DeFi Researcher

Gauntlet leads the field in quantitative research and optimization of DeFi economics. We manage market risk, optimize growth, and ensure economic safety for protocols facilitating most spot trading, borrowing, and lending activity across all of DeFi, protecting and optimizing the largest protocols and networks in the industry. We build institutional-grade vaults for decentralized finance, delivering risk-adjusted onchain yields for capital at scale. Designed by the most vigilant, quantitative minds in crypto and informed by years of research. As of April 2025, Gauntlet manages risk and incentives covering over $42 billion in customer TVL.

Gauntlet continually publishes cutting-edge research that informs our risk models, alerts, and analysis, and is among the most cited institution — including academic institutions — in terms of peer-reviewed papers addressing DeFi as a subject. We’re a Series B company with around 75 employees, operating remote-first with a home base in New York City.

Our mission is to drive adoption and understanding in the financial systems of the future. The unique challenges of decentralized systems call for innovative approaches in mechanism design, smart contract development, and financial product utilization. Gauntlet leads in advancing this knowledge, ensuring safe progression through the evolving landscape of financial innovation.

About Applied Research

The Applied Research Organization at Gauntlet seeks to answer DeFi’s hardest questions. We provide deep quantitative expertise to top DeFi protocols and ecosystems, including Uniswap, Near, and Movement, on how they can grow, optimize, and de-risk mechanisms within their various systems. Unlike other product-oriented teams at Gauntlet, the Applied Research team provides white-glove solutions and services to top protocols and clients within the Web3, DeFi space.

We seek to expand our research team to lead client-facing engagements under the Applied Research organization. This role is client-facing and requires direct interaction between the researcher and the client (often top leaders/thinkers in the industry).We are hiring at all levels, from Junior to Lead, based on experience and ability. Junior Researchers are expected to perform high-quality and publishable research on behalf of various clients with direction and guidance from more senior researchers. In contrast, Lead researchers will be expected to support the roadmap and deliverables of multiple clients whilst upholding the quality bar for a team of more junior researchers. This role requires deep expertise in blockchain analytics, quantitative research, and statistical modeling, strong leadership skills to drive data-driven decision-making, and strong communication skills with the ability to interface directly with clients.

Responsibilities

• Perform in-depth mechanism design and research to develop the next generation of DeFi mechanisms and patterns.
• Own client success through the development of research roadmaps and managing the team responsible for executing these roadmaps at a high-quality bar.
• Develop predictive models, statistical analyses, and machine learning algorithms to extract blockchain and market data insights.
• Work with large-scale structured and unstructured datasets, ensuring data integrity and efficient processing.
• Publish research reports and insights on blockchain data trends, protocol performance, and economic models.
• Attend international conferences to present Gauntlet’s research to the larger DeFi and Web3 community

Qualifications

• 1-10+ years of experience in research, data science, or mechanism design.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, along with the ability to operate in a client-facing role.
• Deep understanding of DeFi and crypto topics through professional work or personal interest and experience.

Bonus Points

• Contribute to the forefront of DeFi economic understanding and optimization.
• Work on projects that value deep research, quality, and practical outcomes.
• Collaborate with a team committed to defining future financial systems.
• Master’s or Ph.D. in Quantitative fields like Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Physics, or similar fields is a plus.

Benefits and Perks

• Remote first - work from anywhere in the US & CAN!
• Competitive packages with the added opportunity for incentive-based compensation
• Regular in-person company retreats and cross-country "office visit" perk
• 100% paid medical, dental and vision premiums for employees
• Laptop provided
• $1,500 WFH stipend upon joining
• $100 per month reimbursement for fitness-related expenses
• Monthly reimbursement for home internet, phone, and cellular data
• Unlimited vacation policy
• 100% paid parental leave of 12 weeks
• Fertility benefits

Please note at this time our hiring is reserved for potential employees who are able to work within the contiguous United States and Canada. Should you need alternative accommodations, please note that in your application.

The national pay range for this role is $165,000 - $205,000 base plus additional On Target Earnings potential by level and equity in the company. Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for a company of our size and industry, and are one part of many compensation, benefits and other reward opportunities we provide. Individual pay rate decisions are based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skill set, and balancing internal equity relative to peers at the company.  

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