Show notes
You Can't Code Your Way Out | Amor Sexton, BlockdaemonIn the last few weeks, Drift and Kelp lost $577 million between them. Neither one was a code exploit. Both were operational and governance failures.Amor Sexton, Chief Operating Officer at Blockdaemon, was last on MoneyNeverSleeps in October 2022 (EP 193) talking about how institutional client expectations of resilient processes would drive blockchain adoption. Three and a half years later, the industry just got an extremely expensive lesson in exactly that thesis.In this episode, Pete and Amor get into:- Why "this isn't a hack, it's a governance failure" is the conversation the industry isn't having- How compliance is a subset of risk — and why DeFi keeps confusing the two- The Web2/human layer compromise that exploits a legitimate Web3 feature- Pluto on Castle Island: "Everything that TradFi has built in terms of circuit breakers, we're just speed running relearning those things in crypto"- The Kelp configuration was a known vulnerability — and 47% of operators chose it anyway- The two or three governance questions every DeFi protocol and LP should be asking right now- Why it always comes back to people, not codeChapters:00:00 Cold open00:24 Welcome back to MoneyNeverSleeps00:55 $577M, 18 days, no code exploit02:00 Compliance is a subset of risk03:15 Guardrails and governance04:30 The Web2 layer compromise05:45 Speedrunning what TradFi already built07:30 Why 47% chose the risky configuration09:00 Three governance questions every protocol should answer12:30 It always comes back to people13:30 Sign offConnect with Amor:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amor-sexton/Blockdaemon: https://www.blockdaemon.com/About MoneyNeverSleeps:MoneyNeverSleeps is hosted by Pete Townsend, GP at Norio Ventures. Sharp riffs, big ideas, and real insights from smart people in crypto, fintech, AI, and onchain finance.Connect with Pete:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petetownsendnv/X: @petetownsendnvNorio Ventures: https://www.norioventures.comSubscribe to MoneyNeverSleeps wherever you get your podcasts:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moneyneversleeps1814Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F8uOLxiscYVWVGEfNxTndApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/moneyneversleeps/id1455819294#MoneyNeverSleeps #Blockdaemon #DeFi #Crypto #AmorSexton #Governance #RiskManagement