Christopher Goes is a protocol designer and software developer known for co-founding Anoma and Namada. His earlier work includes creating the Wyvern Protocol, which was the foundational exchange system for the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, and serving as the lead designer for the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol during his tenure at Tendermint. ^[1]

Career

Goes began his work in the blockchain sector in 2017, initially experimenting with the Ethereum network to learn Solidity smart contract development. This exploration led to the creation of his first significant project, the Wyvern Protocol. He designed it as a generalized, non-custodial exchange system capable of supporting any digital asset type, not just fungible tokens. The protocol's flexibility made it suitable for the nascent NFT market, and it was subsequently adopted by OpenSea, where it served as the platform's core exchange mechanism until 2022. In a 2024 forum post, Goes described Wyvern as a "proto-intent system" and noted that the experience highlighted the architectural limitations of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for handling more complex, intent-based applications. ^[2]

Following his work on Wyvern, Goes joined Tendermint to contribute to the Cosmos project, where his focus shifted to blockchain interoperability. He became the lead designer of the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, a standardized framework for enabling communication between independent blockchains. The protocol's successful launch in 2021 was a key development for the cross-chain ecosystem, establishing a standard for secure asset and data transfer between sovereign networks. ^{[1] [3]}

After his time at Tendermint, Goes co-founded several organizations with collaborators Awa Sun Yin and Adrian Brink. Their first venture was Cryptium Labs, a company that provided validator services for proof-of-stake networks, including Tezos and Cosmos. Subsequently, the same team founded Metastate, a research and development organization dedicated to protocol architecture, cryptography, and programming language design. In 2021, Goes, Yin, and Brink co-founded Anoma and its related project, Namada. Goes has stated that the motivation for starting Anoma was to synthesize the knowledge gained from his experiences with Wyvern and IBC to build a more comprehensive and unified protocol architecture. These projects focus on developing privacy-preserving, intent-centric, and interoperable network frameworks. ^{[1] [2]}

Interviews

Being Different

In an August 2025 interview with LI.FI, Goes reflected on the evolution of the Anoma's vision over the years, explaining its ambition to create a distributed operating system that simplifies the complexities of interacting with diverse hardware and distributed networks. He highlighted how Anoma aims to build a unified interface for developers that abstracts the intricacies of underlying systems, focuses on user intent, and provides greater control over data privacy. Goes noted the shift in the cryptocurrency sector away from ambitious "moonshot" architectures toward more incremental product-focused approaches, suggesting that the market's maturation has led to a scarcity of groundbreaking innovations. He also emphasized the importance of addressing interoperability issues within the Ethereum ecosystem and expressed confidence in Anoma's approach to delivering a more adaptable, user-oriented technological framework. As the project prepares to launch protocol adapters for EVM-compatible chains within six months, he anticipates progressing from research to practical applications, aiming to enhance user experiences within the crypto landscape.

Presentations

ACES

Goes conducted a talk about the Anoma Crypto-Economic System (ACES) at Anoma Day in June 2025, though he admitted it was prepared hastily with limited visuals. The discussion was divided into three parts, starting with the motivation for exploring the nature of tokens and their unique identities beyond their names and holders. He proposed a cryptoeconomic model characterized by three key components: time-variable staking to enable participants to commit tokens over different periods; distribution stream governance to allow adjustments to token flows through community voting; and a metastability mechanism to manage relationships with foreign economies through a foreign reserve account. Each component aimed to enhance adaptive economic regulation, addressing the limitations of traditional static monetary policies by introducing mechanisms to regulate relationships across diverse economic environments. The presentation concluded with a summary of these components and their intended roles in fostering a dynamic and resilient economic framework. ^[5]

Guide to Namada & Anoma

At Autonomous Ecologies #2 in September 2023, Goes discussed the concepts of autonomous ecologies and how these protocols relate to broader ecological systems. He defined autonomous ecologies as groups or organisms that determine their own boundaries and govern themselves without relying on state enforcement, contrasting them with traditional Westphalian ecologies characterized by rigid and standardized relationships. Goes emphasized that autonomous ecologies could foster diverse and experimental forms of social relationships, moving away from standardized structures prevalent in conventional organizations. He presented Namada as a tool to provide privacy for public actions and fund public goods while enabling seamless interoperability between different systems. The presentation also highlighted Anoma's vision of creating a unified operating system for decentralized interactions, allowing users to define their own consensus mechanisms for specific actions. Goes encouraged audience engagement to refine these concepts and ensure they met the needs of emerging autonomous ecologies. ^[6]

Too Much Crypto

Goes gave a talk at Too Much Crypto in December 2022 about the complexities of cryptography in their protocol stack, particularly focusing on two components, Tyga and Vampire. He introduced Tyga as an architecture designed to enable private counterparty discovery and settlement, highlighting its importance in decentralized applications where users need to find one another without revealing excessive information. He contrasted traditional methods of counterparty discovery, which often compromised privacy, with Tyga’s approach of using intents or partial transactions to facilitate matches between users while maintaining privacy until a final transaction is created. Subsequently, he discussed Vampire, a compiler that connects cryptographic schemes to programming, aiming to streamline the integration of new cryptographic advances without requiring developers to be deeply versed in the details. Goes emphasized the ongoing work to build a user-friendly interface that abstracts the complexities of cryptographic systems while ensuring robust privacy measures in Anoma's architecture. ^[4]

Panels

Privacy Protocols

At the Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress in December 2024, Goes, Pie Man from Fairblock, and Amit Chaudhary from Labyrinth discussed the interplay between research and applied privacy protocols. They highlighted the historical significance of academic contributions to privacy technologies, particularly zero-knowledge proofs, while debating how integrating research can enhance product development in the crypto space. Pie Man emphasized the financial motivations driving researchers and the burgeoning interest in blockchain among privacy scholars. In contrast, Chaudhary expressed concerns over the disconnect between theoretical research and practical implementation in building effective privacy protocols. They both acknowledged the need for interdisciplinary approaches, merging insights from fields such as sociology and economics with cryptographic research. The discussion also touched on the prevalent issues of misinformation in academia and the challenges of fostering collaboration between different areas of cryptography, ultimately calling for more cohesive frameworks to bridge these gaps and enhance user-centric product design. ^[7]