Daniel Dizon is a blockchain entrepreneur finest recognized for co-founding Swell, one of many earliest non-custodial Ethereum liquid staking protocols. Since launch, Dizon has expanded Swell into liquid restaking and its personal Layer 2 restaking community. He’s additionally recognized for public commentary on the Ethereum Merge and staking centralization. Swell has raised backing from Mark Cuban and Framework Ventures and reviews greater than $2 billion in complete worth locked.
Who Is Daniel Dizon?
Daniel Dizon is an Australian blockchain entrepreneur and tech investor primarily based in Sydney. He holds a Bachelor’s diploma in Data Programs from Swinburne College of Know-how.
Earlier than coming into crypto, Dizon labored as a Web2 entrepreneur and co-founded a startup that later exited. He additionally labored as a company finance advisor and portfolio supervisor for company purchasers and served as a strategist for public sector companies, together with advisory work for the New South Wales state authorities in Australia and, individually, for the mayor of London on blockchain and digital belongings coverage.
Profession and Contributions
Dizon’s transfer into crypto began hands-on. He labored as a solidity engineer at Synthetix and dHedge, two established Ethereum DeFi protocols, writing the good contracts fairly than simply advising on them.
That point within the code gave him an in depth take a look at the place DeFi’s staking and yield merchandise fell brief, and it’s what pushed him to construct one thing of his personal. In 2021, he co-founded Swell with Lecky Lao to repair a particular hole he’d run into: Ethereum holders who wished to stake needed to lock up their ETH and quit entry to it.
Swell launched as a non-custodial Ethereum liquid staking protocol, letting customers stake ETH by the swETH token with out locking up their belongings. Dizon constructed early development round a gamified factors system referred to as Pearls and an incentive program generally known as the Voyage, which rewarded early customers forward of a later token technology occasion. The protocol broke into the highest ten Ethereum liquid staking platforms on DefiLlama inside weeks of launch.
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Views and Positions
Dizon traces his curiosity in crypto again to a couple core concepts: freedom, management, and open finance. In an August 2023 interview with Courageous New Coin, he stated these concepts stood out to him as a result of they level towards decentralized programs and a future the place folks have extra say over their very own digital belongings and cash. He argued that considering may change how folks use the web, not simply how they commerce.
Dizon has spoken publicly about Ethereum’s staking economics and governance dangers. In September 2022, forward of the Ethereum Merge, he instructed Stockhead that the market had not absolutely priced within the Merge’s results, arguing that rising staking rewards from precedence charges and MEV seize, mixed with lowered ETH issuance, would create upward stress on ETH’s worth. After the Merge went by, The Defiant reported that he anticipated ETH to “maintain sturdy in opposition to the broader market decline.”
In a November 2023 Cointelegraph interview, Dizon addressed criticism that liquid staking centralizes energy on Ethereum. He stated node operators linked operationally, politically, or by a shared governance token danger performing as a single entity with outsized affect over the community, citing issues first raised in Danny Ryan’s analysis on the chance of liquid staking cartelization.
Daniel Dizon within the Information
Swell later expanded into liquid restaking with rswETH, a token built-in with EigenLayer. In October 2025, Dizon introduced Swell’s subsequent step: a devoted Layer 2 community constructed on a “restaked rollup” framework developed with AltLayer, calling it “the following logical step for the Swell group and DAO,” per The Block.
Swell at the moment reviews greater than $2 billion in complete worth locked, per Crunchbase, and counts Mark Cuban, Framework Ventures, Apollo, Bankless, IOSG, and Maven 11 amongst its backers. Outdoors Swell, Dizon is an lively angel investor with stakes in Ethena, Prisma, Maverick, Redstone, and Ion, and he has suggested early-stage founders by a number of DeFi startup incubators.
Continuously Requested Questions
Nonetheless have questions on Daniel Dizon and Swell? Listed below are those that come up most frequently.
What’s Daniel Dizon’s position at Swell?
Dizon co-founded Swell alongside Lecky Lao and serves as its CEO. He has led the protocol by its growth from liquid ETH staking into liquid restaking and, as of October 2025, into its personal Layer 2 community.
When did Daniel Dizon discovered Swell?
Dizon co-founded Swell in 2021 alongside Lecky Lao. The protocol raised a $3.75 million seed spherical in March 2022.
What’s Daniel Dizon’s instructional background?
Dizon holds a Bachelor’s diploma in Data Programs from Swinburne College of Know-how in Australia.
Is Swell the identical as Swell Community?
Sure, Swell and Swell Community consult with the identical protocol. It launched as a liquid ETH staking platform and has since expanded into liquid restaking and a Layer 2 community for restaking.