Gustavo Guimaraes

Blockchain × AI Engineer

Remote / Worldwide github.com/gustavoguimaraes linkedin.com/in/gustavocguimaraes

Summary

Blockchain × AI engineer with 8+ years building production DeFi protocols managing $1B+ in assets. Combines deep EVM and smart-contract expertise with AI-augmented development workflows and compliance awareness from regulated financial products (Swiss ETF/ETP infrastructure at 21Shares, US Treasury-backed stablecoin at M0Labs, institutional staking at KernelDAO/Kelp Protocol). Proven track record leading engineering teams, overseeing security audits, and delivering protocols at scale.

Experience

KernelDAO / Kelp Protocol 2023 — 2025

Blockchain Engineer — Team Lead & Architect

Kelp Protocol — liquid restaking on Ethereum, grew to $1B+ AUM; led protocol architecture, smart contract development, and security audit oversight
KernelDAO BNB native staking product on BSC
Engineering team lead: architecture decisions, code review standards, team growth

Syndicate Jul 2022 — Dec 2025

Smart Contract Lead

Syndicate Chain — onchain sequencer for Arbitrum Orbit and OP Stack appchains, reducing protocol operating costs by 10–100×
Appchain deployment tooling and cross-chain messaging infrastructure
Led smart contract development from design through audit and mainnet launch

M0Labs Jan 2023 — May 2023

Senior Smart Contract Engineer

Authored the first version of the dual-governance smart contracts and architecture for the first institutional stablecoin directly backed by US Treasury bills
Designed the dual-governance system — separating monetary policy control from protocol governance
Compliance-aware architecture for regulated institutional minters and validators

Dapper Labs Aug 2022 — Sep 2022

Smart Contract Engineer — Contractor (Remote) · Vancouver, Canada

Revamped developer tutorials for the Cadence smart contract programming language

VatnFörn / Deepwaters Mar 2022 — Jun 2022

Blockchain Architect

Protocol architecture for a high-performance onchain orderbook DEX
Gas optimization delivering a 40% reduction in execution costs

21Shares Mar 2019 — Feb 2022

Blockchain & Software Engineer

Blockchain infrastructure supporting $2B AUM crypto ETF/ETP products listed on Swiss and European exchanges
Custody integrations, on-chain proof-of-reserves, automated rebalancing pipelines
Regulatory compliance tooling for Swiss FINMA and EU financial frameworks

Clam Island Feb 2021 — May 2022

Blockchain Engineer & Founder · Cayman Islands

Founded blockchain company and released a product at the intersection of gaming and DeFi
Spearheaded development of web and blockchain application; managed 4 engineers from entry to senior levels
Received funding from Tachyon, the startup incubation branch of Consensys

Freelancer Aug 2012 — Nov 2018

Blockchain & Software Engineer (Remote)

Provided consulting in blockchain and web-based product development for companies including OpenZeppelin, Pillar.fi, and TopTal
Wrote blog posts on blockchain best practices and engineering at gus-tavo-guim.medium.com

Technical Skills

Smart Contracts: Solidity, Rust, Vyper, Foundry, Hardhat

Blockchain: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base

L2 / Rollups: Arbitrum Orbit, OP Stack, EigenLayer, cross-chain bridges

DeFi: Liquid staking, restaking, stablecoins, AMMs, orderbooks

AI Tools: Claude API, LLM integration, AI agents, AI-augmented dev workflows

Backend: TypeScript, Node.js, Go, Python, PostgreSQL

DevOps: Docker, AWS, CI/CD, GitHub Actions

Security: Audit processes, formal verification, access control patterns

Education & Certifications

B.A. — Lawrence University

Appleton, WI, USA

Certified Blockchain Developer

Ethereum Foundation ecosystem

2017