Daniel Perez is a computer science researcher, software engineer, and entrepreneur specializing in blockchain systems security, decentralized finance (DeFi), and applied machine learning. He is a co-founder of the DeFi protocol Gyroscope and the decentralized leveraged token protocol TLX. ^{[1] [2]}​

Education

Perez's academic background is in computer science, with his higher education beginning in Japan. He studied Computer Science at the Tokyo University of Science from 2009 to 2011, then transferred to Waseda University, where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from 2011 to 2013. He continued his studies at the University of Tokyo, earning a Master’s degree in Computer Science between 2014 and 2018. During his master's program, his research focused on applying machine learning techniques to programming languages under the supervision of Professor Shigeru Chiba. Perez then moved to the United Kingdom to pursue doctoral studies at Imperial College London from 2018 to 2023. His PhD research, sponsored by the Ethereum Foundation, investigated methods for securing distributed ledgers and their ecosystems using programming language techniques. Professor Ben Livshits supervised his work, and he officially graduated on June 14, 2023. ^{[1] [3]}

Career

Perez's career began in Japan, where he held several technical roles while completing his undergraduate and master's studies. He served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Aetel Inc. from 2011 to 2012. He then worked as a software engineer at GREE, Inc. in 2012, followed by a series of concurrent software engineering roles from 2013 to 2014 at Fringe81, the Institute of Information Technology, and Life is Tech. During this period, he also began a longer-term role as a software engineer and researcher at Recruit Holdings, which lasted from 2013 to 2017. While pursuing his master's degree, Perez co-founded his first company, Claude Tech, in 2014, serving as co-founder and CTO until 2018. In the latter part of his time in Japan, he also worked as a software engineer and researcher at Megagon Labs from 2017 to 2018. After moving to London for his PhD, Perez took a position as a machine learning engineer at Uzabase, where he worked from 2018 to 2021.

The period during his doctoral studies was marked by significant involvement in the decentralized finance space. He served as an advisor to the Interlay Network from 2020 to 2021 and completed a research internship at Meta in 2021. In 2021, he co-founded two ventures: Aurora Labs and the DeFi protocol Gyroscope, remaining involved with both until 2025. He also co-founded the decentralized leveraged token protocol TLX. From 2022 to 2023, he advised Oasis Good Games. Following the completion of his PhD, Perez served as a guest lecturer at his alma mater, Imperial College London, from 2023 to 2025. In 2025, his career continued with the co-founding of Arvina Technologies and a role as a technical advisor at Maxxxima. ^{[1] [5]}

Research and Publications

Perez’s research examined the security of blockchain systems, payment infrastructure, and DeFi vulnerabilities, beginning with his master’s work at the University of Tokyo on the intersection of machine learning and programming languages and continuing through his PhD at Imperial College London, where he applied programming language techniques to strengthen blockchain virtual machines and decentralized applications. His publications included studies on redundancy in DeFi, systemic risks in liquidation mechanisms, the real-world exploitability of smart contract vulnerabilities, and transaction patterns in high-scalability blockchains, with several papers accepted at major venues such as MARBLE 2022, FC 2021, USENIX Security 2021, and IMC 2020. Perez and his co-authors also identified flash-loan-based attack vectors in early 2020 and disclosed them to MakerDAO, a risk later acknowledged in the protocol’s governance discussions. His work occasionally drew controversy, including the cancellation of a Tezos Foundation fellowship connected to one of his papers, and he contributed to the academic community by helping organize the first DeFi Workshop co-located with FC ’21, reflecting his role in shaping early scholarly engagement with decentralized finance. ^{[1] [4]}​