Riva Labs is a company built around rigorous research into the technologies that compose the crypto sector. We apply the results of this research to develop proprietary products or, selectively, products with aligned partners.

This is not a new idea. But the gap between what's possible with onchain technology and what actually gets built continues to widen. We think the missing layer is research that goes deep enough to inform real product decisions.

The state of crypto technology

The technological surface area of the crypto industry has grown exponentially in recent years. What started as a relatively contained system of applications and infrastructure centered around a couple of blockchains has evolved into a dense network of technologies and possibilities. Navigating the sector today means encountering innovations in zero knowledge, quantum resistance and cryptography broadly, base network infrastructure (latency optimization, consensus mechanisms), increasing sophistication and disintermediation of financial systems, and much more.

From a user interaction perspective, the options have multiplied as well. Smart wallets and account abstraction are increasingly central to how user flows are designed and how experiences are controlled.

Beyond the growing complexity, the sector mutates at an exceptionally fast pace. The philosophy and design behind major chains is undergoing shifts that challenge developments from recent years. The very concept of layer 2s is being questioned, as Vitalik recently discussed in his writing on L1 scaling priorities. The types of assets applications are designed to handle are shifting toward tokenization and stablecoin rails. And deeper experimental territory, like the intersection of crypto and AI, is producing genuine technical challenges rather than just narrative.

Why Riva Labs exists

In this context that sits between opportunity and complexity, Riva Labs exists to bring clarity.

Research is at the core of what we do. We want to understand the corners of the sector we find most promising in depth: analyze them, dissect them, test them. We publish our research and then use it as the foundation for building products, both our own and contributing to the work of others pursuing the same goals.

Deep research is probably the best method for navigating the crypto industry, moving beyond buzzwords, and understanding how new technologies can create real value for users.

For us at Riva Labs, onchain technologies cannot exist in a bubble. They must interact with the real world, change user and business behavior, and create tangible value.

Initial focus areas

We are starting with four areas where we see both significant technical development and underexplored product opportunities.

Crypto and AI intersection

The overlap between crypto and AI is generating substantial noise and limited signal. Most projects in this space are either infrastructure plays with unclear demand or thin wrappers around existing AI services. We are researching where genuine complementarity exists. The goal is to separate what's technically meaningful from what's narrative-driven.

Smart wallets and the user interaction layer

Account abstraction and smart wallets are changing how users interact with onchain applications. This goes beyond UX improvements. Programmable accounts open new possibilities in security models, transaction automation, and access control. We are researching how these primitives can be combined to build products that serve users who currently find crypto too complex or too risky.

DeFi efficiency

Decentralized finance has reached a level of maturity where the next gains are more likely to come from optimization than from new primitives. We are focused on how existing infrastructure can be made more capital efficient, more composable, and more accessible to users who are not DeFi natives.

Onchain rails for web2 use cases

Many traditional web2 architectures could benefit from onchain components without requiring full decentralization. Payment rails, credential systems, and audit trails are areas where blockchain infrastructure can add value to existing products. We are researching practical integration patterns that do not require users to understand or care about the underlying technology.

What comes next

We will be publishing our research publicly as we progress. If you are working on problems in these areas or building products where deep technical research could help, we are open to conversations.

You can reach us here or follow our work on LinkedIn and X.