Colin Platt is a product developer and smart contract engineer who specializes in decentralized finance (DeFi) and Ethereum-based protocols. He has been an active builder in the Ethereum ecosystem since 2015, contributing to a range of projects focused on decentralized stablecoins, yield strategies, and on-chain infrastructure. ^[1]​

Career

Platt is a product builder and smart contract developer with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi). He has been active in the Ethereum ecosystem since 2015 and has contributed to a range of DeFi and non-fungible token (NFT) projects, both publicly and anonymously. His earlier work includes involvement with Liquity and Alto Market. Platt later became a product lead at Makina, where his work has focused on developing on-chain infrastructure to execute complex DeFi strategies. His role has emphasized non-custodial system design, atomic execution, composability across protocols, and on-chain risk management, with an orientation toward institutional and professional users. At Makina, he has been involved in designing execution frameworks to address market fragmentation, integrate with multiple protocols, and support transparent, on-chain fund management as the platform has expanded its partnerships and operational scope. ^{[2] [4]}

Presentations

CDP Endgame

At the Stable Summit in November 2024, Platt presented on Liquity V2 and the concept of a decentralized reference rate for decentralized finance. He outlined the role of reference rates in establishing borrowing costs and highlighted limitations in existing DeFi rate models, including volatility and fragmentation across different networks, which complicate risk management and hedging. Platt also discussed how fluctuating interest rates can increase liquidation risk and negatively affect user experience.

The presentation described Liquity V2’s approach of allowing users to set their own interest rates, with market dynamics determining an equilibrium that can function as an on-chain reference rate without reliance on external governance. Platt framed decentralized reference rates as a necessary component of a maturing DeFi economy, emphasizing user control over financial terms and reduced dependence on centralized benchmarks. ^[5]

Panels

Liquity V2 Launch

In January 2025, Platt appeared alongside Sam Lekhah in a discussion on Leviathan News hosted by Samy McCulla to mark the launch of Liquity V2. The conversation reviewed the protocol’s release following an extended development period and examined early adoption metrics, including initial total value locked, borrowing activity, and interest rate behavior. Platt and Lekhah discussed how liquidity provision and borrowing rates evolved in the days following launch, and how collateral ratios adjusted as users interacted with the system.

The discussion also addressed Liquity V2’s design choices around market incentives, governance, and long-term positioning within decentralized finance. Topics included community governance mechanisms, plans for authorized “friendly forks” using the protocol’s codebase, and strategies for expanding liquidity and accessibility without relying on short-term promotional incentives. The session concluded with reflections on Liquity’s intended role as a durable infrastructure component within the broader DeFi ecosystem. ^[6]

Navigating Yields and Risks

At Devcon SEA in November 2024, Platt took part in a panel on stablecoin yields and risk alongside Ariah Klages-Mundt, Sam Macpherson, Alessandro Buser, and Tammy Yang, with Yang moderating the discussion. The panel examined the concentration of stablecoin market share among a small number of dominant assets and discussed yield generation as a key competitive strategy for newer stablecoin designs. Platt contributed perspectives on decentralized stablecoins, emphasizing how yield mechanisms intersect with underlying risk and noting that higher returns do not inherently imply stronger safety or resilience.

The discussion also addressed challenges faced by decentralized stablecoins in competing with the liquidity of established centralized issuers, as well as risks related to smart contract design, depagging events, and governance structures. Panelists, including Klages-Mundt, Macpherson, and Buser, explored the implications of real-world asset collateralization, highlighting differences in transparency and recovery risk compared with fully on-chain models. The session concluded with guidance for users on assessing stablecoin risk based on usage context, and reflections on future developments in yield-bearing stablecoins and governance frameworks in decentralized finance. ^[3]