Maxim Sapelkin

About Me

Maxim Sapelkin is the founder of the KeyForDEX educational and analytical project and a researcher of decentralized finance. He has been in the crypto industry since 2017, starting out as the author of one of the most popular Russian-language channels covering ICO project analytics.

With the onset of the "DeFi summer" of 2020, he focused entirely on on-chain economics. As a thoughtful degen (a hands-on smart contract researcher), Maxim personally tests yield farming strategies and protocol behavior across various networks. He was among the pioneers exploring liquidity pools on Yearn, Curve, Convex, Alchemix and Abracadabra, managing sizable portfolios (notably SPELL/MIM).

The defining feature of Maxim's approach is the "skin in the game" principle. He does not rehash other people's news; he writes long-form technical breakdowns based on his own transactions. Maxim repeatedly uncovered exploits, contract logic bugs and tokenomics vulnerabilities on emerging EVM networks (Fantom, Harmony, Moonriver, Aurora) before they became widely known.

Today at KeyForDEX, Maxim runs the process of independent audits of decentralized exchanges, ensuring that traders receive data on real slippage, fees and protection against MEV bots — verified in practice.

Areas of Expertise