Emile - Co-Founder of Xdefi Wallet

Hello Community,

We’ve got some brilliant projects within our portfolio and want to tell you more about the founders and teams behind them. On a regular basis, you will have the opportunity to learn more about specific projects through our interviews. Feel free to post any questions you may have further down in the comments section.

In today’s interview, we have Emile Dubié - Co-Founder of XDEFI Wallet. Let’s go!

Hi Emile, I hope you are well. Let's start the interview by talking about your journey in the crypto space. Tell us a bit more about how you got started.

I got started in crypto a bit after Ethereum launched. It represented a significant evolution beyond the concept of digital currency introduced by Bitcoin. Ethereum's introduction of smart contracts opened up a new realm of possibilities, enabling decentralized applications (DApps) that could operate autonomously on the blockchain. This innovation was a major draw for me, as it signaled the shift from merely transferring value to creating complex, programmable transactions.

In 2020, you founded XDEFI together with David Phan. What was the idea behind developing a soft wallet?

We founded XDEFI Wallet in response to the limited options available in 2020, where only a single extension focused exclusively on Ethereum existed. We noticed back then the emergence of numerous new chains with strong value propositions and great teams, which made it clear to us that the future would be multichain. Additionally, we were seeing the majority of DeFi transactions were being conducted through web clients, highlighting a pressing need for a multi-chain wallet extension. 

Interoperability has been crucial in advancing the blockchain and DeFi space. XDEFI is the soft wallet with the largest number of compatible networks. Can you explain what this means and how you got to this point?

Our wallet currently offers native support for 34 networks, with the option for users to manually add over 200 additional networks, encompassing all EVM and Cosmos chains. We designed our wallet with modularity in mind, enabling us to integrate new chains more swiftly than our competitors. We also built our own back end infrastructure in order to get there, which took a  lot of time but was required since API providers were not catering for our multi chain needs early on. 

 Usability and interface are some of the most important aspects of adoption. What are you doing (or have done) better at XDEFI?

We have focused on supporting all the major ecosystems so users do not have to have several wallets as it is not only increasing the attack surface for them but also a very bad UX in general. Currently, the team is working on a full revamp that will abstract complex concepts originally linked with self custody solutions such as seed phrase, gas management and more. 

2023 was a great year for user acquisition: you grew by 25%, reaching 194K weekly active users. What have you done in terms of marketing and comms to attract so many new users?

We have been growing mainly organically as the reference wallet for THORChain and lately we worked closely with ZetaChain during their Testnet. Now that the bull market is back, we are planning to invest more aggressively into several marketing strategies that we have tested during the bear and are ready to scale. 

The past two years have been very challenging for the crypto industry. What have you done differently to navigate this difficult time?

We have been focusing on dramatically improving the UX of our extension with the revamp and a mobile app. The team has managed the treasury diligently while not cutting cost to keep our competitive advantage and be ready for the bull market. 

Less than one month ago, you announced the roadmap for 2024. What are the most important updates and upgrades we can expect? 

The gas tank feature which will allow users to not have to manage has and pay network fees with $XDEFI and $USDC on all the chains we support. The mobile app and the new extension. We also have released a custom RPC for both Cosmos chains and EVM networks, which allows us to support a very large amount of chains, more than anyone out there actually.

Finally, tell us an interesting fact or story about your crypto journey: any lessons for other folks out there?

It's crucial not to become overly attached to the notion that your project is exceptionally unique, as the initial acclaim and enthusiasm from the ecosystem in the early stages might suggest, before the focus inevitably moves on to the next new narrative. Stay humble, keep building, be true to yourself if you’re not going in the right direction, listen to your community and your team members and be ready to adjust if necessary. 

Thank you for all your great answers. Is there anything else you would like to share with our community?

We are looking forward to revealing our new products later this year and hope you will have a chance to try what we’ve been spending so much time building and provide us with valuable feedback. Thanks for having me. 

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Thanks a lot for your time Emile. Good luck with your projects!

You can check the social media profiles of the project: Website | Twitter | Telegram | Discord

The Morningstar Ventures Team