From Intern to President: Kanav Kariya's Journey at Jump Crypto

In a fascinating episode of the Superteam podcast, hosts Akshay and Tanmay sit down with Kanav Kariya, the President of Jump Crypto, to discuss his remarkable journey from intern to leading a 100+ person team in one of the most innovative companies in the cryptocurrency space. This article delves into Kanav's experiences, the cutting-edge projects Jump Crypto is working on, and the exciting future of decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technology.

Who is Kanav Kariya?

Kanav Kariya is the President of Jump Crypto, the cryptocurrency division of Jump Trading. His journey is a testament to the rapid growth and opportunities in the crypto space. Originally from Mumbai, India, Kanav moved to the United States for his studies and joined Jump Trading as an intern seven years ago. Through his hard work, innovative thinking, and deep understanding of both trading and crypto, he rose through the ranks to become the president of Jump Crypto.

Jump Trading: A Brief Overview

Jump Trading is a proprietary trading firm that started about 20 years ago in the trading pits of Chicago. The company was one of the first to adopt the electrification of markets, transforming itself from a pit trading firm into a software company. Jump Trading has a history of innovation and optimization, employing hundreds of PhDs working on cutting-edge data science problems.

The Birth of Jump Crypto

In 2015, the founders of Jump Trading made a pivotal decision to establish a cryptocurrency proprietary trading desk. This decision was based on their belief that cryptocurrency would become a revolutionary asset class. The crypto effort at Jump started as a small "skunkworks" project with just five or six people excitedly discussing crypto and building trading infrastructure.

Kanav joined this nascent crypto team during his internship at Jump's research lab at the University of Illinois. He recalls, "The crypto effort was just being born, like, you know, as an early skunk works project. Couple like five or six people who would just pinch as and excitedly talk about crypto and then we were building our crypto trading infrastructure."

The Transition from Trading to Building

As Jump Crypto became more involved in the cryptocurrency space, they realized that their skills in building complex trading systems and solving data science problems could be applied to creating valuable infrastructure for open crypto projects. Kanav explains:

"As we got more and more involved in crypto, we realized that the almost the more exciting opportunity step was actually building in crypto. You know, like the, by virtue of building all these trading systems that are so complex and working on all these complex data science problems, we had like a skill set that enabled us to really build some cool stuff that crypto, the open crypto projects could use and develop and build off of."

This realization marked a significant shift in Jump Crypto's focus, moving from purely trading to actively contributing to and building infrastructure in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Cultural Shift: From East Coast Trading to Silicon Valley Innovation

One of the most interesting aspects of Jump Crypto's evolution is the cultural shift it represents. Traditionally, East Coast trading firms are known for optimizing efficiency and focusing on marginal improvements. However, Jump Crypto has embraced a more Silicon Valley-esque approach of building innovative, "zero to one" projects.

Kanav acknowledges this shift: "Those are definitely two different cultures, you know, the trading world and the Silicon Valley world where you're trying to zero to one new, new, new exciting ventures. When you think about it just in contrast here and there, it's like a pretty dramatic shift in the way that the culture of the firm operates, but it's been gradual."

This gradual change was facilitated by Jump's six-year involvement in crypto and their partnerships with various projects on the liquidity side. Through these interactions, they identified significant gaps in the space that needed to be filled, leading them to take a more active role in building and contributing to crypto infrastructure.

Wormhole: Bridging Blockchain Ecosystems

One of Jump Crypto's most significant contributions to the cryptocurrency ecosystem is Wormhole, a cross-chain interoperability protocol. Wormhole enables generic communication between various blockchains, allowing tokens and other blockchain-generated states to be transferred between different networks.

Kanav explains the importance of Wormhole: "Blockchains have like very heterogeneous environments and there's blockchains like there are Ethereum buy and smart chain, you know, all those four networks are now today connected by the wormhole. And what that means is that tokens and generally all kinds of interesting state that are generated by those chains can now be communicated with each other."

This interoperability is crucial for the growth and adoption of blockchain technology, as it allows assets and information to flow freely between different ecosystems. For example, Wormhole has enabled the transfer of NFTs like CryptoPunks from Ethereum to Solana, and facilitated the movement of governance decisions across chains.

The Oracle Problem and Pyth Network

Another significant project that Jump Crypto is involved in is addressing the "oracle problem" in cryptocurrency. Oracles are systems that bring off-chain data onto the blockchain, which is crucial for many decentralized applications, especially in DeFi.

