# Dan Robinson

> Dan Robinson is a General Partner and Head of Research at Paradigm, one of the most influential crypto venture firms in the world. A former litigation attorney turned protocol engineer, he co-authored 'Ethereum is a Dark Forest' - the paper that defined MEV for the industry - and played a central role in designing Uniswap V2 and V3. Robinson joined Paradigm in 2019 as its first Research Partner, was later promoted to General Partner, and has published foundational work on MEV taxes, Gradual Dutch Auctions, and prediction market AMMs. His rare combination of legal training and deep blockchain engineering makes him one of crypto's most distinctive voices at the intersection of mechanism design and decentralized finance.

- **Role:** General Partner at Paradigm
- **Organizations:** Paradigm, Interstellar, Chain, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** J.D., Harvard Law School, A.B., Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-authored 'Ethereum is a Dark Forest' (2020) - the paper that defined MEV for the entire crypto industry, Helped design Uniswap V2 and V3, two of the most consequential DeFi protocols ever built, First Research Partner hired at Paradigm (2019), later promoted to General Partner

## Career timeline

- **pre-2016** — Litigation attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
- **2016** — Joined Chain (later renamed Interstellar) as a protocol researcher; led development on Ivy, a smart contract language for Bitcoin
- **2017-2018** — At Interstellar (Chain renamed), led development on Starlight, a payment channel network on Stellar; published research on Bitcoin forks and smart contracts
- **2019-01** — Joined Paradigm as its first Research Partner, working alongside Matt Huang, Fred Ehrsam, and Charlie Noyes
- **2020-08** — Co-authored 'Ethereum is a Dark Forest' with Georgios Konstantopoulos - the seminal paper on MEV that defined the field
- **2021-02** — Published 'MEV and Me' on Paradigm research blog
- **2021** — Central role in design and launch of Uniswap V3 with concentrated liquidity mechanism
- **2022-04** — Co-authored Gradual Dutch Auction (GDA) paper with FrankieIsLost and Dave White
- **2022-08** — Co-authored Variable Rate GDAs paper
- **2023** — Promoted to General Partner at Paradigm alongside Charlie Noyes - first GPs ever named at the firm
- **2024-06** — Published 'Priority Is All You Need' (MEV Taxes) with Dave White - a mechanism for dApps to capture their own MEV
- **2025-05** — Co-authored 'Across Prime' on trustless cross-chain bridging models
- **2025-06** — Co-authored 'Orbital', a new AMM for stablecoin pools, with Ciamac Moallemi and Dave White
- **2026-05** — Published 'PACTs' on protecting Bitcoin holdings from quantum computing threats

## Achievements

- Co-authored 'Ethereum is a Dark Forest' (2020) - the paper that defined MEV for the entire crypto industry
- Helped design Uniswap V2 and V3, two of the most consequential DeFi protocols ever built
- First Research Partner hired at Paradigm (2019), later promoted to General Partner
- Developed Ivy, a high-level smart contract language for Bitcoin, at Chain/Interstellar
- Developed Starlight, a payment channel network on Stellar
- Co-authored Gradual Dutch Auction mechanism, widely adopted across crypto NFT and token sales
- Co-authored MEV Taxes mechanism ('Priority Is All You Need') for OP Stack L2s
- GitHub repositories include Uniswap V2-core and V3-core with thousands of stars
- Paradigm under his research leadership became one of crypto's most respected research institutions

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Published 'PACTs: Protecting Your Bitcoin From a Quantum Sunset' - research on protecting Bitcoin holders during potential post-quantum hard forks
- **2025-06** — Co-authored 'Orbital' - a new automated market maker for stablecoin pools with Ciamac Moallemi and Dave White
- **2025-08** — Co-authored Paradigm's response to Senate Banking Committee's market structure legislation with Justin Slaughter
- **2024-06** — Paradigm raised $850M fund; published 'Priority Is All You Need' (MEV Taxes) paper

## Links

- Website: https://www.paradigm.xyz/team/dan-robinson
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielprobinson
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/danrobinson
- GitHub: https://github.com/danrobinson

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/daniel-robinson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-19