329: Giel on Institutional Adoption, Risk Curation, and the Future of DeFi
Description
In this episode, I sit down with Giel from kpk (formerly karpatkey) live at Devconnect Buenos Aires. KPK has quietly managed billions for major DAOs such as ENS, DYDX, Arbitrum, and Balancer — operating with an institutional-grade risk framework while staying fully non-custodial.
We talk about institutional adoption heading into 2025–2026, why traditional funds and family offices now want safer access to DeFi yields, how risk curation actually works, and what institutions should look for when evaluating partners. Giel also breaks down KPK’s new vault + curator system and how automation allows them to adjust positions in under 30 seconds.
Key Timestamps
[00:00 ] What KPK Actually Does — managing billions for top DAOs with non-custodial infrastructure.
[00:02 ] Institutional Demand — family offices & funds looking for safe DeFi exposure.
[00:04 ] Banks & DeFi — how banks may adopt on-chain yield directly.
[00:06 ] The Curator Model — risk frameworks, due diligence, and automated vaults.
[00:09 ] What Institutions Should Look For — track record, risk discipline, zero loss history.
[00:12 ] Roadmap — becoming a leading risk curator with focused, low-risk vaults.
[00:14 ] Biggest Challenges — moving from behind the scenes to public institutional visibility.
[00:16 ] The Ask — connecting with funds, aggregators, and institutions seeking safe, automated yield.
Connect
https://www.linkedin.com/company/kpk-io/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/giel-detienne/
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