Charles St. Louis didn’t set out to transform the financial system. As a student at Queen’s University studying math and computer science, blockchain was just an interesting technology experiment. “It wasn’t until my last year that I got to work on a project at RBC’s innovation lab,” he recalls. The project explored using private blockchains for anti-money laundering and know-your-customer systems, sparking his curiosity about the broader potential of truly decentralized systems.
That curiosity turned into a career. St. Louis dove into Ethereum, working on supporting network upgrades and joining early DeFi pioneers like MakerDAO, where he helped expand the borrowing protocol from single collateral to multi-collateral and bootstrap the decentralized governance system. Now, as CEO of DELV, he’s focused on tackling a glaring issue in decentralized finance: bridging the stability of fixed income with the innovation of blockchain technology.
“Fixed income markets are the largest financial markets in the world,” St. Louis says. “How do we actually onboard them onchain?” His team’s solution is Hyperdrive, a software protocol designed to enable the creation of fixed rate financial instruments on the blockchain from any yield bearing asset.
Their flagship product DELV Hyperdrive One, amongst other opportunities, allows users to get exposure to fixed yield rates by purchasing an asset, such as Staked Ethereum (stETH), at a discount, with the value maturing over time to match market rates. “For example, a user deposits 1.00 stETH today in a market offering a 5% fixed APR for a 12-month position duration. They can redeem 1.05 stETH one year from now,” St. Louis explains. While some may think of it as similar to traditional financial instruments like zero-coupon bonds, the mechanism is distinct in its implementation.
DELV emphasizes its commitment to progressing the safe adoption of decentralized financial systems by building novel, research-backed, and open-source software. However, the cost-effectiveness of moving financial markets to the blockchain is undisputed. Moving funds through clearinghouses, for instance, costs traditional institutions six figures daily. Hyperdrive achieves a similar result for pennies.
The Hyperdrive Protocol, which was developed by DELV but was launched for and is managed and controlled by the Element DAO, isn’t a standalone software system. The Hyperdrive Protocol can be thought of as the foundational layer of software and many products and services can be built on top of it. Here is where DELV’s second core product comes in.
In addition to their fixed rate yield product, they have also built a fixed rate borrowing product (DELV Fixed Borrow), which enables users to obtain fixed rate coverage effectively capping their borrow costs under third-party variable rate loans. According to St. Louis, DeFi borrowers often have to navigate unpredictable rates and volatile markets. That level of uncertainty limits their ability to plan, invest, and grow their assets with confidence. DELV Fixed Borrow is an innovation solution to those concerns that puts borrowers back in control, without changing their core borrow position.
To make this possible, DELV leans on the modular design of DeFi protocols, often referred to as “money legos,” to enable seamless integrations and new features. “A borrowing protocol like Morpho or AAVE can plug into what we’re building on the fixed borrow rate side,” St. Louis explains. “It makes it a lot more comfortable for users who don’t want to get caught up in variable rate fluctuations and want peace of mind with a predictable interest rate.”
This modularity appeals not only to existing DeFi users but also to institutions unfamiliar with blockchain’s interconnected architecture. By integrating with established financial products, DELV reduces barriers to entry while maintaining flexibility.
Beyond fixed rates on digital currencies, DELV is exploring tokenized real-world assets, including areas such as treasury bills, real estate, and cash flows. These assets, traditionally the backbone of fixed income, represent the next frontier in DeFi. “MakerDAO has used real estate lenders, supply chain finance, farm operations funding, or car manufacturing warehouses and their cash flows as collateral to generate stablecoins,” St. Louis says. “It’s cheaper than traditional finance rates, and it strengthens businesses by reinvesting at better terms.” The strategy aligns with DELV’s broader focus on institutional onboarding. By tokenizing familiar assets and offering fixed rate markets on top of them, the company aims to bridge the divide between traditional finance and DeFi.
DELV’s mission isn’t just about building a single protocol or solving a single problem. It’s about rethinking how traditional financial systems can coexist with blockchain technology. St. Louis sees fixed income as the entry point—a stepping stone to broader institutional adoption.
“Fixed income is a gateway,” he says. “It’s stability, diversity, and predictability. That’s what institutions need, and that’s what DeFi can offer.”
As DELV continues its push forward in its goal of bringing fixed income onchain, the company stands at the intersection of two worlds, bridging a market worth trillions through technology with boundless potential.
