Experience

Core Contributor & Consultant — IslandDAO
2023-Present

  • Solana DecentraGrants Program: Co-managed $57K in funds, filtering applications and advising projects on viability and user adoption
  • Metaplex Grants Program: Allocated $150K+ to high-impact projects as a Grants Council Member and multisig signer
  • Provided product positioning and UX feedback for 20+ early-stage Solana projects, including Jito, Lulo, and Tensor Trade

Research Analyst — Blocmates
2024-2026

  • Co-built an AI-driven analytics pipeline (Claude Code → Dune → GitHub) for data-backed reporting
  • Researched DeFi market structure, onchain yield, and protocol risk, producing long-form reports and due diligence

Freelance Researcher
2021-2025

  • Produced protocol and market research for Reserve Protocol, Arkham, and angel investors, focusing on mechanics, incentives, and competitive positioning

Marketing Manager — Streamflow Finance
2022-2023

  • Sourced and closed the Xandeum partnership, driving $3M+ in TVL growth
  • Contributed to partnerships and co-marketing efforts across a small, cross-functional team
  • Authored website copy, blog posts, and marketing collateral

Projects

Jupiter Lend Liquidation Decoder — Solana Turbin3 Q4 2025 Final Project

  • Built a fully decoded Jupiter Lend liquidation table from raw Solana instruction data, reverse-engineering Anchor discriminators and inner instruction patterns
  • Analyzed $1.28M in liquidations during the October 10, 2025 mass liquidation event

MetaDAO Analytics Dashboard — Blocmates

  • Built Dune (Trino SQL) queries tracking fund commitments, token claims, refunds, and treasury flows across three MetaDAO launchpad program versions
  • Powered by an AI-driven analytics pipeline (Claude Code → Dune → GitHub)

Local AI Research Assistant

  • Built a local AI system that aggregates crypto news, DeFi metrics, and governance data into a daily briefing using Python, locally hosted LLMs, and multiple APIs
  • Reduced daily research intake time from 1-2 hours to ~20 minutes

Skills & Credentials

Blockchain Data Analysis | Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Research | Protocol Analysis | SQL | Python | Technical Writing | Ecosystem Development | Project Management

Recognition

“I think you’re looking for Kai. He’s a real one with an authentic interest in research and doesn’t fear exploring new territories. He is also an incredibly kind and humble human being. Meeting him in person was one of my highlights of Accelerate!” — beeman, Solana developer and open-source evangelist (@beeman_nl)

On my Jupiter Lend Liquidations research:

“Amazing work from a great researcher. Proud of the potential of Q4 Research cohort at Solana Turbine.” — Alexander Grey, Solana Turbin3 Instructor & Business Development at Ackee (@AlexanderGreyDT)

On my Hitchhiker’s Guide to Meteora DLMM Vaults:

“This is incredible. As someone that’s been scarred from some IL experiences, this is super helpful. Would honestly be pretty cool if they included this as a metric within their UI.” — kellen, onchain data analyst (@runkellen)

References