DeFi Jobs

# Protocol Engineer (Senior or Junior) — THORChain

## About THORChain

THORChain is a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol that enables native asset swaps across 10+ blockchains without wrapped tokens, trusted custodians, or centralized intermediaries. The protocol uses threshold signature cryptography (TSS) to secure vaults across multiple chains, allowing users to swap BTC for ETH, SOL for DOGE, and more—all trustlessly.

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## The Role

THORChain is seeking a Senior or Junior Protocol Engineer to help build and maintain THORNode—the core node software powering the THORChain network.

You will design and implement protocol upgrades that enhance incentive structures, optimize resource efficiency, and expand cross-chain capabilities. This role operates within a collaborative, flat organizational structure focused on rapid problem-solving.

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## Technical Environment

### Core Stack

- Language: Go (1.23+)

- Framework: Cosmos SDK (v0.53) / CometBFT consensus

- Serialization: Protocol Buffers

- Smart Contracts: CosmWasm (WASM runtime) + Solidity

- Database: LevelDB, RocksDB, Pebble

- Networking: gRPC, libp2p, WebSockets

### Supported Chains

- UTXO Chains: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin

- EVM Chains: Ethereum, Avalanche, BSC, Base

- Other Chains: Solana, TRON, XRP Ledger, Cosmos/IBC chains

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## Responsibilities

- Protocol Development: Design and implement chain upgrades addressing incentive mechanisms, computational efficiency, and cross-chain capabilities within the x/thorchain module (70+ message types, 114+ handlers)

- Production Code: Write production-grade Go code implementing protocol designs that handle significant value in adversarial environments

- Cross-Chain Bridge: Build and maintain Bifrost chain clients that observe external blockchains and coordinate multi-party signing

- Decision Evaluation: Evaluate implications of protocol decisions across economic, scalability, security, and usability dimensions

- Emergency Response: Respond to critical chain emergencies and coordinate incident response

- Team Coordination: Work with teams to communicate functionality, inform indexing schemas, and participate in architecture and security-focused decision-making

- Ecosystem Tracking: Stay current with developments in Cosmos SDK, CometBFT, and the broader crypto ecosystem to identify best practices and opportunities

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## Requirements

- 2+ years production-grade Go development experience

- Strong mathematical and abstract reasoning capabilities

- Knowledge of crypto-economic primitives (AMMs, liquidity pools, incentive design)

- Prior experience at a protocol project that has navigated full market cycles is a plus

- Strong commitment to testing (unit, integration, property-based)

- Fluent English communication skills

- Genuine commitment to decentralization and cryptocurrency

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## Preferred Qualifications

- Cosmos SDK chain development experience

- Multi-chain experience: Bitcoin (UTXO model), Ethereum (EVM), Solana, or other architectures

- TSS/MPC: Experience with threshold signatures or multi-party computation

- Understanding of DeFi protocol mechanics

- Protocol Buffers and gRPC experience

- P2P networking experience (libp2p or similar)

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## What Makes This Role Unique

- Work on a live production system securing real value across 10+ chains

- Solve challenging distributed systems problems at the intersection of cryptography, economics, and blockchain

- Contribute to open-source infrastructure enabling true cross-chain interoperability without bridges or wrapped tokens

- Flat team structure with direct impact on protocol direction

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## Development Practices

- Comprehensive CI/CD pipeline with GitLab

- Multiple test environments:

- Unit tests

- Regression tests (49 suites, 140 YAML scenarios)

- Simulation tests

- Mocknet

- Monthly soft forks, annual hard forks

- Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) for significant changes

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## Location

• Remote