Ben Thalman, CFA, CAIA
Blockchain protocol expert & financial analyst, 15 yrs of experience
Senior Protocol & Financial Analyst with 5 years of experience spanning digital assets / Ethereum consensus-level data analysis, custom script/tool development, research and 10 years of institutional asset management and trading. Deep subject matter expertise in Ethereum protocol mechanics, transaction/block parsing, MEV infrastructure, and automated programmatic data extraction (Python/Bash/Ethers.js). Proven track record delivering research-driven insights, educating clients/helping win deals, and building cloud-hosted tools
Digital Assets Experience
5 years of experience in crypto as an expert covering the Ethereum ecosystem; deep knowledge and expertise on the consensus specifications (“the specs”), creating custom scripts to acquire, manipulate and analyze data to answer research questions, sending transactions and interacting with smart contracts programmatically; experience with deploying scripts and validators in the cloud; public speaking and article production
TradFi Experience
10 years of experience in asset management trading fixed income, cash and equity securities; managing various investment mandates; hedge fund due diligence
Skills
DIGITAL ASSETS
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Consensus mechanisms
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Tokenomics
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Ethereum specs
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Data indexing
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Programmatic smart contract interaction
THEORETICAL & ACADEMIC
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Econometrics
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Statistical modeling
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Economic theory
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Microeconomics theory
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Machine learning
AI
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primary tools: Gemini, Grok, Claude
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primary usage: programming, refactoring code, work assistant, shallow research
QUANTITATIVE & FINANCIAL
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Fixed Income & Equity Trading
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Portfolio Management
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Arbitrage Algorithms
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Risk & Compliance Auditing
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Statistical Modeling (R, VBA)
PROGRAMMING
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Python (pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, Scrapy)
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Shell Scripting (Bash)
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TypeScript/JavaScript (ethers.js)
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Java
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Cloud Infra (DigitalOcean, Netcups)
PROFESSIONAL
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Writing
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Presentation
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Analysis
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Research
Education
MSc. Financial Economics
L'Université de Montréal (2011)
BA Psychology & Economics
University of Waterloo (2006)
CFA
Chartered Financial Analyst (2016)
CAIA
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (2014)
FDP
Financial Data Professional (2020)
Select Writing
In the early days of MEV, extraction bots were created to find profitable opportunities and then would compete with each other for blockspace via Priority Gas Auctions (PGAs) ... (Read more)
Ethereum is complicated. Understanding performance means embracing the complexity, rather than relying on a single, simplifying metric... (Read more)
The idea behind the last phase of the initial roadmap was to divide up the network into pieces, or shards, and in so doing the network moves from serial processing to parallel processing... (Read more)
Effective balance is an important figure for Ethereum stakers – it is used to calculate consensus layer (CL) rewards as well as the probability of being selected for various duties... (Read more)
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade reshaped how validators manage balances. The next upgrade, Glamsterdam, will materially improve exit liquidity... (Read more)
Select Public Speaking Engagements
EMBRACING MEV
EMBRACING MEV
ETH Seattle - Dystopia Labs
Seattle, July 2022
ETHDam
Amsterdam, April 2024
ETH DATA: HARVESTING INSIGHTS FROM THE ETHEREUM ECOSYSTEM
Eth Infra Day - Epic Web3
Seoul, September 2023
HOW DEFI AND STAKING ARE CHANGING THE CRYPTO LANDSCAPE
Futurist
Florida, November 2025
THE MEV LANDSCAPE AND FUTURE OF ETHEREUM STAKING REWARDS
The Digital Asset Sidebar - Figment
New York City, September 2023
INSTITUTIONAL ETHEREUM WEBINAR - GLAMSTERDAM UPGRADE
Private webinar event
March 2026