The Defiant is a DeFi-focused media outlet founded in 2019 by Camila Russo — a former Bloomberg journalist who covered the early Ethereum ecosystem. The Defiant is known for rigorous, in-depth coverage of decentralized finance protocols, governance developments, and the broader Ethereum ecosystem, targeting serious DeFi practitioners, protocol developers, and institutional researchers. Russo also authored “The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum” (2020), considered the definitive account of Ethereum’s founding and early history.
Background
Camila Russo covered crypto for Bloomberg from Buenos Aires, gaining early access to the Ethereum ecosystem during its formative period. She left Bloomberg in 2019 to launch The Defiant as a premium DeFi newsletter, leveraging her direct relationships with Ethereum founders and DeFi protocol developers.
Products
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Defiant Newsletter | Daily/weekly premium newsletter covering DeFi protocol news and analysis |
| Defiant TV (YouTube) | Video interviews with DeFi founders, developers, and researchers |
| The Infinite Machine (Book) | Ethereum origin story book (2020, HarperCollins) |
| Defiant Pro | Paid tier with full archive access and research |
“The Infinite Machine”
Russo’s book The Infinite Machine (published July 2020) is the most detailed narrative account of Ethereum’s founding — covering the creation of the whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin, the Ethereum ICO in 2014, the DAO hack and fork, and the early formation of the Ethereum community. It drew on Russo’s direct access to key figures during the critical early period and has become required reading for those seeking to understand Ethereum’s origin story.
Editorial Focus
The Defiant’s coverage is tightly focused on:
- DeFi protocol launches, updates, and governance votes
- Smart contract exploit post-mortems
- Ethereum ecosystem developments (EIPs, L2s, staking)
- Cross-chain DeFi and the broader on-chain finance stack
- Interviews with protocol builders and DeFi researchers
Related Terms
Sources
- The Defiant Website — official publication.
- The Infinite Machine (Amazon) — Camila Russo’s Ethereum book.