If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been part of the Radix journey. For that, I thank you. It’s been a long road, and I’ll be blunt – this isn’t where I wanted to be at this stage, and frankly, it isn’t where I think Radix deserves to be.
What I think is or isn’t deserved today doesn’t matter though. The future does.
We have faced more than our fair share of challenges, but I’ll be the first to admit it: things haven’t gone as planned. That’s why I’m making changes; because justified or not, what we have been doing isn’t working.
Over the last two years, we’ve made some incredible strides. We took Scrypto from early access to the best developer experience for deploying powerful and secure smart contracts in crypto. We built a whole new Radix Wallet, bringing the most intuitive user experience in Web3 to life with features like truly human-readable transactions and on-chain smart accounts, which others are still trying to “abstract” into existence – all made possible by the Radix Engine.
Last year, the Babylon Upgrade launched and has since processed over 7 million transactions. There have been over 190,000 wallet downloads to date. We’ve seen a peak of $55 million in TVL locked in DeFi on Radix and forged partnerships with key players like Maya Protocol, Copper Custody, Brevan Howard Digital, Keyrock, and BitPanda Custody, to name just a few.
But, let’s be very honest – we’ve also dropped the ball.
In 2022, we scaled up aggressively, pouring resources into the preparation of the Babylon launch at the end of that year. We believed that was our moment. But delays hit us hard. Babylon didn’t launch until September 2023; by then, we’d lost most of the momentum. Cash reserves were tight, so when Babylon finally did launch, we weren’t fully equipped to capitalise on it. Some of the key features we needed were missing, and while the foundation was solid, the reception wasn’t what we’d hoped for.
That misalignment of expectations, paired with our decision to overcommit to long-term goals at the expense of near-term delivery, slowed our progress. We’ve been under exhaustingly high pressure ever since, and we weren’t transparent enough with you about the challenges we were facing. We repeatedly convinced ourselves the issues were temporary – that we could push through them and come out the other side stronger. The information we had at the time all suggested that was the case. But in hindsight, that wasn’t fair to you, the community, who have supported Radix through thick and thin.
Now, I’m not comfortable with where we are today. But I am determined, as many who have been on this journey with me for a long time have seen. And I’m asking for that same determination from every one of you. We have a choice: either we pull together and fight with every ounce of energy we have to prove that Radix is the future of DeFi, or we roll over, let it slip away, and allow someone else to take that crown. I’m not rolling over, and I’m damn sure many of you are not planning to either!
However, this isn’t just a motivational battle cry; it’s a plan to shake things up a little. So here’s what I am doing to get this ship back on course.
Fixing What’s Not Working: A New Structure for Radix
Part of fixing this means acknowledging where we went wrong and taking decisive action to set things right. One of the biggest challenges now is the conflict of interest between RDX Works and the Radix Foundation. While broadly aligned, they’ve been stepping on each other’s toes, with their missions blurring to the point of confusion.
So, I’m making some big changes, starting now.
- Piers will remain CEO and Director of RDX Works, but will no longer be involved with the Radix Foundation.
- RDX Works will focus on generating revenue – incubating powerful, profitable applications that run on Radix, like Anthic (bringing massive liquidity to Radix with Flash Liquidity) and Instabridge (which is now a VASP-regulated entity), and the platform features that drive such applications.
- I will step away from RDX Works to focus solely on the Radix Foundation and Radix Labs, a new subsidiary focused on research into Cerberus & Xi’an. Radix Labs will be pushing forward on the development of Cassandra, which has already shown over 2 million TPS in recent tests. This is going to be one of the most critical pieces in Radix’s future, and it needs my full attention.
- The Radix Foundation will now more actively set the agenda and oversee / report on the development, promotion, and success of the network and ecosystem.
This restructuring means each entity can focus on what it does best without one holding the other back. And that’s how we’re now going to drive this forward, hard!
