DeFi's founders get candid about their history in 'reDeFine Money'

June 17, 2026 - 02:01

In 2018, Sergej Kunz was sleeping on an inflatable bed in a former dental-prosthetics workshop. He had moved out of his apartment and relocated into an office he had rented for Ethereum mining. It was a "grimy ground-floor space with a basement," with no kitchen, no bathroom, just a toilet. That gritty reality is part of a new documentary series called "reDeFine Money," where founders from decentralized finance share the unpolished stories behind their projects.

The series aims to strip away the polished marketing and show the human side of building in crypto. Kunz, who later co-founded the decentralized exchange 1inch, recalls those early days as a test of endurance. Other founders in the documentary describe similar struggles: coding through the night, surviving on ramen, and dealing with constant regulatory uncertainty. One founder admits to nearly giving up multiple times before their protocol gained traction.

The documentary does not shy away from the industry's darker moments either. Several founders discuss the emotional toll of hacks, failed launches, and the pressure of managing millions in user funds with little sleep. The goal, according to the creators, is to remind viewers that DeFi was built by people making mistakes and learning on the fly. It is not a story of instant success but of persistence through chaos.