1. Applicant Information
Applicant Name: Christine D. Kim
Application Type: Myself
2. Contributor Information
Contributor Name: Christine D. Kim
Contributor Wallet Address: (To be provided)
3. Contribution Category
Primary Contribution Type: Social Media Creator
4. Contribution Details
Contribution Title
Ready for Merge Mini-Series: Making Ethereum the Home of Fair, Low-Risk DeFi
Contribution Status
Planned (May–June 2026 execution)
Description of Contribution
This proposal is to produce a five-part podcast mini-series on Ready for Merge focused on one central question: Can DeFi be made meaningfully safer and fairer—without compromising decentralization?
Each episode will explore a major category of DeFi risk, from smart contract vulnerabilities to frontend risks to regulatory pressures.
One of the episodes will focus on MEV, transaction ordering, and censorship, and highlight Shutter’s approach to encrypted mempools within the broader Ethereum roadmap.
Planned Episode Topics:
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Smart contract risk and systemic composability failures
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Frontend, wallet, and infrastructure attack surfaces
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Toxic MEV (core focus episode) — front-running, sandwiching, and value extraction
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Censorship and transaction inclusion
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Regulation and the future of DeFi design
Over the course of the mini-series, there will be:
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Dedicated discussion of encrypted mempools as a mitigation for toxic MEV
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Contextualization of Shutter alongside other MEV mitigation approaches (PBS, inclusion lists)
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A Shutter contributor or aligned researcher as a guest
The content will be designed for a technically informed audience, translating complex protocol-level ideas into accessible, high-signal discussions.
Key Milestones
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May 2026: Guest booking + episode recording
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June 2026: Weekly episode releases (5 episodes total)
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Final Week: Live X Spaces roundtable with guests
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Ongoing: Social clips and written summaries distributed via newsletter and social channels
Impact on Shutter Ecosystem
This series will contribute to the Shutter ecosystem by increasing awareness, understanding, and credibility of encrypted mempool solutions among key stakeholders in Ethereum.
Primary Impact Areas:
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Awareness: Introduce Shutter to developers, researchers, and investors following Ethereum protocol development
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Education: Explain why encrypted mempools matter in the context of real-world MEV and exploit scenarios
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Positioning: Frame Shutter as a serious, technically grounded solution to one of DeFi’s most urgent problems
Target Audience:
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Ethereum core developers and researchers
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DeFi protocol builders
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Crypto-native investors and analysts
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Infrastructure and tooling teams
Success Metrics:
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Podcast downloads and YouTube views per episode
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Engagement on X and LinkedIn (impressions, shares, comments)
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Newsletter readership and click-through rates
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Qualitative engagement from developers and researchers (responses, discussions, follow-ups)
Links & Supporting Evidence
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Christine D. Kim Substack (protocol-focused newsletter audience)
5. SHU Funding Request
Requested Amount: $5,000
$5000
Justification of Amount: The requested funding will support:
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Research and episode preparation
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Guest coordination and scheduling
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Recording and editing of 5 long-form episodes
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Amplification through newsletter and social channels
6. Additional Information
Previous Contributions to Shutter
None directly, but I have an extensive track record covering:
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Ethereum protocol development
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MEV, PBS, and censorship resistance discussions
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Developer coordination calls and governance
One of the recent podcast episodes I recorded was with Jannik Luhn, Researcher and Engineer at Brainbot, and Justin Florentine, Besu client developer at Consensys, on their encrypted mempool proposals for the Hegota upgrade. Link to the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXHe6h_ZURA&list=PLnZ5BrgKJlD8EcwlLaTDFIlU0QXXgpIrA.
Collaboration / Team Members
- Potential guest contributors from Ethereum and MEV research communities
Anything Else
This proposal is intentionally timed to recent industry events involving KelpDAO, LayerZero Labs, and Drift Protocol, which have accelerated the need for serious discussion around DeFi safety and fairness.
The core mission of the series aligns directly with Shutter’s mission to empower fair play in blockchain and the applications built atop public blockchains.