My father spent 30 years as a disaster relief engineer, rebuilding communities after earthquakes, hurricanes, and wars. He’d wade chest deep through floodwaters, sleep in tents in war zones, and work 20-hour days just to give people a chance to start over. But deep down, he never wanted that life for me. He’d come home exhausted, hands blistered, eyes red from smoke and tears, and sit me down. ‘Son,’ he’d say in a cracked voice, ‘promise me you’ll do something important with your life. Don’t waste your time building schools or fixing bridges. Make something that truly matters. Like an onchain perps DEX for coins in the dog thematic vertical. Or a rehypothecation strategy that makes synthetic CDOs look simple.' When I graduated, I told him I was considering joining the UN disaster response team as an EMT. His face fell. ‘You’re better than that,’ he whispered. ‘You were born for leveraged DeFi.’ So here I am, Dad. A crypto founder. Just like you dreamed. Spending my days on Twitter, arguing about settlement and ordering policy, and shitposting about @talos_is being the future of finance. Hope I made you proud.