Kanav describes the oracle problem: "Blockchains give us like this ability to, you know, trustlessly execute arbitrary pieces of logic, right? ... but the blockchain doesn't know who won the game, right? So the, you need somebody to report, you know, who won the game and if I have an app, but an app bet on, you know, one side winning the game and I'm responsible for saying, telling the blockchain who won the game. If I'm the Oracle, so to speak, then I'm just going to say the one, the game, right? And then just win the bet and take the money."

To address this issue, Jump Crypto has been heavily involved in the development of Pyth Network, a decentralized oracle solution. Pyth brings real-time financial data from various trusted sources directly to the blockchain. This includes data from major trading firms, equity exchanges, and crypto firms.

Kanav explains how Pyth works: "On chain, this, all this data is being aggregated. And then a consolidated price is being put out saying this is the price of Bitcoin USD as reported by, you know, so many people, and this is the dispersion of the prices. So then DeFi applications are, or take general blockchain applications that then want to leverage this price are able to read it, you know, take that conference and double that price and then where their applications are."

The Power of Trustless Collaboration

One of the most fascinating aspects of projects like Pyth Network is how they enable collaboration between traditionally competitive entities. Kanav highlights this point:

"All the phones that are contributing data to this network are very fierce competitors that never become a phone to talk to each other. You know, like the trading community is like very competitive, very competitive. And so all these competitors that are now publishing prices together to build this piece of infrastructure are generally folks that will never collaborate and never work together."

This collaboration is made possible by the trustless nature of blockchain technology. No individual entity needs to trust the others; instead, they all trust the code executing on the blockchain. This creates a neutral platform where even fierce competitors can contribute to building valuable infrastructure for the entire ecosystem.

Potential Applications Beyond Finance

While much of the discussion focuses on financial applications, Kanav also touches on the potential for blockchain technology to revolutionize other sectors, such as healthcare. He discusses how blockchain could enable secure sharing of healthcare data for research purposes without compromising patient privacy.

Using the example of Oasis Labs, Kanav explains how encrypted data from multiple hospitals could be uploaded to a blockchain platform, allowing researchers to compute statistics and run studies on the combined dataset without ever accessing the raw, sensitive data. This could dramatically accelerate medical research while maintaining strict privacy controls.

The Global Nature of Crypto Development

One of the most exciting aspects of the cryptocurrency space is its global nature. Kanav emphasizes how this opens up opportunities for developers and entrepreneurs worldwide, particularly in countries like India.

He states, "The audience that you can address with all your protocols is obviously global, right? All these things are global. The permission is the access to capital that you have is completely global, right? Like phone cycles, phones like a lot of other are funding these protocols and so you have access to a capital base from much bigger pool than currently exists if you're just building locally and developing there."

This global accessibility is democratizing innovation and allowing talent from around the world to contribute to and benefit from the growth of the crypto ecosystem.

Advice for Aspiring Crypto Developers

Kanav offers encouraging words for young developers looking to enter the cryptocurrency space: "The barriers to entry are really low, are really, really low. The space is so green in so many different facets."

He emphasizes the welcoming nature of the crypto community and the abundance of resources available for those looking to get started. "You can come in and drop into any hackathon, any discord and start asking for help go through any simple tutorials and get ramped up so very quickly," Kanav advises.

Moreover, he highlights the exciting nature of the problems being solved in the crypto space and the potential for meaningful impact. "You get to work on problems that are really hard, really fun. And at the end of the day, you know, you get to like have conversations like this where talking about healthcare outcomes, talking about this, that and the other and you really get to feel like you're part of this movement, like you're part of this community."

The Future of Crypto and Blockchain Technology

Throughout the interview, Kanav's excitement about the future of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is palpable. He sees these technologies as transformative forces that will reshape various industries beyond just finance.

When asked about the potential for blockchain to supplant traditional regulatory bodies like the FDA or SEC, Kanav takes a nuanced view. He suggests that rather than completely replacing these institutions, blockchain technology is more likely to find a middle ground where it can enhance and improve existing systems.

He explains, "When you're able to use things like this that are able to let people do research without the FDA or any other regulatory agency worrying about the fact that this, now this like party that we consider a threat has access to this data, right? Then the FDA can now be more comfortable saying, okay, this is probably a good thing because this is just enabling more research without enabling new attack vectors into what we're doing."

Jump Crypto's Hiring Push

Reflecting the rapid growth and opportunity in the crypto space, Kanav reveals that Jump Crypto is actively hiring across various roles. "We've grown to over a hundred people four time on the John Crypto team now and we're growing so rapidly because we feel opportunity constraint, even despite the hyper growth," he states.

The company is looking for talent in a wide range of areas, including developers (particularly those with strong low-level systems experience), researchers, community managers, marketing and communications professionals, and business development experts. Importantly, Jump Crypto has embraced remote work, with team members spread across seven countries.

The Impact of Crypto on Personal Development

An interesting tangent in the conversation touches on how involvement in the crypto space can impact personal development. Kanav notes that the intensity and excitement of the crypto world can sometimes make it challenging to maintain a balanced lifestyle, but he also points out that many in the crypto community are advocating for a healthier, more balanced approach.

He mentions the "stake and bake" culture, referring to the idea of staking cryptocurrencies (a way of earning passive income) while also taking care of one's physical and mental health. This reflects a growing awareness in the crypto community of the importance of personal well-being alongside professional success.

Cultural Differences and Personal Growth

Kanav, having experienced both Indian and American cultures, offers some insightful observations about the differences between the two and how they can complement each other in personal development.

He notes that the communal nature of Indian culture fosters easy connections and a sense of belonging, while the more individualistic American culture encourages personal development and self-prioritization. Kanav sees value in both approaches and suggests that finding a balance between the two can lead to optimal personal and professional growth.

The Inevitability of Crypto Integration

Towards the end of the interview, Kanav and the hosts touch on the growing integration of crypto into various aspects of life and business. They suggest that while many people currently view crypto as a separate entity, it's increasingly clear that crypto technologies will eventually permeate many sectors.

As Kanav puts it, "The more people I talk to, the more it becomes obvious, right? Right now for a lot of people who are out of the crypto world, they look at the world and crypto is a separate thing, right? But if you just wait long enough, everything is going to be crypto, right?"

This observation underscores the potential long-term impact of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies across various industries and aspects of society.

Conclusion: A Future Full of Opportunity

The conversation with Kanav Kariya provides a fascinating glimpse into the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. From his personal journey of rising from intern to president at Jump Crypto, to the innovative projects the company is working on, to the broader implications of these technologies for various industries, the interview paints a picture of a future full of opportunity and transformation.

For those interested in entering the crypto space, Kanav's advice is clear: the barriers to entry are low, the community is welcoming, and the potential for impact is significant. As blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies continue to mature and integrate with various aspects of business and society, the opportunities for innovation and growth are likely to expand even further.

Whether you're a developer, researcher, or business professional, the crypto space offers exciting challenges and the chance to be part of a transformative movement. As Kanav's story demonstrates, with passion, dedication, and a willingness to learn, it's possible to make a significant impact in this dynamic and rapidly evolving field.

Facts + Figures

• Kanav Kariya joined Jump Trading as an intern 7 years ago and is now President of Jump Crypto
• Jump Crypto has grown to over 100 people in a short time
• Jump Trading started about 20 years ago in the Chicago trading pits
• Jump Trading employs hundreds of PhDs working on data science problems
• Jump Crypto was established in 2015 as a cryptocurrency proprietary trading desk
• Wormhole, developed by Jump Crypto, connects blockchains like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Solana
• Pyth Network brings real-time financial data from major trading firms, equity exchanges, and crypto firms to the blockchain
• Jump Crypto is actively hiring across roles including developers, researchers, community managers, and business development
• The company has employees in over 7 countries
• Kanav lived in India for 18 years before moving to the US for studies
• Jump Crypto is working on projects beyond just trading, including building infrastructure for the crypto ecosystem
• The barriers to entry in the crypto space are described as "really, really low" by Kanav
• Kanav suggests that eventually, "everything is going to be crypto" as the technology permeates various industries

Questions Answered

How did Kanav Kariya rise to become President of Jump Crypto?

Kanav Kariya joined Jump Trading as an intern 7 years ago while studying at the University of Illinois. He started working on the company's nascent crypto effort, which was just a small project at the time. Through his hard work and deep understanding of both trading and crypto, Kanav rose through the ranks. As Jump Crypto expanded its focus from trading to building infrastructure for the crypto ecosystem, Kanav's role grew, eventually leading to his position as President of Jump Crypto.

What is Wormhole and why is it important?

