Ran Hammer on Orbs' Strategic Approach to Decentralized Finance

Few voices carry the depth of insight that Ran Hammer brings to the table. A former corporate lawyer turned crypto innovator, Hammer has witnessed the transformation of digital finance from its nascent stages. In this exclusive interview, he pulls back the curtain on Orbs' groundbreaking Layer 3 solutions, sharing a narrative that bridges traditional finance and the cutting edge of web3 technology.

Ishan Pandey: Hi Ran Hammer, welcome to our series on "Behind The Startup". As someone who has worked in areas such as law and business development. What insights and experience from your background have been most valuable in driving Orbs' growth?

Ran Hammer: Hey Ishan, thanks for the question. My crypto origin story begins in 2015. Back then, I was a corporate lawyer working mostly with startups in Tel Aviv. One of my clients reached out and told me they had raised funds in Bitcoin—which was around $280 at the time.

Naturally, I had to ask, "What is Bitcoin?" That question started my journey down the rabbit hole. We ended up converting all their crowdfunding funds into BTC at $280, and that experience opened my eyes to the potential of crypto.

Honestly, when building in crypto generally, and in DeFi specifically, it's a huge advantage to understand how things work in "the real world." We have this amazing technology that allows us to redesign legacy finance from scratch, but it really helps to also understand how traditional financial markets operate.

At Orbs, our focus is on building real products that people actually use and that really generate positive revenue. It's funny, but this isn't always the standard in the industry right now, with a lot of DeFI based on unsustainable token emissions. Having a solid sense of how real businesses operate definitely gives us an edge.

Ishan Pandey: Orbs positions itself as a Layer 3 solution for bringing CeFi-level execution to DeFi. Can you explain how Orbs technology stack achieves this without moving liquidity to a new chain, and what specific advantages this architecture offers over traditional solutions?

Ran Hammer: For sure, Orbs operates as a dPOS blockchain, but it doesn't hold its own assets on the chain itself. Instead, it functions as an abstraction or oracle chain that exists between EVM chains and the dApps that operate on them. Orbs has node operators, which we've dubbed Guardians, who run a decentralized compute layer that hosts Orbs L3 protocols, including dTWAP, dLIMIT, Liquidity Hub, and Perpetual Hub.

What sets Orbs apart is its ability to enable developers to implement much more complex logic than what can be achieved using smart contract platforms alone, all while staying fully decentralized. This opens up possibilities for sophisticated applications without sacrificing the core principles of decentralization.

The most apparent benefit of this approach is the enhanced execution capabilities, bringing CeFi-level performance to DeFi. Orbs' architecture also integrates seamlessly into existing ecosystems without fracturing liquidity further across new chains. Additionally, our protocols are designed to eliminate counterparty risk: funds never leave a user's wallet until an order is fully executed across all our protocols. This ensures a higher degree of security and trust while balancing innovation and user protection, offering developers and users the best of both worlds.

Ishan Pandey: The dLIMIT and dTWAP protocols are key innovations from Orbs. How are these advanced order types changing the game for on-chain trading, and can you break down these order types of beginners who are just starting out in crypto?

Ran Hammer: dLIMIT and dTWAP have truly transformed the landscape of on-chain trading, and their adoption by major DEXs like PancakeSwap, SushiSwap, and others highlights their value. Even UniSwap has built its own version of advanced orders, underscoring how essential these tools are for traders today.

A dLIMIT order allows users to buy or sell tokens at a specific price. Unlike traditional market orders, which execute immediately at the current price, dLIMIT orders ensure the user's desired price is met before execution. However, execution isn't guaranteed—it depends on the market price aligning with the order specifications. This gives traders more control, especially in volatile markets.

dTWAP (Decentralized Time-Weighted Average Price) is an algorithmic trading strategy designed to minimize the market impact of large orders. It does this by splitting the order into smaller chunks that execute incrementally over a predefined time frame. For example, instead of swapping a large sum all at once, which could significantly impact the pool price, dTWAP executes smaller portions systematically. This not only reduces slippage but also ensures better price stability, which is crucial for traders managing significant assets.

