ENS name: smitv.eth

My reasons for wanting to be a delegate:

Hop Protocol is one of the most transparent and community-oriented bridge protocols. As a member of the Optimism team, this aligns very well with not only the ethos of our ecosystem but also myself. I’ve been a Hop user for quite some time now and after working with the team closely, I’d love to help push forward Hop and its values to a wider audience.

On top of that, Optimism is very focused on having effective governance in Web3. I’d love to help partner with Hop to pave the path to better governance paradigms in the space.

My web3 qualifications / skills:

I’m the Head of DeFi BD/Strategy at Optimism. I started out as a lead frontend engineer and prior to Optimism, I helped Synapse(another bridge protocol) with some dev related activities regarding their frontend. I’ve been in the space since 2015 as an investor, builder, and advocate for the Ethereum space. I’ve spent many years on-chain and playing around with a ton of protocols ranging from derivatives all the way to NFT gaming. Because of this I’ve also bridged through Hop and other bridge protocols a considerable amount. Overall, I have a deep passion for the space and specifically molding the future of governance in this world!

What voters can expect of me:

I will do my best to ensure that I am always aligned with the community and ethos of what Hop embodies. When voting, I will do my due diligence in making sure that I source feedback from the community to remove personal bias and selfish voting practices. As a member of the Optimism community, our values are aligned to push forward Ethereum and create a stronger transparent partnership between us as well! The Optimism ecosystem has been a long-term supporter of Hop Protocol and will continue to do so.