Risk Labs

Risk Labs Foundation is the core entity supporting the development of the UMA (Universal Market Access) and Across protocols, focusing on decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure. Founded in January 2019, the organization's journey into decentralized finance began with the publication of the UMA whitepaper in December 2018.

The foundation's primary mission is to build systems that bring verifiable truth on-chain and enable seamless cross-chain interoperability. Its key products reflect this mission. UMA is a decentralized oracle designed to record any verifiable truth onto a blockchain, pioneering the concept of an Optimistic Oracle (OO). The Across protocol is an intent-based, cross-chain interoperability solution that leverages UMA's oracle technology to facilitate secure and capital-efficient bridging between different Web3 ecosystems. The development of these protocols has been marked by significant milestones, including the UMA protocol and token launch in April 2020, followed by the launch and subsequent version upgrades of the Across protocol.

Risk Labs operates as a remote-first, global organization composed of engineers, researchers, and crypto-native professionals. The business model centers on nurturing the ecosystems of its open-source protocols. While specific revenue models are not detailed, value is created through the utility and adoption of the UMA and Across tokens within the DeFi space. The foundation is backed by prominent investors in the blockchain industry, including Placeholder, Coinbase, Bain Capital, and Dragonfly.

Keywords: DeFi infrastructure, decentralized oracle, cross-chain interoperability, optimistic oracle, UMA protocol, Across protocol, blockchain, Web3, on-chain data, smart contracts, decentralized finance, crypto-native, tokenization, verifiable truth, interoperability protocol, blockchain interoperability, Universal Market Access, DAO, financial protocols, synthetic assets