From Crisis to Comeback: How Euler Labs Survived a $200M Hack to Thrive in DeFi | Michael Bentley

From Crisis to Comeback: How Euler Labs Survived a $200M Hack to Thrive in DeFi | Michael Bentley

In this episode of the Defiant Podcast, we sit down with Michael Bentley, co-founder and CEO of Euler Labs, to explore one of the most remarkable comeback stories in DeFi history. From a devastating $200M exploit in 2023 to surpassing $1B in outstanding loans, Euler Labs has redefined resilience and innovation in the crypto space.

Michael shares the emotional and technical challenges of navigating the exploit, the process of recovering funds, and the lessons learned along the way. We also dive into the evolution of Euler Labs, the launch of V2, and their groundbreaking innovations in DeFi lending, borrowing, and stablecoins.

Whether you're a crypto enthusiast, a DeFi builder, or just love a good comeback story, this episode is packed with insights, inspiration, and a behind-the-scenes look at the future of decentralized finance.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction

01:27 - Meet Michael Bentley: CEO of Euler Labs

02:03 - The Early Days: From PhD to Crypto

04:02 - Founding Euler Labs: Hackathon Beginnings

08:10 - Innovations in DeFi Lending

13:00 - The 2023 Exploit: What Happened?

20:33 - Recovering $200M: Negotiating with the Hacker

33:04 - Picking Up the Pieces: Team Resilience

36:41 - Launching V2: A New Chapter

42:29 - Differentiating Euler Labs in DeFi

45:24 - The Future of DeFi: Institutional Adoption

50:43 - Lessons for Founders: Resilience and Security

52:24 - Closing Thoughts: The Hard Things Are Worth It

Jaksot(325)

"After DeFi, it’s NFTs and DAOs. We're Gathering Tinder:" Jihoz of Axie Infinity

"After DeFi, it’s NFTs and DAOs. We're Gathering Tinder:" Jihoz of Axie Infinity

This week’s interview is with Jeff Zirlin, aka Jihoz, growth lead at Axie Infinity. Axie is a digital game built on Ethereum, which involves cute animals going to battle against each other and taking ...

19 Syys 202059min

"It Turns Out Music Does Have Value. We've Been Pricing It Incorrectly For 20 Years:" RAC

"It Turns Out Music Does Have Value. We've Been Pricing It Incorrectly For 20 Years:" RAC

Hello Defiers! In this week’s interview, we chatted with Grammy Award-winning DJ Andre Anjos, aka RAC. Many have seen cryptocurrencies as a way to decentralize the financial system, thanks to the inno...

12 Syys 20201h 10min

"What We're Building is Very Big and We Should Have The Least Concentration Possible:" Aave's Stani Kulechov

"What We're Building is Very Big and We Should Have The Least Concentration Possible:" Aave's Stani Kulechov

Stani Kulechov the founder and CEO of Aave. When we spoke Aave was the second-largest DeFi protocol, but in the days after our conversation, it rose to overtake MakerDAO and become the DeFi platform w...

29 Elo 202059min

"It's not just about money; it's touching a very primal desire to connect with others:" ParaFi's Santiago Roel

"It's not just about money; it's touching a very primal desire to connect with others:" ParaFi's Santiago Roel

Santiago Roel is partner at ParaFi Capital, one of the most active investment funds in DeFi. Before going full crypto, Santiago worked at JPMorgan’s investment banking arm, and then invested in fintec...

25 Elo 20201h 2min

"People Want me to be Popular, Not Necessarily Successful; That's the Trick with Personal Tokens:" Alex Masmej

"People Want me to be Popular, Not Necessarily Successful; That's the Trick with Personal Tokens:" Alex Masmej

In this week’s episode I speak with Alex Masmej, the first person to raise money by selling tokens not linked to any project, but linked to himself, in a sort of self-IPO. Much like shareholders takin...

15 Elo 202056min

"In DeFi My Money is Actually Mine. It's a Beautiful Concept But it Comes With Responsibilities:" Andre Cronje

"In DeFi My Money is Actually Mine. It's a Beautiful Concept But it Comes With Responsibilities:" Andre Cronje

Andre Cronje is the developer of the yearn platform and YFI token. There’s this sort of mysticism around Andre: The solo genius builder who relentlessly releases code even if it hasn’t always been pro...

8 Elo 20201h 15min

"We're at the Early Stages of a Truly Novel Structure That can Organize Humans and Money:" Olaf Carlson-Wee

"We're at the Early Stages of a Truly Novel Structure That can Organize Humans and Money:" Olaf Carlson-Wee

In today’s episode, I speak with Polychain Capital founder Olaf Carlson-Wee. He was already telling Wired magazine about programmatic finance back in 2016, so it’s no surprise Olaf is very excited abo...

1 Elo 202053min

"Developers Will Wake Up to the Fact That There's a Toolkit to Build Full-Fledged Customized Chains:" Acala's Bette Chen

"Developers Will Wake Up to the Fact That There's a Toolkit to Build Full-Fledged Customized Chains:" Acala's Bette Chen

In this week’s epidose I speak with Bette Chen and Ruitao Su, who are building DeFi on Polkadot. While most of DeFi is being built on Etheruem, here is the team creating an entire new financial infras...

25 Heinä 202059min