For our crew, this isn’t solely the lack of a revered builder within the Web3 house, however the lack of a detailed and trusted associate with whom we labored facet by facet on strengthening validator infrastructure and staking techniques inside the Solana ecosystem as a part of the CTDG initiative.
The Web3 group misplaced a builder whose contribution deserves to be named with readability and gratitude.
For us, his absence is felt each professionally and personally – within the work we shared, the choices we formed collectively, and the long-term techniques we helped construct.
Alexander Ray was not solely an engineer, a founder, or a protocol architect. He was somebody whose work genuinely strengthened the ecosystems he touched, and whose method to collaboration mirrored precision, reliability, and a deep give attention to long-term worth.
This text shouldn’t be a proper announcement. It’s a recognition of what he constructed, how he labored, and why his absence is felt so deeply by the groups and networks he helped form.
For these of us who had the possibility to work alongside him, his influence was unmistakable – not as a result of he sought visibility, however as a result of he constantly made the work higher.
Honoring the Work and Legacy of Alexander Ray
Ray was identified for his work on the intersection of regulated DeFi, staking infrastructure, tokenization and on-chain compliance, specializing in constructing long-term monetary techniques slightly than short-term speculative merchandise.
Earlier than getting into crypto, Ray spent greater than 20 years working in enterprise software program, cloud infrastructure and monetary techniques, together with roles related to Deutsche Financial institution Frankfurt and Basic Electrical. His background in large-scale enterprise structure and monetary techniques later formed his method to Web3 – he approached blockchain not as a market cycle, however as future international monetary infrastructure.
Ray’s first main step into Web3 engineering got here by the creation of PointGroup, a enterprise builder studio and umbrella group by which he incubated and developed a number of blockchain infrastructure initiatives. Reasonably than working as a single product firm, PointGroup functioned as a platform for constructing and scaling protocol-level initiatives throughout staking, compliant DeFi and on-chain monetary infrastructure.
Inside PointGroup, Ray was instantly concerned within the creation of a number of notable Web3 initiatives, together with JPool, a Solana-native liquid staking pool; Albus Protocol, a privacy-preserving compliance layer for regulated decentralized finance; and Alula, a Stellar-native lending protocol targeted on on-chain credit score and capital effectivity.
JPool turned one of many notable liquid staking platforms on Solana, permitting customers to stake SOL and obtain JSOL, a liquid staking token that could possibly be freely used throughout the Solana DeFi ecosystem. By a sensible delegation system, JPool distributed stake throughout a broad validator set and helped transfer Solana staking away from a locked, passive mannequin towards a extra liquid and composable format. Public information signifies that JPool manages over 1.3 million SOL in staked property throughout greater than 170 validators, inserting it among the many bigger liquid staking swimming pools on the community.
Alongside staking infrastructure, Ray additionally labored on one of many extra advanced challenges in crypto – regulated decentralized finance. As CEO and co-founder of Albus Protocol, he led the event of a compliance layer for public blockchains targeted on tokenized real-world property and institutional DeFi flows. Albus was constructed as a privacy-preserving compliance system that embeds regulatory logic instantly on-chain, permitting platforms to satisfy KYC and regulatory necessities with out exposing uncooked private information. The venture turned a key piece of infrastructure for tokenized asset platforms and controlled on-chain markets.
Past product improvement, Ray performed an lively function in shaping business discussions round regulation and tokenization. As a member of the Forbes Enterprise Council, he wrote and spoke about on-chain identification, compliant token issuance and the way forward for regulated DeFi, and appeared at European Web3 occasions targeted on infrastructure and institutional adoption.
Throughout all of his initiatives – JPool, Albus Protocol and the broader PointGroup portfolio – Ray constructed with a constant philosophy: prioritize infrastructure over hype, compliance over shortcuts, and long-term sustainability over hypothesis. The techniques he helped design proceed to function as we speak throughout staking, validator infrastructure and tokenized asset markets.
We’re deeply grateful to Alexander Ray for the partnership and the work we shared collectively inside the CTDG initiative on the Solana observe. This partnership stays an vital a part of his skilled legacy for our crew.
Alexander Ray is remembered as a builder who labored the place Web3 is hardest – on the intersection of decentralization, regulation and actual monetary infrastructure. His legacy lives on within the reside protocols, staking techniques and compliance rails that proceed to help customers and establishments throughout the blockchain financial system.
