jack forlines

data & risk @BirchHill_io | ex @UnitZeroLabs (acq.) @BlackRock

[Sam @0xCryptoSam]

This past cycle has opened my eyes to few key constraints in DeFi:

> DeFi is self-referential. We trade ETH because people trade DeFi tokens on ETH and we use DeFi to trade and lend ETH. Our yield is endogenous, therefore purely a product of reflexivity.

> Endogenous yield farming is not entirely unsustainable. There’s lots of opportunity in being early to a new economy. New money (SoV tokens) also demand supporting financial products. But, at this point in its growth trajectory, DeFi requires more secular demand.

> IMO, the best use of core DeFi primitives (lending and borrowing, perps, AMMs, vaults, etc.) is as a substrate for RWAs.

But launching onchain RWA vaults is significantly more difficult than crypto ones.

Asset selection, tokenization, deal structuring, haircuts, pricing, liquidations – the entire stack carries more complexity. Real-world collateral also requires legal enforceability, real-world recovery mechanisms, and counterparty relationships that don’t resolve onchain without trusted intermediaries.

All the above is context for why I’m particularly excited about @BirchHill_io and @GromaCorp’s onchain credit facility built on @yearnfi vaults. Groma’s REIT holders can borrow against otherwise illiquid equity onchain, while USD lenders earn yield uncorrelated to crypto markets.

This is a meaningful step towards bringing higher-quality, less cyclical yield onchain, and one of the clearer paths I’ve seen for DeFi to reach a larger audience than it ever could’ve on pure tokens.

[Birch Hill @BirchHill_io]

We just hosted our inaugural Institutional Onchain Summit in New York City, and the energy in the room confirmed what we already knew: institutional capital is moving onchain.

We brought together asset issuers, investment managers, institutional allocators, and partners for an evening of real conversation about what’s next for onchain credit markets. Special thanks to our co-sponsors @CastleIslandVC, @GromaCorp, @yearnfi, and @BAXUSco for helping make this happen.

And to our speakers — @wyatt_khos, @sethpriebatsch, @LehmanBrother42, @omgcorn, @web4O, Lloyd Brathwaite, Lily Yarborough, @0xCryptoSam and the @RavaMoney team — thank you for bringing the substance and conviction to the stage.

This was just the beginning. We’re taking the momentum from this summit straight into the launch of our first onchain financial products.

Back to the lab again 🌲🧪

[Morpho 🦋 @Morpho]

Morpho helps tokenized real estate equity become productive assets onchain.

Enabled by @BirchHill_io and Groma, GromaCoin can now be used as collateral on Morpho, with liquidity supplied by @yearnfi-curated stablecoin vaults.

[Bhavin @RealBhavinVaid]

Since inception Birch Hill's mission has been to bring novel yield opportunities and high quality operators into the onchain capital ecosystem.

It's been a joy working with @sethpriebatsch and team. We're excited to announce our first vault together with @GromaCorp, live Q2.

[HypernativeLabs @HypernativeLabs]

Strong take from @birchhill_io 💪

In onchain finance, risk management is part of the product. Real-time monitoring, smart contract-level controls, custody, and operational discipline should be there from day one, not added after the first scare.

[jack forlines @jfo____]

great comments by dan here and appreciate the shoutout for @BirchHill_io. were obsessed with building on the seam he describes

our whole mission is to make the onchain credit leg of this stack usable and compliant for fiduciaries

[Dan Elitzer @delitzer]

https://t.co/i5RJq2cE7I

[Bhavin @RealBhavinVaid]

A year ago this was an idea. Today it's a company, a team, and a group of investors who share the belief that credit is the unlock for institutional adoption onchain.

Thank you to everyone who believed in us early. @BirchHill_io is just getting started.

[Birch Hill @BirchHill_io]

Credit is the backbone of the global financial system and it is moving onchain. With RWA supply reaching $20Bn and $300Bn in stablecoins, the opportunity is clear but institutions still lack the infrastructure.

This is what @birchhill_io was built to fix.

Thank you to - @paraficapital, @CastleIslandVC, @Nascent, @FalconXGlobal, Coin Operated Group, The Operating Group, @PolarisFund, @EV3ventures, JST Digital, @Flowdesk_co, @Joshua_Frank_, @Enzo_GTE, @Naman_Kapasi and others

[Bhavin @RealBhavinVaid]

We are refocusing @BirchHill_io to build the bridge for global finance by bringing institutional grade utility to the onchain economy.

The next era of digital assets isn’t about recycling the same native wallets. It is about embedding onchain primitives into the real economy.

[Connor Flanagan @cflan_]

Huge moment here.

Just the first step in a much longer journey, but proud of what @jfo____ and I have accomplished over the last few years.

Let's build @BirchHill_io

[jack forlines @jfo____]

when @cflan_ and I started @UnitZeroLabs, we set out on a mission to bring institutional-grade risk, analytics, & advisory to DeFi. We're thrilled that our work has led to this next chapter: Unit Zero Labs is joining @BirchHill_io

We started by helping protocols design better economics. Now we're building the infrastructure that bridges TradFi and DeFi. Same mission, bigger scale.

Grateful to everyone who supported us along the way.

[Unit Zero Labs @UnitZeroLabs]

Proud to announce that Unit Zero Labs has been acquired by @BirchHill_io!

Our team continues forward as Birch Hill Labs, building Benchmark on @megaeth and bringing institutional-grade risk curation to DeFi.

Excited to scale from tokenomics & risk advisory to full-stack institutional yield infrastructure.

[Bhavin @RealBhavinVaid]

https://t.co/w7mqFl3jPO

[Birch Hill @BirchHill_io]

Day One.

Introducing Birch Hill Holdings.

[jack forlines @jfo____]

@0xngmi yes king

[Stabledash @stabledash]

HYPERLIQUID

[jack forlines @jfo____]

honestly based

[Owain Evans @OwainEvans_UK]

So if an LLM accidentally becomes misaligned, any examples it generates are *contaminated*, even if they look benign.

Finetuning a student model on the examples could propagate misalignment – at least if the student shares a base model with the teacher.

[yobibyte @y0b1byte]

We are so back!

[drakedanner 🔌 @drakedanner]

Every morning I wake up and start working with a symphony of AI assistants. Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc

My reality is highly AI-augmented.

So when someone sends me yet another crypto agent chat interface, I get why they're excited.

1/

[drakedanner 🔌 @drakedanner]

hello world - we are Terminally Online

We've spent the last 5 years deep in the EVM landscape

We're here to build the command center for those who live in the ether. because that's who we are, and that's who you are

1/

[jack forlines @jfo____]

@drakedanner 🤷‍♂️ doesn’t seem like it