Lorien Gabel has spent decades building internet infrastructure companies, from ISPs to cloud security companies. In 2018, which recognized the transformative potential of proof-of-stake network, he co-founded the figure, which has since become one of the world’s largest independent poor suppliers offering technology and services that allow users to insert their tokens without to have to use a centralized exchange or custodian.

Today, the company manages $ 15 billion in assets and serves over 500 institutional clients.

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Here, Gabriel is discussing, who will be talking about Consensus Hong Kong, Figment’s extension to Asia, Bitcoin -Stake Experiments and his company’s careful process to decide which new crypto networks to support.

This interview has been condensed and easily edited for clarity.

What made you start figure?

This is the fourth company that my co -founders and I have built together over three decades. Our former ventures were all in Internet infrastructure. When we started exploring Blockchain in 2018, Stakeing was hardly one thing – Tezos was launched and Ethereum still only discussed that. But we saw a natural adaptation between our expertise in network security, cloud infrastructure and scaling of B2B solutions and what proof-of-stake (POS) could become. If POS got traction, we thought that our experience of building safe, institutional quality networks would be invaluable.

We initially planned to start a fund and now we have a VC fund. But the fund did not come first – the stack infrastructure company did it, and then we launched Figment Capital. We basically took a flyer at Proof-of-Stake and thought it had some benefits over proof-of-work and we were lucky enough that it actually worked and started.

How big is figure now?

We are currently managing $ 15 billion in stack assets and serving 500 institutional clients. While employees are not always a meaningful metric, we have about 130 employees and expect to reach 150 at the end of the year. Asia is our next big expansion focus. We opened our Singapore office last year and we add Japan, Hong Kong and other key markets. While North America remains our base, Asia’s demands for stakeing services are growing rapidly.

What challenges do you look to Asia’s adoption of efforts compared to other regions?

First, Asia is not a market – it is a collection of very different economies and regulatory landscapes. For example, Japan, Indonesia and Korea have different business cultures, adoption levels and regulatory frameworks. We have always been observed and only worked with institutional clients rather than retail users. But in Asia, compliance varies greatly by country. Unlike the United States, where you primarily navigate in SEC and CFTC rules, each Asian market has its own regulators and policies.

Western companies also often fail when expanded to Asia by not understanding local hiring, scaling strategies or customer behavior. I was born in Kuala Lumpur and I have seen North American companies over -investing too quickly or wrong read market needs. That’s why we started small in Singapore with three people so we could learn before scaling.

Education is another challenge. In many Asian markets, stakeing is not well defined and is sometimes misunderstood as defi loan. We spend a lot of time at conferences, client meetings and media interviews explaining what efforts are and why institutions should consider it more risky yield -generating alternatives.

What has been the biggest challenge in scaling your business and how did you overcame it?

The hardest part of any startup is “zero to an” phase – to find out if an idea will work, what customers need and how the business model will develop.

Early on, we ran several experiments – we had an RPC) infrastructure business, a developer knowledge portal and different income streams. But once we found a strong product market that was taking care of effort, we closed the rest and focused solely on scaling a core offering.

The other major challenge is Crypto’s volatility. Our business serves as a mix between a data center company, a fund and a software store, but with variable pricing in dozens of fleeting digital assets. That complicates the planning. I joke that my unofficial title is “Chief Stoic” – I don’t get too euphoric when the markets are blooming and I don’t panic when things go south. Whether it’s FTX’s collapse or Bitcoin that hits $ 100,000, we focus on long -term execution.

Do you see increased institutional interest in sitting in Asia?

Yes, institutional adoption accelerates, especially from banks and telecommunications. We have had institutional equity investors from Asia for a while – big names like Monex and B Capital – but over the past year we have seen more traditional financial institutions actively entering Staking. Each market has its own dominant exchanges and custodians, and we often work with them instead of dealing with end users. As more banks explore efforts, we expect the adoption of snowball – similar to how institutions in the United States began gently investing in efforts before scaling operations.

How do you decide which tokens to support effort? Does Asian markets affect this?

We have an evaluation framework that we have refined in the last six years. Since we can only support a limited number of new tokens every year, we have to be selective – last year we added support to 12 or 13, which is very much considering the complexity of each integration. Right now we support about 40 networks, but each new addition requires careful analysis.

The process starts with the basics: Is this a real project or a scam? Does it have a strong dissertation and a team capable of performing it? In many ways, it mirrors a VC frame. From there we dig deeper, talk to the foundation and founders, estimates the available parenting support – as it is important for institutional adoption – and evaluates the wider ecosystem.

At one point, when you have 20 strong candidates but can only support 10, you have to make a bet. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. Over the years, we have seen enough networking launches to develop a strong intuition of what works and what does not. We try to offer guidance for projects where we are ultimately up to them if they take our input.

Customer demand is another factor in our decision -making, and the Asian market is an important part of this. Occasionally, a larger institutional client will request support for a project that we may not otherwise have considered – or even heard of – so we do an expedited evaluation. In some cases, we have had to tell clients no, either because we do not see the project as legitimate, or we suspect it may be a scam. These are tough conversations, but they are needed. In the end, we also look at how many of our clients are likely to have or stab a given token that plays into our final decision.

How does the figure ensure competitive returns while remaining safe and reliable with many Asian investors seeking opportunities with high dividends while remaining secure and reliable?

Setting is not the highest yield activity in crypto, but it is the safest way to earn yields without counterparty risk. We focus on giving the highest risk -adjusted stack wages. While some providers are pursuing higher returns by cutting corners (eg ignoring of ACAC compliance or MEV risks), our clients – mainly prioritize institutions – security and compliance.

In Krypto, efforts corresponding to a 10-year government bond-it is the stable, reliable option compared to high-risk-defi strategies. Some investors prefer liquidity spoiling or lending to higher yields, but institutions typically choose to take advantage of its security.

Are there any action -related trends or innovations in Asia that excite you?

Some of the most exciting trends in efforts right now include Liquid Stoting and Re-Stacking, where Eigenlayer is leading the charge globally in these areas and has a strong presence in Asia. Bitcoin -Stacking is another area of ​​interest where projects like Babylon explore its potential, although demand remains uncertain. In addition, we see new chains with significant Asian influence, such as Berachain, which quickly grows the user base in the region. We actively support BTC efforts, while we closely monitor new stack models coming from Asia.