I'm Alex Hook, a software engineer specializing in Rust, distributed systems, payments, and blockchain infrastructure.
I build complex systems end-to-end — from protocol and smart-contract design to backend infrastructure and production integrations. Previously Software Engineer at Daimo and founder/lead engineer of Untron.
Available now for full-time or contract engineering roles.
Experience
Software Engineer — Daimo
Apr 2025 — Nov 2025- •Designed and implemented Daimo Universal Addresses, the cross-chain addressing protocol underlying Daimo V2; the smart contracts were audited by Nethermind with two low-severity findings.
- •Integrated Circle Gateway, USDT0, and The Legacy Mesh into Daimo Pay, extending cross-chain payment coverage and liquidity routing.
- •Integrated Tron USDT support into Daimo Pay using Untron V2, owning the integration across protocol and application infrastructure.
Founder & Lead Engineer — Untron
Aug 2024 — 2026- •Designed and built a trust-minimized Tron ↔ EVM interoperability stack, including multiple generations of bridge architecture, intent-based execution, APIs, backend infrastructure, smart contracts, and frontend.
- •Built an onchain Tron light client for EVM chains and developed permanent deposit addresses and permissionless cross-chain settlement mechanisms.
- •Took the system from research to production, processing 3,000+ swaps and $600k+ in volume across integrations with multiple crypto applications.
- •Authored the original ZK-based Tron light-client bridge research published on Ethereum Research.
- •Owned the complete technical lifecycle: protocol research, architecture, Rust services, Solidity/Vyper contracts, infrastructure, security review, deployment, monitoring, and integrations.
Researcher & Writer — 2077 Research
May 2024 — January 2025- •Published 20+ technical articles on Ethereum, EVM infrastructure, and emerging protocols.
- •Regularly assigned technically complex research spanning protocol design, Ethereum internals, cryptography, and emerging infrastructure.
Intern — Clave
Spring 2024- •Reviewed early Clave Wallet UX and onboarding flows, with a focus on usability for non-crypto-native users.
- •Contributed to product and protocol concepts spanning social/ZK recovery, yield, account abstraction, and interoperability.
- •Ran a 10-person user study with crypto beginners and translated findings into product feedback.
Selected Projects
Systems I designed and built end-to-end.
Untron V3
A horizontally scalable cross-chain liquidity protocol for Tron and EVM. Implements a Tron light client in Solidity and other trust-minimization techniques so that swaps from Tron USDT to EVM depend only on Tron's validators.
Includes concepts such as permanent deposit addresses and multi-asset support. Read the docs for more detail.
I designed, implemented, and internally security-reviewed the smart contracts and infrastructure solo in about three months. Code is open-source on GitHub.
Daimo Universal Addresses
A cross-chain addressing protocol I designed and implemented at Daimo, enabling reusable, chain-agnostic payment addresses across EVM and non-EVM chains. Smart contracts audited by Nethermind with two low-severity findings.
Untron Intents
An intent-based bridge protocol that lets you execute arbitrary transactions on Tron from EVM chains, powered by Untron V3. Code is open-source on GitHub.
Technical Expertise
Rust / backend / protocol engineer. Strongest in distributed systems, financial infrastructure, blockchain internals, smart contracts, and applied cryptography. Comfortable owning products across the stack when necessary.
Languages
Rust · TypeScript · Solidity · Vyper · Python · Noir · SQL
Systems & Infrastructure
Distributed systems · Backend architecture · PostgreSQL · APIs · Linux · Docker · Cloud infrastructure · Networking · Observability
Blockchain & Cryptography
EVM internals · Smart-contract architecture · Cross-chain protocols · Account abstraction · ZK proofs · Light clients · Stablecoin/payment infrastructure
Product
Full-stack development · Svelte/React · Payments · API integrations · Developer tooling
Selected Recognition & Writing
- Recipient of two Base Builder Grants for building Untron.
- Technical writing referenced by Ethereum.org and republished/cited by publications including Gate.com Learn, Cointelegraph, and ForkLog.
- Published research on Ethereum Research covering trust-minimized Tron/EVM interoperability.
- Former researcher at 2077 Research, author of 20+ Ethereum/EVM technical articles.
- Daimo Universal Addresses smart contracts audited by Nethermind; Untron contracts reviewed independently before mainnet deployments.
About
I tend to work best on problems where the path from “this should be possible” to a production implementation is unclear. Most of my career has involved unusually broad ownership: researching a protocol, designing it, implementing the smart contracts and backend, deploying it, and debugging the resulting mess.
Software engineering is a tool for me rather than an end in itself. I'm particularly interested in financial infrastructure, distributed systems, applied cryptography, and increasingly AI-assisted/agentic engineering.
Availability
Available now for full-time or contract roles.
Looking for
Rust/backend, distributed systems, protocol engineering, payments, infrastructure, or AI systems roles.
Location & relocation
Batumi, Georgia · Available for remote work · Open to US relocation with employer sponsorship.
Get in touch