Ben O'Hanlon

RealFi is building stablecoin infrastructure connecting RWAs, private credit and onchain capital to real-world credit markets.

Turned Cardano's validator network into a measurable distribution channel. Designed and launched the SPO Accelerator in the first 60 days, generating 3K+ verified wallets and 36K+ attributable onchain actions in four weeks, with at least 1 in 7 active L1 wallets participating in the testnet.

• Testnet activation: 2,600+ wallets activated from 5,500+ connected at 47% conversion, from 9,000+ testnet visitors.
• Incentive performance: 89% validator activation in three weeks. 84% of Accelerator pools grew their delegator base against 17% of comparable pools outside the programme.
• Attribution and execution: Combined onchain behaviour with community influence to make advocacy, referrals and capital participation measurable, then co-created campaigns with validator communities that enabled operators to self-organise around shared outcomes.

Input Output is the research and engineering company behind Cardano, evolving during my tenure from an engineering firm into a venture studio.

Won $190M in continuity funding for Input Output research and engineering as stewardship of a $1.3B treasury moved to the community. Ran the ecosystem function with a lean team of 5 to 10 through Cardano's transition to onchain governance.

• Treasury and governance execution: Enabled execution of a $250M treasury cycle, with proposals passing by supermajority in the first year of community-run governance. Led Input Output's ecosystem GTM for the governance rollout.
• Governance mapping and coordination: Converted a cold-start governance body into a coordinated electorate that later voted through the $190M continuity funding. Built the intelligence layer tracking 95%+ of active voting power across 1K+ dReps, 86K+ actively delegating wallets and 15B ADA live stake, with owned channels reaching 51%+.
• Network coordination and validator readiness: Mobilised 45% of 21B ADA staked within 24 hours across 250+ independent validators, coordinating readiness through network transitions and hard forks.
• Builder capital deployment: Built a funding and coordination engine directing $20M to core engineering and infrastructure teams, with 26 of 27 shortlisted proposals approved and delivered.
• New network and regional GTM: Formed Midnight's initial validator set of 137 and established Japan governance GTM across five key regions.

Scaled the smart-contract ecosystem from 0 to 2K+ projects, with 22K+ developers educated through Plutus Pioneers. Led developer and builder GTM as smart contracts went live after the Alonzo upgrade.

• Technical-user research: Ran office hours, surveys and market research across developers, stake pool operators and governance participants to identify adoption barriers and network priorities.

• Builder activation: Partnered with the education team to turn developer education into projects live on the network.
• Developer GTM and network readiness: Expanded Input Output's ecosystem function, building GTM motions for developers and builders while maintaining readiness through network upgrades.
• Ecosystem intelligence and coordination: Established a repeatable operating model combining ecosystem mapping, success metrics and live intelligence to identify priority teams and deliver targeted support.

Scaled the validator network from 175 to 3K+ as Cardano decentralised block production through the Shelley era. Led network GTM across the Incentivized Testnet, Shelley, Mary, Alonzo and Vasil launches and upgrades.

• Validator adoption and network readiness: Built the coordination systems required for a distributed validator network to operate reliably across launches, hard forks and protocol upgrades.
• Capital allocation and decentralisation: Designed and ran Input Output's multi-year ADA delegation programme, recommending stake allocations across successive rounds to bootstrap emerging operators and accelerate validator decentralisation.

• Network reporting: Established reliable reachability across the block-production network and tracked readiness, sentiment and coordination risk during critical transitions.

Built the Cardano Foundation's largest referral channel at $0 acquisition cost while helping bootstrap the early validator network for decentralised block production.

• Validator activation: Accelerated validator onboarding and stake-pool participation through Stake Pool School, reactivating dormant stakeholders as the network decentralised.
• Distribution and discovery: Restored information flow through third-party discovery surfaces including CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko and wallet listings.
• Network standards: Helped launch the Cardano Improvement Proposal process, establishing operational pathways used for upgrades at network scale.

Led early developer and distribution growth, growing the email audience from 2.4K to 12K and Discord from 2.6K to 6.6K with a team of 5.

• Developer adoption: Designed and ran developer programmes, including a third-party application initiative, to scale the developer ecosystem.
• Distribution: Expanded key channels, increasing reach and engagement with developers and ecosystem partners.