At the crossroads of academic research and practical DeFi development, Yuki stands out as a builder wearing multiple hats. As a founding researcher & growth at Sorella Labs and a TLDR fellow, his work spans from building the Angstrom hook with the Sorella team to conducting research on execution welfare. His unique perspective offers insights into how research and development can advance the DeFi ecosystem in a synergistic way.

What drew you to DeFi initially? DeFi has always been king in my view. Crypto is fundamentally financial, enabled by DeFi. Without good DeFi, we can't have good crypto. I believe innovation should happen at the DeFi layer. My first real touchpoint was through Arbitrum, where I was nerdsniped into liquidity farming and LP strategies. I eventually migrated from L2 to L1 Ethereum, despite the higher costs, but still actively use Arbitrum today.

How did you get involved with Sorella? My journey with Sorella began as an angel investor during their seed round in 2023. Earlier that summer, I met Alex Nezlobin and learned about the problem of LVR (Loss Versus Rebalancing), and I was immediately intrigued. Since then, I had been researching and analyzing LVR, and it had completely captured my attention.

While other teams were focused on dynamic fees to mitigate LVR, Sorella proposed an auction mechanism, which I found more effective and flexible. This innovative approach to serving both LPs and traders convinced me that Sorella could dominate the space.

Can you explain the concept behind Angstrom, Sorella’s hook for Uniswap v4?Angstrom emerged from a fundamental observation: LPs weren't making as much money as they could. The solution evolved into a two-part system. The hook contract aggregates flow from various sources, including the Uniswap router and Sorella’s interface. Then, our off-chain App-Specific Sequencer Network (ASS) conducts auctions for these aggregated flows. A key principle here is ensuring optimal value recapture for LP and fair trading for traders with uniform clearing price - everyone gets the same price regardless of their position in the batch. The sequenced batch is then submitted to builders as a bundle for inclusion, whose executions are agnostic to its position in the block.

What challenges are you focusing on with Angstrom? One of our main challenges is education around LP profitability. We want to demonstrate that people can make significantly more money LP'ing with the Angstrom hook. From a technical perspective, integration and composability is a major focus, particularly how to integrate with the Uniswap v4 router given our multi-faceted approach with off-chain computations. Good composability also enables more solvers and routers to freely access Angstrom’s liquidity.

**Your work extends beyond development into research through the TLDR fellowship. How did that come about?**The TLDR fellowship wasn't initially in my plans. I had written a preliminary paper on an objective view of the existing execution welfare of trades across various solver-based protocols. While seeking feedback, I shared it with Danning Sui, and she suggested applying to the fellowship. Xin Wan and Brad Bachu, researchers from Uniswap Labs, further shaped this direction. The caliber of researchers involved with the TLDR initiative and the diversity of topics being explored, from censorship resistance to market dynamics, has been inspiring.

**How has the TLDR fellowship impacted your approach to research?**Coming from a non-academic background, the TLDR Fellowship has been transformative in helping me structure research papers and articles. Conversations with my mentors, Danning and K Kulkarni, have been particularly valuable in helping me develop bold content. The social aspects of the fellowship, including in-person events in NYC and the gathering around the Science of Blockchain Conference, have helped me connect with leading researchers in the space.

**What's next for Angstrom and your research?**We're planning to launch with Uniswap v4, with our testnet going live in Q1 2025 and protocol launch to follow. On the research side, I'm working on providing data-driven insights into the trading and execution environment across various DEX aggregators. I want to demonstrate through simulation which platforms perform best in terms of trade execution and show how Angstrom's uniform pricing mechanism fits into this broader context.In addition, I am also working on a data dashboard showcasing the observed amount of LVR in the market and its relevant metrics, which is coming out soon.

**What advice do you have for others building in the Uniswap ecosystem?**Position yourself well - there will be many hooks out there, and standing out will be crucial. At Sorella, we maintain a mission-driven approach. For us, our hook is a means to achieve our mission of making LP positions more sustainable on-chain, not just another DEX product. It's important to have a clear vision that extends beyond the technical implementation.

Note: The views expressed herein may not reflect the views of the Uniswap Foundation. This interview is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice.