Founder Of The Week: Simon Jones

• Serial fintech and DeFi entrepreneur: Simon Jones is the Co-Founder and CEO of Reya, a leading decentralised exchange (DEX) built on Ethereum. He previously founded Voltz Protocol, the world’s first interest rate swap DEX and one of the highest-volume DEXs globally in 2023.
• Mission-driven founder: Inspired by the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, Simon shifted from a planned career in architecture to entrepreneurship, focusing on creating a more transparent, accessible and equitable financial system through blockchain technology.
• Building the future of capital markets: Through Reya, Simon aims to bring capital markets into the blockchain age by combining TradFi-level trading performance with on-chain infrastructure, helping to make financial markets more accessible to people worldwide.
• Focused on innovation and scale: Following a major research breakthrough in 2025 that enabled TradFi-speed trading natively on-chain, Simon is now focused on expanding Reya through permissionless market creation and positioning the company at the forefront of the emerging AgentFi movement.

Tell Me About Yourself and Reya

Simon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Reya, a leading perpetual futures and spot DEX on Ethereum. The exchange is built to deliver TradFi-level performance natively on-chain across a range of crypto, commodities, FX, and equity markets. The DEX is already one of the top 10 globally by volume and is on track to redefine global capital markets, bringing them into the blockchain age.

Simon is a serial FinTech and DeFi entrepreneur. He has founded multiple category-defining companies, including Voltz Protocol, the world’s first interest rate swap DEX and a top-three DEX by volume in 2023. Driven by a mission to democratise access to financial services worldwide, Simon builds products designed to transform how financial markets operate. He completed his executive education at Stanford GSB.

What Inspired You To Start Reya, and What Problem Were You Trying To Solve?

Having personally experienced the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, I changed my life path from going to university to study architecture to becoming an entrepreneur on a mission to build a more robust, transparent, and equitable financial system. All my companies have followed this mission. However, with Reya, the opportunity is orders of magnitude larger than any previous company to date.

Reya exists to bring capital markets into the blockchain age and, in doing so, open up capital formation to 8 billion people. We do this by creating a DEX that can perform at the speed of TradFi exchanges, but exists natively on-chain.

The significance is twofold. First, the transparent and trustless nature of the exchange opens capital markets to all 8 billion people, not just those with access to the right bank or broker. Second, market creation on Reya will become permissionless, meaning anyone anywhere can create a market that is tradable globally, opening up capital formation in a new, transparent, and trustless way. Throughout history, removing friction has never just sped things up; it has transformed what’s possible entirely. Email didn’t make letters faster; it built the internet economy. Reya won’t just improve capital markets. It will reinvent them.

What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge So Far, and How Did You Overcome It?

When I started Reya, it wasn’t actually clear we’d ever be able to create an exchange that was fast enough to displace TradFi infrastructure but built natively on-chain. The only way to solve that was with pure perseverance. Each day we made progress, and over time that progress compounded until we found ourselves in a position where we’ve solved a ‘holy grail’ of DEX design, giving us the opportunity to reshape capital markets.

Can You Describe a Pivotal Moment That Significantly Shaped the Direction of Reya?

Yes, there was a significant research breakthrough in the summer of 2025. This was the moment we suddenly worked out how to deliver TradFi-level trading speed natively on-chain.

How Do You Define Success?

Notional traded is our north star, though we measure it as a proportion of market share given the volatility of volume on any given day.

What Advice Would You Give To Someone Thinking About Launching Their Own Startup?

If all you ever read is TechCrunch, you’re going to think it’s easy. It’s not.

What’s Next for Reya? Any Exciting Developments We Should Watch Out For?

Two things are about to happen.

1. We’re going to enable permissionless market creation on the exchange; this is a 0-to-1 moment for capital markets.
2. AgentFi is about to explode, and we plan on being at the centre of it.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.

Founder’s 5 with Simon Jones

We wanted to learn more about the entrepreneur behind Reya, so we sat down with founder Simon Jones for an exclusive edition of TechRound’s Founders’ 5.

Favourite business tool

Claude. If you say anything else, you’re behind.

One lesson you learned the hard way?

Growth solves all problems.

One future trend you’re watching?

Quantum computing.

One quote you live by

I don’t have one.

One book/podcast you recommend

“Zero-to-One”, Peter Thiel . If you’re starting a business, it’s a must-read.

Want to be featured as TechRound’s Founder of the Week? Know someone who deserves to be recognised as a founder making waves in the startup landscape? Find out more about this weekly feature and how to get involved here.