Ekin Genç

Ekin researches decentralised finance (DeFi) through the lens of legal pluralism. His doctoral project examines how blockchain-based protocols and the surrounding communities that make up DeFi give rise to what legal scholars call 'private ordering', and how that private order intersects with the state's regulatory pressure and deals with adversarial threats from hostile actors.

He holds an MSc in Social Science of the Internet from the University of Oxford, where he graduated with Distinction, and in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics as a Jean Monnet Scholar.

Alongside doctoral research, he has experience teaching undergraduate courses in Public International Law and Law & Technology. He is also a Research Affiliate of the Oxford Internet Institute, where he researches  the public-law limits on state interference with decentralised protocols. His co-authored paper on the digital euro is forthcoming in Capital Markets Law Journal. 

Ekin built the independent editorial arm of DeFi analytics platform DefiLlama, DL News, and led it as its editor-in-chief until its acquisition in 2026. Previously, he covered the digital assets industry for outlets such as Fortune and VICE. Before digital assets, he worked in public policy in Brussels, London, and Washington, D.C. and directed a consulting practice advising government and private clients on political risk, regulatory due diligence, and policy reform. He also co-directed a judicial review against the UK government over a retrospective policy change, which was heard by the Court of Appeal.

His current research interests span financial regulation, digital technologies, and legal theory. Ekin's research at Oxford is supported through a grant from Kleros, a decentralised arbitration platform.