Gauntlet - Candidate for Security Council

Security Council Application: Gauntlet
Nominee: Gauntlet
Nominee Representative: Ryan Wegner, Head of Security
Current Representative: John Morrow, COO

About Gauntlet

Gauntlet is a DeFi-native quantitative research firm specializing in treasury and risk management, incentive optimization, and mechanism design. We apply battle-tested techniques from the algorithmic trading industry to assist protocols in managing risk, optimizing revenue, and designing superior incentives. Our simulation models inform parameter decisions for protocols of all sizes, collectively covering over 25% of aggregate DeFi TVL.

Our mission is to enable blockchain ecosystems to realize their full potential by creating software and technology to measure and accelerate growth, enhance ecosystem efficiency, and bolster overall utility for their users. We specialize in optimizing incentives, refining fee structures, and implementing optimal ecosystem control policies. Our services enable platforms to first quantify growth and then maximize ecosystem utility, helping onchain financial structures to grow safely.

Why Gauntlet is a good fit for the Arbitrum Security Council

Gauntlet is uniquely positioned to serve the Arbitrum DAO through its adherence to key principles that directly align with the needs of a Security Council role:

  • Quantitative-based approach: We utilize historical data, performance metrics, and real-time market conditions to inform sustainable growth strategies. This rigorous, data-driven methodology is essential for assessing security risks and evaluating protocol upgrades.
  • Economic balance: Our approach involves the joint optimization of growth programs, parameterization, and incentives to ensure ecosystem resiliency. This holistic view is critical for identifying potential security vulnerabilities that could arise from economic imbalances.
  • Predictability: By analyzing past and present data, we understand incentive performance across different ecosystem verticals. This enables us to proactively identify and mitigate risks before they materialize into full-blown security issues.

About Ryan Wegner, Head of Security

Ryan, as Gauntlet’s Head of Security, is at the forefront of our risk management and security analysis efforts. He brings extensive expertise in smart contract security and represents Gauntlet on a number of Security Council positions. His leadership ensures our security standards and methodologies are continuously refined to address the evolving threat landscape of decentralized ecosystems. Ryan would be the primary representative and point of contact for the Arbitrum Security Council, providing the technical and strategic guidance necessary for the role.

Disclosures:
Gauntlet is an active governance participant in many ecosystems and is on the Security Council of other Ethereum chains, including Scroll, Arbitrum, and Polygon. Gauntlet is also an active delegate in Morpho, Uniswap, Optimism, Arbitrum, Jito, and Compound. Gauntlet also works with many other protocols, including Near, Apollo, Drift, etc.

You can see more protocols Gauntlet works with here.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ryan during his time at Scroll and now at Gauntlet, as well as through his volunteer efforts with SEAL. In each of these contexts, he’s proven himself to be an incredibly diligent and level-headed security professional.

Ryan brings strong technical expertise and a security-first mindset, qualities that make him well-suited for the responsibilities of a Security Council. I’ve even recommended him to other multi-sig councils in the past because of the trust he’s earned through his work.

As someone currently serving on the Arbitrum Security Council, I would welcome Ryan’s skills and independent security perspective.

Best of luck, Ryan and Gauntlet team!

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That’s not the full picture — you’re also participating in Near Governance as a primary service provider.

Hi Dacha, we’ve added Near in the above disclosure to make it crystal clear - but the idea we’re trying to hide or obfuscate our partnerships is disingenuous. We are very public about our work with many protocols and ecosystems, the Near Foundation included. To list a historic registry of every company Gauntlet has worked with in our role as a service provider, curator, risk manager, and research firm would be exhaustive which is why we linked to our website in our Security Council application on Tally.

If any delegates or meaningful stakeholders of the Arbitrum community have concerns about how we manage serving our many customers in the DeFi ecosystem we are more than happy to meet with those individuals.

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