeley), DeFi and protocol design, and has experience with crypto infrastructure at scales from the homelab to venture funds to a public company.
Brett Palatiello:
Brett is the Head of Economic Research at Eigen Labs. Previously, Brett was doing research funded by the Ethereum Foundation. Before that, he ran a multi-strategy crypto/web3 fund as a Partner, Head of Blockchain at Interplay. Prior to that, Brett was a partner and portfolio manager at award winning quantitative hedge funds running market-neutral long/short equity, statistical arbitrage and global macro strategies. Graduate of Columbia Business School and Quinnipiac University.
Matt Curtis:
Matt is a Protocol Researcher at Eigen Labs. Previously, Matt was the Head of Research at Rio Development Inc. Matt began his career in crypto working for a yield aggregating platform, evaluating and documenting the trust models of proposed products and features, and managing the design and analysis of protocol incentives. He began his career as a research scientist, earning his Master’s Degree in chemical engineering from Caltech before applying his skills in process design and analysis in crypto-focused research.
Mustafa Hourani:
Mustafa is a Research Analyst at Eigen Labs and and a member of the Core Team at College DAO. Previously, Mustafa was a Growth Analyst at Rio Development Inc, which was acquired by Eigen Labs in June 2024. Mustafa was also the founder of Academy Ventures which merged with College DAO in February 2024. Mustafa grew up in Jordan, completed university in Claremont McKenna College, and now lives in New York.
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for our next Forum post later this week, where Brett will dive into more details about the new Eigenlayer security model!
If you’re following along, feel free to leave a comment introducing yourself along with a topic you’d like to read more about in a future post.