Lorien Gabel has spent decades on the construction of Internet infrastructure companies, from ISPs to cloud security firms. In 2018, recognizing the potential transformation of proof-of-stake networks, he co-established Figment.
Today, the company manages $ 15 billion in property and serves more than 500 institutional clients.
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Here, Gabriel, who will be a speaker in Consensus Hong Kong, discusses the expansion of the figment in Asia, Bitcoin experiments and his company’s careful process for deciding which new crypto networks will support.
This interview is reserved and lightly edited for clarity.
What led you to start the figment?
This is the fourth company my co-founders and I have built together for three decades. Our past adventures are all in the Internet infrastructure. When we started exploring the blockchain in 2018, staking was almost one thing – Tezos launched, and Ethereum still discussed. But we see a natural alignment between our network security expertise, cloud infrastructure and scaling B2B solutions and what can be proof-of-stake (POS). If POS gets traction, we believe that our experience of building safe, grade-institution networks will be very important.
We were originally planned to start a fund, and now we have a VC fund. But the fund was not preceded – the staking infrastructure company was made, and then we launched the Capital Figment. We usually get a proof-of-stake flyer, which believes it has some advantages over proof-of-work, and we are lucky enough to work and get rid of.
How big is the figment now?
We are currently in charge of $ 15 billion in staking assets and serving 500 institutional clients. While the number of employees is not always a significant measure, we have about 130 employees and are expected to reach 150 by the end of the year. Asia is our next big focus on expansion. We opened our office in Singapore last year, and we add Japan, Hong Kong and other major markets. While North America remains our basis, Asia’s demand for staking services is growing rapidly.
What challenges do you see in Asian adopting compared to other regions?
First, Asia is not a market – it is a collection of various economies and regulations landscapes. Japan, Indonesia and Korea, for example, have unique business cultures, levels of adoption and frameworks regulations. We are always focused on compliance, only working with institutional clients than retail users. But in Asia, obedience makes the country different. Unlike the US, where you primarily navigate the SEC and CFTC policies, each Asian market has its own regulators and policies.
Also, western companies often fail when stretching Asia by not understanding local rent, scale or customer behavior techniques. I was born in Kuala Lumpur, and I saw North American firms overinvest too fast or wrong market needs. That’s why we started small in Singapore with three people, so we can find out before scaling.
Education is another challenge. In many Asian groceries, staking is not well defined and sometimes mistaken as defi lending. We spend a lot of time at conferences, client meetings and media interviews explaining what staking is and why these institutions should consider alternative risk harvesting.
What was the biggest challenge for your business scale, and how did you overcome it?
The hardest part of any start is the “zero at one” stage – wondering if an idea will work, what customers need and how the business model will change.
Early on, we ran a lot of experiments – we had a remote method Call (RPC) infrastructure business, a developer knowledge portal and various income streams. But once we found a powerful-man-market product that fits into staking, we closed the rest and fully focused on scaling a basic offering.
The second main challenge is Crypto’s volatility. Our business operates like a mix between a data center company, a funding and a software business, but has a variable pricing in twelve -changing Dabagu -changing digital assets. That is complicated planning. I joked that my unofficial title was “Chief Stoic” – I didn’t get too euphoric when markets were emerging, and I didn’t panic when things were in the south. Whether it is the fall of the FTX or the Bitcoin that has hit $ 100,000, we focus on long -term implementation.
Do you see an increase in interest in the institution in Asia?
Yes, the adoption of the institution is accelerating, especially from banks and telecoms. We had investors in equity equity from Asia – big names like Money and B capital – but last year, we saw more traditional financial institutions actively entering staking. Each market has its own dominant exchange and carers, and we often work with them than deal with end users. As more banks explore staking, we expect to adopt snowball -just as the US institutions have begun invested in staking before scale operations.
How do you decide which tokens support staking? Did this market in Asia influence it?
We have a review outline that we have refined for the past six years. Because we can only support a limited number of new tokens each year, we have to be selective – last year, we added support for 12 or 13, which was highly granted the complexity of each integration. Today, we support nearly 40 networks, but each new addition requires careful analysis.
The process starts with the basics: is it a real project or a scam? Does it have a strong thesis and a team capable of doing it? In many ways, it reflects a VC outline. From there, we dig deeper, talk to the foundation and the foundation, assess the level of supporting support available -because that is important for the institutional adoption -and examining the wider ecosystem.
However, at some point, if you have 20 strong candidates but can only support 10, you need to make a stake. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. Over the years, we have seen enough network launching to generate a strong intuition about what works and what is not. We try to offer guidance on projects where we can, even in the end, it’s up to them if they get our input.
Customer demand is another factor in our decision, and the Asian market is an integral part of it. Occasionally, a major institutional client will ask for a support for a project that we may not otherwise be considered – or even heard – so we are conducting an accelerated review. In some cases, we need to tell clients that don’t, either because we don’t see the project as legitimate or we suspect it may be a scam. Those are tough to talk, but they are required. In the end, we will also see how many of our clients are likely to hold or stake a given token, which performs our final decision.
With many Asian investors looking for high yield opportunities, how does the figment ensure competitive returns while remaining safe and reliable?
Staking is not the highest yielding activity in crypto, but it is the safest way to earn harvest without the risk of counterparts. We are committed to providing the highest -adjusted staking rewards. While some providers pursue a higher return by cutting corners (for example, ignoring OFAC compliance or MEV risks), our clients – mainly institutions – prioritize security and compliance .
In crypto, staking is equivalent to a 10-year treasury bond-this is the stable, reliable option compared to high-risk defi techniques. Some investors prefer pooling or lending for higher yield, but institutions usually choose staking for its security.
Are there any trends related to staking or innovation in Asia that entertain you?
Some of the most exciting staking trends now include liquid staking and re-staking, with the eigenlayer leading the world’s charges in these areas and having a strong presence in Asia. Bitcoin staking is another place of interest, with projects like Babylon exploring its potential, even though the demand remains unsure. In addition, we see new chains with significant influence in Asia, such as Berachain, that its user base grows rapidly in the region. We are actively supporting BTC staking as we closely monitor new staking models emerging from Asia.
