Stani Kulechov on Whether Vitalik Hates DeFi and the Truth about Being in Crypto

For Episode 25 of Crypto Market Wizards, I am joined by Stani Kulechov, founder of Avara. He discusses how his childhood shaped his interest in crypto and why he decided to build ETHLend (now AAVE) in 2017. He discusses the truth about building in crypto and what he learned from having to have surgery earlier this year. Guest's Twitter: https://x.com/StaniKulechov Stani's post on health: https://hey.xyz/posts/0x05-0x2694-DA-1cd727a6 Crypto Market Wizards: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6bwqqJO_txgGQySGK5-HSuTPp0LjeGqA Steady Lads: https://www.youtube.com/@0xSteadyLads Taiki is the founder of Humble Farmer Army, a community-driven research company founded in 2021 with a mission to create high-quality, digestible content that helps separate signal from noise for DeFi enthusiasts. Timestamps: 0:00 Stani's Childhood 3:49 Foray into Entrepreneurship 11:08 Discovering Ethereum & Building AAVE 15:16 Raising $16M in an ICO 18:24 Surviving the 2018-19 Bear Market 21:16 Memories of DeFi Summer 24:54 Neglecting Health & Requiring Surgery 30:33 Working with your Wife in Crypto 35:53 Avara's Endgame (AAVE, Lens, Family, GHO) 41:16 Advice to Younger Self 45:19 Does Vitalik Hate DeFi?