The Story Behind Yannik Schrade And Arcium

By: crypto news flash|2025/05/09 22:15:03

Yannik Schrade built Arcium to process encrypted data without revealing it, pushing privacy in blockchain. His personal reflections on ethics and technology reveal a rare sense of responsibility in the crypto startup space. At an age when most teenagers are busy playing games, Yannik Schrade is busy tinkering with them. He is not just a player, but a modifier. That’s where his long journey began. Perhaps at that time no one would have thought that this young man from Germany would one day lead a cutting-edge technology company that plays at the intersection of blockchain, AI , and data security. His initial leap was quite unique. He had studied law at Heidelberg University, but then changed direction. Logically, it turned out to be more comfortable in the world of numbers and codes, not articles and verses. He then moved to the Technical University of Munich to study computer science and mathematics. His decision opened a new path—to the world of cryptography and complex distributed systems, which eventually led him to the heart of the blockchain industry. Yannik Schrade: Building Arcium, Breaking Traditions Yannik’s name began to be widely known when he released an iOS application called Shiftscreen in 2020. The idea was simple but powerful: turning the iPad into a professional work screen. Without relying on hype, the application exploded, attracting more than a hundred thousand paying users and being covered by major media. But for Yannik, it was just a stepping stone. In 2022, he founded Elusiv with three colleagues—which was renamed Arcium two years later. This is where Yannik really entered the big leagues. Arcium is no ordinary blockchain project. They built a decentralized confidential computing infrastructure. So, data can be processed without having to be opened first. It’s like you can check the contents of a box without having to open it first. It’s a bit like magic, but based on cryptography. However, what makes Yannik and Arcium interesting is not just the technology. They also dare to go against the grain. Many companies still rely on Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) systems, which actually leave gaps for centralization. Yannik is moving away from that model. He fully believes in a pure cryptographic approach that doesn’t store centralized vulnerabilities. Furthermore, Arcium is growing fast. They launched an initiative called the Encrypted Ecosystem, which is already used by over 25 projects across sectors—from decentralized finance to health and gaming. Even for the initial stage, they chose to launch on the Solana network. But that doesn’t mean that Arcium is just stuck there. In fact, they are preparing cross-chain support, in order to target a wider market. A CEO Who Questions More Than He Promotes Outside the office, Yannik is also active in talking about digital privacy. He is not the type of CEO who only appears at big events. He often appears in community discussions, developer forums, and even the World Economic Forum. On various occasions, he emphasizes that privacy is not just an additional feature, but a basic need in the digital era. Every now and then, he throws out a provocative question: if everyone has a digital wallet, do we still need banks? On the other hand, Yannik also has a fairly human approach. His personal site is not a portfolio show-off, but more like a digital venting space. He shares his thoughts, challenges, and even doubts about the future of the technology he is building. Once he wrote that strong technology without ethics will only create new chaos. That sentence, although it sounds simple, reflects something that is rarely found in the startup world: reflection. Things didn’t always go as planned for him. Yannik also has to face the classic challenges of the blockchain industry—unclear regulation, volatile markets, and sometimes too high community expectations. But he keeps going. And like most engineers, he prefers to prove himself through products, not words.

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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.

The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.

Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.

Simplified Trading Experience: No KYC Required, Opening a Position in Five Steps

Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.

The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:

· Choose the trading asset

· Select long or short

· Input position size and leverage

· Confirm order details

· Confirm and open the position

The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.

Social-Native Trading: Strategy and Execution Completed in the Same Context

Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:

· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members

· End-to-end encrypted voice communication

· One-click position sharing

· One-click trade copying

On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.

By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.

Referral Mechanism: Non-institutional users can receive up to 60% fee split

Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:

· Users can join with an invite code

· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards

· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings

This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.

Self-Custody Architecture and Built-in Privacy Mechanism

Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:

· Separation of transaction account and asset storage

· User full control over assets

· Platform does not custody user funds

· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure

The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.

A New Path for On-Chain Derivatives

Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.

The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.

Regulatory Background

Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.

This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."

The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.

About Mixin

Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.

Its core capabilities include:

· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations

· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets

· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries

· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication

Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.

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