In DeFi, these tools are particularly important because liquidity pools need time to rebalance. By enabling features like precise execution with dLIMIT and efficient distribution with dTWAP, while using fully decentralised architecture, Orbs empowers traders to interact with decentralized exchanges in a way that was previously only available in CeFi.

Ishan Pandey: With Animoca Japan joining as validator nodes on the Orbs Network, what role do you see gaming and Web3 playing in the future of DeFi?

Ran Hammer: On behalf of the team at Orbs, we're very thankful to Animoca Japan for helping us secure our network by becoming a validator node for Orbs. It is a testament to the robustness of our Japanese Community that without it, it is unlikely we would have had the opportunity. Regarding gaming in Web3, I view things as everything on-chain eventually flows back to DeFi, and I will explain. Truly on-chain games require infrastructure that has been built since DeFi's inception.

When you have a game on-chain, the resulting outcome that we've seen from Axie Infinity to DeFi Kingdoms is that they require on-chain marketplaces for transacting in-game currency, collectibles, and other sorts of miscellaneous economies that form around the various ecosystems. For some games, you even have peer-to-peer lending, where resources are lent in exchange for yield that that player earns. It is thus in my view that DeFi and on-chain games are inseparable.

Ishan Pandey: Looking ahead to 2025, what key developments do you anticipate in the DeFi space?

Ran Hammer: In general, I think there are three key components that will see development in 2025. Firstly, Abstraction, the UX of crypto remains very poor, from onboarding all the way to news users making their first swap on a DEX and interacting with a DeFi protocol. This remains a significant hurdle for the industry that is starting to see improvements. Secondly, aggregation, crypto liquidity remains fragmented across multiple chains, protocols, and on and off chain sources.

There are now however multiple venues and even DEXs that are working to solve this and the technology will only improve as time goes on. Lastly, availability, simply just ensuring that we have the same options that we have in CeFi are also robustlessly available in DeFi wether it's liquidity, the same level experience of perpetual trading or advanced order types. On a more protocol level, intent-based architecture has the hallmarks of being a really really powerful tool that has a plethora of use cases from liquidity aggregation, to cross-chain swaps and bridging solutions. AI is also interesting and obviously super trendy right now, that can be implemented both as a way to abstract complexity away from users and eventually participating in markets.

Ishan Pandey: The Liquidity Hub is designed to optimize DEX pricing through aggregated liquidity. Can you share some specific examples of how this has improved trading for web3 users?

Ran Hammer: Liquidity Hub (LH) solves significant pain points for traders. When a user goes to a DEX they have really no way of knowing if they're getting the best price possible. One could in theory check all of the different aggregators, cross-chain pools, and CeFi prices if available, but it's very time consuming and with price fluctuations it's nearly impossible to ensure that you get the best price available. When a user swaps on a DEX that has integrated LH, LH performs a dutch auction between all of the available routers, some of which that support cross-chain swaps as well as private liquidity in the form of market makers to truly ensure that they're getting one of if not the best price available.

In this way, Liquidity Hub can be thought of as an intent based system that abstracts the complexity of needing to check all of the potentially hundreds of different venues to ensure that they've received a fair price. Lastly, due to the architecture of LH swaps that are routed through it are completely gassless which is an additional win for traders.

Ishan Pandey: As someone deeply involved in both the legal and business aspects of blockchain, what regulatory developments do you foresee impacting DeFi in 2025, and how should web3 projects prepare?

Ran Hammer: Since our industry has been around, regulatory ambiguity has created a "chilling effect," sidelining significant capital from entering the DeFi space. While it's difficult to predict the future with certainty, we are starting to see positive signals that this trend could change. For instance, U.S. President Donald Trump, has recently expressed strong pro-crypto sentiments, which could play a pivotal role in shaping a more favorable regulatory framework if his policies are implemented.

A clear and consistent regulatory environment in the U.S. would likely have a cascading effect, as many countries tend to follow America's lead when it comes to financial regulations. This clarity could unlock a wave of institutional capital for the blockchain industry, including DeFi, and spur innovation globally.

Web3 projects should focus on building great products that genuinely bring value to their users. While it's essential to stay aware of evolving regulatory requirements and aim for compliance, the priority should always be on creating solutions that solve real problems and push the space forward. By focusing on innovation and user value, projects can position themselves for long-term success, no matter how the regulatory landscape evolves.

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