Orbs Pioneers Layer 3 Technology to Bridge CeFi and DeFi Trading Experiences

Ran Hammer, VP of Business Development at Orbs, discusses the platform's innovative approach to blockchain technology, including its unique Layer 3 infrastructure and focus on enhancing DeFi trading experiences. He shares insights on Orbs' evolution from an enterprise-focused blockchain to a DeFi innovator, regulatory challenges in the crypto space, and the company's vision for bringing CeFi-level execution to decentralized finance.

Ishan Pandey: Hi Ran Hammer, we're thrilled to feature you in our 'Behind the Startup' series. Please tell us about your background and the story behind Orbs?

Ran Hammer: Hello, and thank you for hosting me. It's a pleasure to be here. I began my career as a corporate lawyer at a major firm in Tel Aviv, primarily handling high-tech, venture capital, and cross-border M&A work. In 2015, a client introduced me to Bitcoin, and I was immediately fascinated. By the time the bull market of 2017 arrived, my legal practice was entirely focused on blockchain and crypto projects.

When the founders of Orbs, each with rich Web2.0 entrepreneurial experience, approached me with their idea, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. After waiting for my annual bonus, I left the firm to join Orbs full-time.

From 2017 to 2019, Orbs was primarily focused on fundraising and building our mainnet. Our goal was to introduce Orbs as a hybrid Layer 1 blockchain, specifically designed to meet the needs of enterprises looking to utilize blockchain technology. At that time, private permissioned blockchain solutions like Hyperledger and Corda dominated the enterprise space, but we believed Orbs could offer a better solution while remaining open and permissionless.

After developing the protocol, we collaborated with several Fortune 500 companies and large NGOs to explore blockchain applications. However, we soon realized that enterprise adoption of Web3 was further off than we initially anticipated. Observing the rapid growth of DeFi in 2020, we decided to pivot and focus on DeFi innovation. We leveraged the infrastructure we had built to enhance on-chain trading experiences, positioning Orbs as a Layer 3 solution for DeFi.

Ishan Pandey: Given your background as a corporate lawyer specializing in blockchain and cryptocurrency, what are the most pressing legal issues facing the industry today, and how can they be addressed?

Ran Hammer: Unfortunately, the most significant legal issues from ten years ago remain the biggest challenges today: uncertainty surrounding the legal and regulatory applications of laws concerning digital assets. While some countries have made notable progress, the US, being the financial superpower of the world, still grapples with questions regarding the classification of tokens as securities, the application of AML laws, rules concerning banking and custody, and more. Honestly, if you had asked me ten years ago, I would have assumed most of these issues would have been resolved by now, but that is obviously not the case.

In my opinion, applying existing laws to new paradigms leads to vague and inconsistent applications. Regulators can achieve the purpose of the law by legislating rules that are designed to benefit from new technology. For example, the current AML regime is based on regulating intermediaries, making it difficult for such laws to handle decentralized venues where there are no intermediaries. This difficulty can be overcome by focusing on the platforms themselves.

White chains, i.e., chains where points of entry and withdrawal are regulated while all transactions are recorded, can alleviate the need to monitor and regulate each transaction individually. While I am not aware of any regulatory agency currently promoting such concepts, I believe this type of "out of the box" thinking from regulators is what the future of finance needs.

Ishan Pandey: How does Orbs address regulatory and legal compliance challenges in the rapidly evolving DeFi landscape?

Ran Hammer: Honestly, as a single project, there is only so much we can do. We strive to stay updated with current developments and contribute where we can. Over the years, we have engaged in numerous seminars, roundtables, and both formal and informal discussions in Israel, the US, and the UK. We share our views and aim to help regulators understand the technology and market dynamics.

Additionally, we conduct our own internal analyses and risk assessments to ensure we remain as compliant as possible.

Ishan Pandey: What are the key elements of Orbs' marketing strategy to differentiate itself in the crowded blockchain space?

Ran Hammer: Orbs has always been unique in its narrative. We started as a permissionless public open network for enterprise use and later pivoted to Layer 3 (L3), which was quite a distinctive move. Specifically, regarding our L3 pivot, Orbs was the first project to coin the term L3. Although other projects have since adopted the term, they usually refer to L3 as a rollup on top of another rollup to create an application-specific chain.

When we talk about our infrastructure as L3, we mean using Orbs' Proof-of-Stake (PoS) as an oracle, compute and execution layer. This approach augments what can be done with smart contracts, allowing developers to use Orbs as a “decentralized backend” and build with a fully decentralized stack.

While some of these concepts are complex, for marketing purposes, we aim to provide a basic understanding of the technology's applications, specifically bringing CeFi-level trading on-chain.

In addition to traditional marketing channels and social media, we work closely with partners using our technology. Having the “powered by Orbs” logo on popular platforms like PancakeSwap, QuickSwap, and others provides excellent exposure. We also collaborate closely with local community managers in specific regions, such as Japan and Korea, where we see a lot of traction.

Ishan Pandey: How do you engage and grow the Orbs community, and what role does community feedback play in your business development efforts?

Ran Hammer: Orbs' largest community presence is overwhelmingly in Korea and Japan, where we have incredibly strong and active communities. Many individuals in these regions are actively running nodes for our network. One unique aspect of Orbs is our fully decentralized network, with the majority of node operators being solo stakeholders rather than large corporate entities.

In both Korea and Japan, we have local community managers who play a crucial role in helping us understand the community's sentiment, gather feedback, and support the advancement of Orbs' messaging. This is in addition to our general marketing efforts in English via social channels and PR.

We strive to be as attentive as possible to community feedback and take the community’s opinions very seriously before making major decisions. I personally hold bi-monthly calls with all our node runners, whom we call Guardians. These Guardians are community leaders, as Orbs is a delegated PoS network and validators rely on community delegation. I also share major plans with the Guardians in advance and receive their feedback.

Ishan Pandey: From a regulatory perspective, what steps do you believe are necessary for the widespread adoption of blockchain and DeFi technologies globally?

Ran Hammer: As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the necessary steps involve creating new regulatory frameworks specifically designed for digital assets, rather than trying to apply outdated rules that don't necessarily make sense in our advanced world. This new regulation should take into account the nature of the technology and the intent of the law, aiming to create a framework that embraces technology in order to protect consumers and investors rather than hinder innovation.

Ishan Pandey: How does Orbs plan to stay ahead in the competitive DeFi market, and what are your strategic priorities?

Ran Hammer: Our goal is for Orbs to become a fundamental building block in the DeFi ecosystem, bringing CeFi-level execution into DeFi and helping projects provide a better on-chain trading experience for users.

Our go-to-market strategy focuses on building our own protocols using Orbs infrastructure and integrating those protocols with leading DeFi projects. Currently, these include dTWAP, dLIMIT, Liquidity Hub, and Perpetual Hub, which are live across over 15 spot and perp DEXs.

Our current strategy is to scale these protocols in both capabilities and the number of integrations while also developing new products that can benefit from Orbs' L3 infrastructure.

Ishan Pandey: What potential do you see in the intersection of blockchain technology and other emerging technologies?

Ran Hammer: I personally believe that DeFi, and trading specifically, are the killer features for blockchain, alongside payments and remittance. In our industry, it's important to remain skeptical, as many projects attempt to introduce narratives from other hyped industries like AI or Quantum Computing, often without providing real solutions that add value or solve problems.

That being said, I am a heavy user of new AI tools and believe this technology will transform many aspects of our lives. I would be surprised if blockchain technology isn't one of them. The synergy between AI and blockchain has immense potential, particularly in areas such as automated trading, fraud detection, and enhancing smart contract capabilities.

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