In this edition of Behind mETH Protocol, we sit down with Jonathan, Growth Lead at mETH Protocol, to unpack what it really takes to drive adoption for a liquid staking and restaking protocol in today’s market.

With experience across both traditional finance and crypto, Jonathan has worked in research, investments, and ecosystem growth — from macro insights at BlackRock to venture strategy at Crypto.com and partnerships at Mantle. At mETH Protocol, he now focuses on scaling ETH-based yield products and bringing restaking to a broader market.

Tell us about your journey — what led you from BlackRock and UBS to leading growth at mETH Protocol?

• I first heard about Bitcoin in 2017 but didn’t care much for it. I was too busy grinding it out in finance — interning at hedge funds and asset managers, trying to be the next finance hardo. Then COVID hit in 2020, BTC was at $5K and ETH at $80. I took the plunge, looked like a great opportunity — pure risk-reward with zero fundamentals.
• By late 2020/early 2021, I was deep into the crypto trenches — sending money OTC to randos at 4AM for memecoin presales, living in every TG and Discord channel I could find, flipped many gigabytes of NFTs. It was chaos, but it was a beautiful time. Spent a ton of time using the DeFi protocols we now see as the giants of the industry, and that was when the space really made sense to me as a blooming financial ecosystem.
• Meanwhile, I was at BlackRock, optimizing research and code to squeeze out an extra 5 bps in returns, while my personal account was printing Xs. The cognitive dissonance was unreal. A friend of mine (shoutout to Jay) told me to drop everything and join him full-time during the alt L1 season. So I did — never looked back.
• The journey since then has been wild. My first crypto gig in November 2021 hit right at the giga top. I somehow managed to dodge the Luna, 3AC, and FTX disasters, but I still took plenty of trading Ls along the way. Met some amazing people, dragged a few old finance friends into crypto, and connected with legends like DeFi Maestro. Eventually got Mantle-pilled and made the move to mETH Protocol. Five years later, here I am — hopefully a bit wiser, but who really knows.

What does your role at mETH Protocol involve, and how do you approach it in an industry that’s constantly evolving?

• At mETH Protocol, I lead growth, which basically means building and strengthening relationships and channels from both an institutional and ecosystem angle. But it’s not just about expanding outward — it’s also about reflecting on our current strategies and campaigns as a team to make sure we’re on the right track.
• A big part of my approach is playing long-term games with long-term people. Sure, chasing the latest shiny object can be tempting, but I’d rather work with teams that are genuinely committed to building and innovating through market cycles. Those are the relationships that stand the test of time.
• Another big focus for me is having a solid network as a team. Whether it’s AI, institutional, or DeFi projects, connections matter. This space is surprisingly small and tight-knit, you never know who might have a key piece of info or the right connection to point you in the right direction.
• And finally, it’s crucial to have a clear mission on where we’re taking mETH Protocol and why. It keeps us focused on what really matters when choosing partners, integrations, and strategies at any given point.

What do you think are the biggest challenges today around retail and institutional adoption of ETH liquid staking solutions?

• Let's frame this towards the current addressable market, and split this between retail and institutions, who have very different goals and agendas.
• For retail users, especially those who do not already hold a sizable amount of ETH, what I see as the main issue is apathy toward ETH yields. In crypto, the hurdle rate for yield is insanely high, especially for smaller portfolios. There are and will continue to be tons of cyclical APR strategies that retail can partake in. But, ETH yields will continue to stay and the goal is to really make this so accessible to people that they simply can't ignore it.
• On the institutional side, it’s more about utility and asset risk. There’s definitely interest in generating better yields on core ETH holdings, but it’s not that simple. Different shops use their ETH in different ways, and LSTs are still way less integrated into web3 than native ETH. Plus, there’s a lot of hesitation around smart contract risks, slashing risks, and just figuring out the right operational flows. Institutions are still working out how to properly approach this space.
• These challenges force us to think carefully about how we build and position our solutions. There’s still a massive market out there to capture, and at mETH Protocol, we’re focused on keeping things simple, composable, and integration-friendly — both for DeFi users and for larger allocators.

Are there any partnerships or integrations you’re particularly excited about right now?

• We’re in some really exciting conversations right now, especially across the HyperEVM ecosystem. There’s a lot of strong alignment with how capital and builders are moving on-chain, and we’re aiming to make cmETH one of the core collateral options in this mission-focused ecosystem with strong traders.
• We’re also actively working with institutional partners to bring cmETH to a broader user base. The idea is to make it super simple to earn and just as simple to use as collateral for trading on exchanges like Bybit. That one’s got me especially hyped.
• At the end of the day, it’s all about meeting users where they already are and giving protocols better base assets to build around. We’re also looking forward to deeper integrations with emerging L2s and ETH-native products, as that’s where a lot of the most interesting stuff is happening right now.

Looking ahead, what’s one trend in the Ethereum ecosystem you think will matter more than people currently realize?

• I won't pretend to be the hidden genius over here that knows about something obscure that could affect our bags 5 years from now, so I'll say what I think matters. Positioning.
• Decentralized or not, we operate in an incredibly exponential and capitalistic era. ETH's positioning as an asset matters as much as what it represents ideologically. There have been observable small steps taken on this by the foundation, but it's really important to assess what's been actionable as we go along — and to see where our team can help grow the conversations around ETH and LSTs.

Reach Jon here: X: @0xjlow