Wormhole is a cross-chain interoperability protocol developed by Jump Crypto. It enables generic communication between various blockchains, allowing tokens and other blockchain-generated states to be transferred between different networks. This is crucial for the growth and adoption of blockchain technology as it allows assets and information to flow freely between different ecosystems. For example, Wormhole has enabled the transfer of NFTs like CryptoPunks from Ethereum to Solana, and facilitated the movement of governance decisions across chains.

What is the "oracle problem" in cryptocurrency and how is Jump Crypto addressing it?

The oracle problem refers to the challenge of bringing off-chain data onto the blockchain in a reliable and trustworthy manner. This is crucial for many decentralized applications, especially in DeFi. Jump Crypto is addressing this issue through their involvement in the development of Pyth Network, a decentralized oracle solution. Pyth brings real-time financial data from various trusted sources directly to the blockchain, including data from major trading firms, equity exchanges, and crypto firms. This data is then aggregated on-chain to provide reliable price information for DeFi applications.

How has Jump Crypto's culture shifted from traditional trading to crypto innovation?

Jump Crypto has undergone a cultural shift from the traditional East Coast trading mentality of optimizing for marginal improvements to a more Silicon Valley-esque approach of building innovative, "zero to one" projects. This shift happened gradually as Jump became more involved in crypto over the past six years. Through partnerships with various crypto projects, they identified significant gaps in the space that needed to be filled, leading them to take a more active role in building and contributing to crypto infrastructure.

What advice does Kanav offer for aspiring crypto developers?

Kanav encourages aspiring crypto developers by emphasizing that the barriers to entry in the crypto space are very low. He highlights the welcoming nature of the crypto community and the abundance of resources available for those looking to get started. Kanav advises joining hackathons, participating in Discord communities, and going through tutorials to quickly ramp up. He also emphasizes the exciting and impactful nature of the problems being solved in the crypto space, suggesting that it offers opportunities to work on challenging issues while being part of a transformative movement.

How is Jump Crypto contributing to the broader crypto ecosystem beyond trading?

While Jump Crypto started as a trading desk, they've expanded their focus to building crucial infrastructure for the crypto ecosystem. This includes developing projects like Wormhole for cross-chain interoperability and contributing to Pyth Network for decentralized oracles. They're also actively hiring across various roles to further expand their contributions to the space. By leveraging their expertise in building complex trading systems and solving data science problems, Jump Crypto is creating valuable tools and protocols that benefit the entire crypto community.

What potential applications of blockchain technology beyond finance does Kanav discuss?

Kanav discusses the potential for blockchain technology to revolutionize sectors beyond finance, particularly highlighting healthcare. He explains how blockchain could enable secure sharing of healthcare data for research purposes without compromising patient privacy. Using the example of Oasis Labs, Kanav describes how encrypted medical data from multiple hospitals could be uploaded to a blockchain platform, allowing researchers to compute statistics and run studies on the combined dataset without ever accessing the raw, sensitive data. This could significantly accelerate medical research while maintaining strict privacy controls.

How does Kanav view the relationship between blockchain technology and traditional regulatory bodies?

Kanav takes a nuanced view on the relationship between blockchain technology and traditional regulatory bodies like the FDA or SEC. Rather than seeing blockchain as completely replacing these institutions, he suggests that it's more likely to find a middle ground where blockchain can enhance and improve existing systems. He believes that blockchain technology can enable new models of operation that give regulatory bodies more comfort in allowing certain activities, such as research, by providing better security and control over data access.

What opportunities does the global nature of crypto development offer, according to Kanav?

Kanav emphasizes that the global nature of crypto development opens up significant opportunities for developers and entrepreneurs worldwide. He points out that crypto protocols can address a global audience and access global capital, which provides a much larger pool of resources and potential users than building locally. This global accessibility is democratizing innovation and allowing talent from around the world to contribute to and benefit from the growth of the crypto ecosystem. Kanav particularly highlights the opportunities this creates for developers in countries like India.

How does Kanav see the future integration of crypto technologies into various aspects of life and business?

Kanav believes that while many people currently view crypto as a separate entity, it's increasingly clear that crypto technologies will eventually permeate many sectors. He suggests that if you wait long enough, "everything is going to be crypto." This observation underscores the potential long-term impact of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies across various industries and aspects of society. Kanav sees this integration as inevitable, with crypto technologies gradually becoming an integral part of how we conduct business, manage data, and interact with various systems in our daily lives.