# Charles St. Louis

> Charles St. Louis is a Canadian DeFi operator, governance designer, investor, and writer. A former Maker Foundation decentralized governance architect, he joined Element Finance as COO, became DELV’s interim CEO in April 2023 and then CEO, and announced its closure in June 2025. He now serves as DeFi Protocol Specialist at the Ethereum Foundation, working within App Relations on builder coordination and open financial infrastructure.

- **Role:** DeFi Protocol Specialist at Ethereum Foundation
- **Organizations:** Ethereum Foundation, DELV (formerly Element Finance), Maker Foundation, MakerDAO, Ethereum Cat Herders
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Queen’s University
- **Known for:** Helped shape MakerDAO’s governance and served as a Maker Improvement Proposal editor., Helped develop and explain Element’s governance model, including voting vaults and the Governance Steering Council., Credited for contributing to the ethereum.org developer portal launched in October 2020.

## Career timeline

- **2017** — Began contributing to Ethereum, according to his public biography; earned a Certified Ethereum Developer credential in October.
- **2018** — Worked in the security-token space, as described in the Ethereum Foundation biography.
- **2020** — Participated in MakerDAO governance calls as a MIP editor; credited among contributors to the ethereum.org developer portal.
- **2021** — Named as COO in Element Finance’s seed announcement; published an introduction to its governance model.
- **2022** — Spoke at Devcon 6 on failures in protocol governance and adaptable governance design.
- **2023** — Became interim CEO in April and subsequently permanent CEO of DELV.
- **2025** — Announced DELV’s closure on June 17 following a Hyperdrive vulnerability and lack of product-market fit.
- **2026** — Named DeFi Protocol Specialist in the Ethereum Foundation’s February 23 DeFi announcement; co-authored the May Cannes roundtable report.

## Achievements

- Helped shape MakerDAO’s governance and served as a Maker Improvement Proposal editor.
- Helped develop and explain Element’s governance model, including voting vaults and the Governance Steering Council.
- Credited for contributing to the ethereum.org developer portal launched in October 2020.
- Led DELV as CEO and communicated its June 2025 wind-down.
- Co-leads the Ethereum Foundation’s DeFi efforts with ivangbi within App Relations.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Described a public RFP for a neutral DeFi risk intelligence aggregator, following feedback from builder discussions.
- **2026-05** — Co-authored the May 28 report on seven Cannes roundtables with more than 70 DeFi teams.
- **2026-02** — The Ethereum Foundation publicly named him DeFi Protocol Specialist in its DeFi strategy announcement.
- **2025-06** — Announced DELV’s closure in a June 17 personal closing note.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesstlouis/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/CharlieStLouis

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/charles-st-louis
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15