The change in Piers’ and my roles will take effect as soon as we are able to complete all the formalities (which may take a few weeks), and while these role changes are significant, there will be further operational shifts happening behind the scenes. Rest assured, any changes on the Foundation’s side will be clearly communicated to the community. While there will still be some necessary limitations due to market-sensitive information and NDAs, the Foundation will aim to provide much more transparency with frequent updates and overviews to show progress and accountability.
Rallying the Radvocates: What I Need from You
Now, this is where you come in. Because I can talk all day about plans, but none of it matters without you. If we’re going to turn this ship around quickly, we need the community to lean in harder than ever before.
I know that’s a big ask. I know many of you are just as frustrated at the situation as I am, and many of you are exhausted.
But, if we all unite and push hard, I believe we can all look back at this period as the time we beat the odds and achieved what we all envisioned – and at the least, we can look back knowing that we did all we could. The other option – stop fighting and accept irrelevance – is something I couldn’t live with, and I don’t think all of you reading this could either.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. I know Radix has the best developer experience in crypto, hands down. I know Scrypto, Radix Engine, and Cerberus are unmatched. And I know the UX on Radix is the best available in DeFi right now. And it’s not just what I think – we keep getting the same feedback from people who have taken the time to engage with Radix, whether it be through a hackathon, an integration, an audit, or just doing research: This is so good! You’ve really nailed the solution for all these problems. How are you guys not bigger?
But the world won’t know it unless we show them.
We can’t spend our way to success here, so I need you to evangelise. Tell the world why Radix is special. Share it with your developer friends. Get people to try out the amazing dApps already in the ecosystem or those launching imminently.
But most importantly, we need to align behind the right goals and the right narrative.
Aside from Scalability, which has always been core to the Radix narrative, and which I am 100% focused on, I believe that the future of this network and ecosystem, and all the projects built on it, depends on trade flow. Hell, the past, present, and future value of any crypto platform is the amount of trade flow it captures.
To get that, we need people to see that Radix is buzzing with activity, opportunity, and growth. Then they’ll come. Institutions will see demand, users will come to trade, and that activity will draw more developers, more projects, more innovation. It’s a cycle; it’s already started, and we need to nurture it.
Babylon and the Radix ecosystem have proven themselves over the last year, so we’re on a good solid footing.
The other good news is there is a massive opportunity on the horizon with Flash Liquidity. This will bring institutional-level liquidity to Radix while maintaining the security, self-custody, and incredible UX that sets us apart. Anyone will be able to trade the top crypto assets with confidence and high liquidity, then feed that into an exciting ecosystem. Be that DeFi, meme coins, NFTs, or anything else – as you all know, once people try Radix, they want to stay!
The Road Ahead
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: Radix is still the underdog, and we’re significantly under-resourced compared to our competitors. But we’ve got the best foundation of tech in the industry, and we’ve got the most dedicated and passionate community that has stood by us through thick and thin. That’s why I believe we can turn this around.
There’s a lot on the horizon: Flash Liquidity, Anthic, Surge, Trove Pro, Root Finance and more. We have Brevan Howard Digital managing the Radix endowment fund, opening doors we’ve never had access to before.
But these wins aren’t guaranteed. They need every one of us pulling in the same direction. We need to deliver on trade flow, because that’s what’s going to drive value to the platform and to the entire ecosystem.
This is going to be hard. And there’s no guarantee we’ll make it. But I’ll tell you this: I’m not giving up. I’ve spent the last decade working to bring Radix to life, and I’m going to keep fighting. I can’t do it alone, I need you – the community, the developers, the partners, the traders – to stand with me.
This isn’t where we wanted to be. But it’s where we are. And together, we’ve got a shot at making Radix the success it deserves to be. I hope you’ll fight alongside me.
With such a large change, there is a lot to sort out, and that’ll take some time. I also know many of you will have questions, so I’ll be around in the Radix community to answer where possible and will make sure to provide updates over the coming weeks and months as these changes roll out.
Dan,
Founder of Radix
