Even if you're not a “cosmonaut” enthusiast, you probably know Sunny Aggarwal, co-founder of Osmosis laboratories. With an infectious smile and upbeat personality, Sunny's name is surprisingly fitting. She's the kind of person whose deep intellect, keen wit, and unbridled passion illuminates the spaces around her.
We were supposed to meet at Cosmos Dubai during Token2049 but life had other plans. The Cosmos side event would not have happened. Dubai has been hit by the worst floods in 75 years, reducing the desert metropolis to a lake and plunging entire neighborhoods underwater. “There’s always Cosmoverse in October,” smiles Sunny. “Then we can catch up in person.”
The rise and rise of osmosis
I couldn't wait to see what outfit Sunny would wear; he has quite the collection, donning a range of stunning costumes, from 40-pound chainmail armor to a Byzantine general's costume with a striking red crested helmet. “Ah, I save the coolest outfits for big events like Cosmoverse or Osmocon,” he explains, “if I wore a new one for every event, my costume budget would get way too high,” he laughs . On the other side of the screen, from Sunny's New York apartment, he looks decidedly more subdued today.
As the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) in the Cosmos ecosystem, Osmosis announced exceeding 32 billion dollars in an unprecedented trading volume that day. I ask how it feels to lead Cosmos' most popular project and reach such an impressive milestone.
“I think it says Osmosis DEX wanted to reach $40 billion (in the tweet),” he responds, “but I’m waiting for $100 billion.”
Sunny is unapologetically ambitious. Did he always know that Osmose would be such a success? He thinks :
“The immediate interest we got when we launched was very surprising. Cosmos owned many high-value assets that were not listed on centralized exchanges, but we did not realize the scale of the transaction.
Growth Hacking and the bumps in the road
It wasn't all easy to get here. Sunny has been in the Web3 industry since 2017. Like all seasoned OGs, he's experienced his share of ups and downs: crypto crashes, bear markets, and total implosions like Terra (LUNA) and FTX. I ask him what the most stressful situation he's been through so far is, and he pauses:
“I think I should say Osmosis launch week. It was the first time I launched a project, a company and a blockchain at the same time. There are a lot of last mile things that we don't think about.
Osmosis had publicly announced its launch date and, unlike the plethora of software projects that delay their launch date as the proverbial can, Sunny was adamant about not moving hers. But as more and more last-mile items piled up, the launch date loomed over the team's heads like a dark, brooding cloud.
“Osmosis went from idea to launch very quickly,” he says. “We went from development to launch in just three or four months and we procrastinated on a lot of important things until the last two weeks.”
Would he have done anything differently in hindsight?
“I would have planned things more in advance. When you start a project, it's not just the code. There are a lot of operational things to consider and it takes more time than you think…I would have done all of this much sooner.
Osmosis started with a team of six people and, despite a difficult start, now has 45 full-time employees:
“I like the size we are at now,” he says. “We're small enough that you know everyone and can work with a full team offsite, but we're big enough to pursue multiple unique product lines in parallel. »
How does he deal with the stress of being at the forefront of an ever-changing industry? By throwing each other out of planes. Sunny is an aviation fan, learning to fly a plane and taking a skydiving course.
“I find it best to put yourself in a position where you can't touch your phone, like flying an airplane or scuba diving” (or hurtling towards earth at 120 miles per hour) . “Cryptocurrency markets are not volatile enough, I need to add more adrenaline,” he laughs.
Travel, idols and the “pro-life” spirit
Spending a lot of time in the air, Sunny also loves to travel, and if there's one place that's closest to her heart, it's Switzerland. He has always been fascinated by the mountainous Alpine country and its rich history, culture, politics and economy.
He even taught a course on Switzerland while studying at Berkeley. He wouldn't want to live there, however, because it's “just a little too boring.” Sunny prefers the frenetic pace of a city like New York or “being at the forefront of technological innovation” in San Francisco's Silicon Valley. He also loves Berlin, where his co-founder lives, and has many friends. “It’s like a second home.”
Beyond continually improving Osmosis, helping other projects in the Cosmos ecosystem, and racking up his rider miles, Sunny is an avid reader. One of her biggest idols is Peter Thiel, whose writing and “way of thinking” have greatly influenced Sunny's worldview. Beyond Thiel From zero to onehe recommends the book Swarm by Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Pirate Party political movement in Europe. The book tells the story of how Falkvinge created a political party and transformed it into a decentralized force through a concept called “swarms.”
He specifies :
“In consensus protocols, you have this concept of protocols promoting security and liveness. By promoting security, we can never bifurcate, we reach a consensus on everything and then we progress. Liveliness protocols are constantly evolving but they move quickly, you don't need to get approval from the whole group to take action… In the early stages of an organization where you're focused on growth , you need this fostering liveliness so as not to get bogged down in bureaucracy.
A “maxi Bitcoin” of another ilk
As a self-proclaimed “maxi Bitcoin,” Sunny has no doubt that the original crypto is the best currency in the world; but the glacial pace of development does not match its need for constant innovation. That’s why he first worked on the Cosmos infrastructure, “building the application layer for Bitcoin.” What excites him the most at the moment?
“Definitely the renaissance of Bitcoin. Ordinals changed everything, there was a cultural change with all Bitcoin L2. I am confident that we will have a good soft fork in a year or two.
Wouldn’t this be detrimental to the strong monetary qualities and adoption of Bitcoin as an asset? “It was the limitations of Bitcoin that made so many other currency-like assets necessary, but now Bitcoin can scale to more people and offer more features, like introducing DeFi, privacy, social media… there are many things we can do on top of Bitcoin now.
What would Sunny be doing if he didn't spend his time disrupting traditional finance? “Material.” Before working in crypto, Sunny studied robotics in school and he would like to one day return to his roots.
“I had different ideas. I've spent a lot of time thinking about smart guns, safer guns that have security systems, like fingerprint scanners, so people can't steal them. He pauses: “I'm really interested in anything that has a big political impact. This is why I got into crypto in the first place.
If you want to find Sunny, follow her personal profile Twitter Or Osmosis account, or access its website for ideas and inspiration. You can also explore the forefront of DeFi by trying the Osmosis DEX.