
DeFI is decentralised finance, so banks, stock exchanges and lending institutions are owned by the people not corporations | Photo: Mr.Boyz/Shutterstock
When Dmitry Tolok and Volodymyr Kostanda first started building in Web3, they weren’t looking to create hype. They ran a blockchain development agency, helping other projects launch Layer 1 blockchains, decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, smart contracts, and infrastructure. But as they worked behind the scenes on protocols like Polkadot, Cosmos, and Dfinity, they began asking a different question: what if we built something for everyone, not just crypto-natives?
That question led to the birth of Primex Finance, a leveraged yield farming and margin trading protocol. And now, it’s evolved into something even more ambitious, FrenDeFi, a one-stop DeFi app designed to bring the full spectrum of decentralised finance to anyone, anywhere, with zero friction.
“We saw how complex it was becoming for everyday users,” said Kostanda. “You had to understand wallets, bridges, fees, multiple protocols, just to earn yield. That’s a lot to ask.” FrenDeFi solves this by combining DeFi’s most powerful features, lending, staking, yield farming, cross-chain swaps, and even perpetual trading into one sleek, gasless, beginner-friendly app. It’s the next chapter in a journey that started long before the first lines of code.
From Developers to Founders
Before Web3, Tolok worked in banking and medtech. Kostanda had already built and managed a software services firm. The two met in 2017 and began collaborating on client-side blockchain projects, many of which were early DeFi experiments. As DeFi summer exploded in 2020, their team was in the trenches, building for others while sketching out their own ideas.
“We were always throwing ideas around,” said Tolok. “We saw patterns in what was broken, especially around over-collateralization in DeFi. And we thought, what if we solved that?”
That led to Primex Finance, a protocol that enabled undercollateralized lending and more efficient capital deployment in DeFi. The project caught attention early. Investors came calling. In September 2021, they secured their first round of funding and pivoted from a service company to a product startup.
“It was a big shift,” said Kostanda. “Running a dev agency and building a product are completely different worlds. But we knew we had the team and the conviction to do it.”
The Complexity Problem
Primex Finance launched with a focus on margin trading and leveraged yield strategies. Technically, it worked. But there was a problem.
“The user base was shrinking,” Tolok said. “DeFi was getting more powerful, yet relatively few people could use it.”
Wallets, gas fees, bridging, and fragmented liquidity created massive onboarding hurdles. For mainstream users who are used to Venmo or Revolut, the UX of DeFi feels like rocket science.
So the team took a step back and decided to rebuild with a new goal: to make DeFi feel as friendly and intuitive as a banking app.
FrenDeFi: The One-Stop App for All Things DeFi
The result is FrenDeFi, a unified DeFi experience where users can:
- Sign up with social logins
- Manage assets across multiple chains
- Swap tokens and access yield opportunities
- Stake and lend with automated strategies
- Get AI-powered recommendations for portfolio decisions
- Pay no gas fees
It’s not just an upgrade, it’s a reimagination. The app uses cross-chain infrastructure, social onboarding, and gasless transactions to remove the friction that has held DeFi back. And it’s already live, with links to the mainnet version on a few EVM networks and a testnet version built on the emerging Monad L1 network.
“We’ve integrated bridges, DEXs, lending protocols, and staking service, all under one roof,” said Kostanda. “You don’t even select a chain. It’s all abstracted away.”
What Makes FrenDeFi Different?
The DeFi market is fragmented, but so are the apps. FrenDeFi flips this by giving users access to multiple protocols across chains without switching interfaces or wallets. Its AI agent, currently in development, will further enhance decision-making by suggesting strategies based on each user’s risk profile and idle assets.
For example, if a user holds stablecoins across several chains, FrenDeFi might recommend depositing them into a lending pool like Compound or Aave, all without the user needing to bridge manually or approve a dozen contracts.
“This isn’t about building one more protocol,” Tolok said. “It’s about building the gateway to DeFi.”
The Role of PMX
At the heart of the ecosystem is the PMX token, which powers:
- Staking rewards
- Fee discounts
- Exclusive access to yield opportunities
- Protocol-driven incentives and buybacks
It’s not just a governance token; it’s integrated into the value loop of FrenDeFi, with long-term utility for users and liquidity providers alike.
The Importance of Security and Audits
As FrenDeFi expands, so does its responsibility to maintain user safety and system integrity. The original Primex Finance protocol underwent a comprehensive audit by Resonance Security, a firm specialising in smart contract and infrastructure-level assessments. The audit helped uncover early risks and improve the underlying code before launch.
“We were very impressed with the thoroughness and professionalism of Resonance Security,” said Kostanda. “It’s a partnership we plan to continue as FrenDeFi grows.”
With FrenDeFi’s new application layer incorporating off-chain components, account abstraction, and AI integration, additional layers of security auditing will be essential. Resonance is expected to play a future role as the team prepares to audit the entire FrenDeFi infrastructure, not just the protocol.
“Protocols alone aren’t enough anymore,” said Tolok. “When you build an application that touches wallets, off-chain logic, and multiple chains, you need security at every layer.”
The Future of Friendly DeFi
The roadmap includes deeper protocol integrations, more automation, and features like peer-to-peer payments, invoicing, and merchant partnerships.
“The infrastructure is ready,” said Kostanda. “Now it’s about giving people the tools to actually use it.”
And they’re not done yet. FrenDeFi is building a next-generation AMM DEX with customizable pools, conditional orders, and compliance features, all part of their long-term plan to make DeFi the default financial experience for the next billion users.