Grace “Ori” Kwan reflects on her experience growing up in a Chinese immigrant family in Westchester, NY, navigating her Chinese-American identity, and how her interest in world travel developed. She then takes us on her culinary journey, explains how she likes to explore other cultures through food, and then shares her path to entrepreneurship. Ori also opens up about her Cryptocurrency journey, including why she was initially skeptical of crypto but how she came to understand it can be used for good. She provides an overview of decentralized finance (“DeFi”), decentralized exchanges (“DEXs”) and the Solana blockchain. She then offers some reflections on the collapse of Terra Luna, and lessons we can take from that. Ori also talks about founding Orca as an Automated Market Maker (“AMM”) on the Solana blockchain. She provides an overview of how Liquidity Pools work and explains the downside risk of Impermanent Loss when providing liquidity with a token pair. She then talks about Orca’s “Whirlpools” and explains how Concentrated Liquidity Pools work. Ori also talks about the Orca governance token and DAO, the Orcanauts NFT project, and the Orca Impact Fund. Ori then talks about how she structures her digital nomad life, shares some travel experiences from Italy, gives tips on managing a fully distributed team, and reflects on what travel means to her. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT: www.TheMaverickShow.com
Episode #186: Building a CryptoCurrency DEX with Over $200 Million in Daily Trading Volume While Traveling the World with Ori Kwan
Episode Summary
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About the Guest
Grace “Ori” Kwan
Grace “Ori” Kwan is a designer, engineer, writer, world traveler and the cofounder of Orca, a leading decentralized exchange protocol on the Solana blockchain with over $250 Million of Total Value Locked and Over $200 Million in Daily Trading Volume. Ori is best known for her ability to turn complex systems into simple user experiences, which has made Orca well-known for its user-friendly approach to web3. Before taking an unexpected dive into crypto, she got her Bachelors and Master’s Degree in computer science from Stanford and then worked as an Interaction Designer and a Software Engineer before taking the entrepreneurial leap to co-found Orca. On the side, she also dabbles as a food writer and photographer and her work has been published in Gastro Obscura. Ori is also a full time digital nomad who runs her business while traveling the world with no permanent base.
What You'll Learn
- Understanding Decentralized Finance, Decentralized Exchanges, and the Solana Blockchain
- Understanding Liquidity Pools, Automated Market Makers and Impermanent Loss
- Tips for Building and Managing a Fully Remote Business While Traveling the World
Links From the Episode
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ORI’S DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGE ON THE SOLANA BLOCKCHAIN
#1 BOOK THAT ORI RECOMMENDS
#1 PERSON WITH WHOM ORI MOST WANTS TO HAVE DINNER
TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
TOP 3 BUCKET LIST TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
LOCATIONS WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE
ORI’S TRAVEL HACK AIRLINE
OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Brazil
- China
- Beijing, China
- Mainland, China
- Shanghai, China
- Dubai
- Hawaii
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Alba, Italy
- Florence/Tuscany, Italy
- Piedmont, Italy
- Japan
- New York City
- United States of America
CONNECT WITH DANISH
Time Stamped Show Notes
**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.
[3:06] Matt and Ori talk about Tokyo
[5:42] Ori’s Reflections on Her Chinese-American Identity while Growing up in Westchester, NY
[10:29] Ori’s Culinary Journey and Experiencing Culture Through Food
[16:30] Ori’s Path to Entrepreneurship
[22:35] Ori’s Cryptocurrency Journey and How Crypto and Web3 Can Be Used for Good
[25:55] Explaining Decentralized Finance (“DeFi”)
[27:42] Introduction to The Solana Blockchain
[39:32] Lessons from the Collapse of Luna
[40:54] Explaining a Decentralized Exchange (“DEX”)
[42:42] Founding Orca as an Automated Market Maker (“AMM”) on the Solana Blockchain
[45:57] Introduction to Liquidity Pools (“LPs”) and the Risk of Impermanent Loss (“IL”)
[53:43] Orca “Whirlpools”: Introduction to Concentrated Liquidity Pools
[55:10] The Orca Governance Token (ORCA) and DAO
[56:21] The Orcanauts NFT Project
[58:35] The Orca Impact Fund
[1:02:59] How Ori Structures Her Digital Nomad Life
[1:05:05] Tips for Managing a Fully Distributed Team
[1:07:35] Ori’s Experience in Florence, Italy
[1:09:43] What Travel Means to Ori
[1:11:09] The Lightning Round
[1:15:28] Follow and Connect with Ori