Nic Lin

Protocol Researcher | Smart Contract Engineer

👋 Hi, I’m Nic Lin — a protocol researcher and smart contract engineer focused on L2s, MEV, and secure protocol design. I’ve worked on core infrastructure in the Ethereum ecosystem, including account abstraction, rollups, and MEV-aware DEXs. I publish research-backed insights, contribute to open-source tooling, and speak at global Ethereum conferences. Currently exploring new frontiers in universal account, L1/L2 interoperability and censorship resistance.

Curriculum Vitae

Work Experiences

Protocol research, security, and smart contract engineering.

Puffer Finance

Project Lead • Jun 2025 — Present

Led development of UniFi Based Rollup, which supports instant withdrawals via TEE proofs and achieves L1↔L2 synchronous composability through Signal Service
Designed Puffer Preconf AVS, which provides crypto-economic transaction preconfirmations for L2s

Ethereum Support Program & Independent Projects

Protocol Researcher (Independent / Grants) • 2020 — Present

Built a Force Inclusion SDK to help users bypass censorship on L2s; delivered grant-supported research and implementation for the Ethereum ecosystem
Developed an anonymous reputation system using zero-knowledge proofs to support Sybil-resistant identities
Published 30+ technical articles explaining complex Ethereum mechanics, from ERC-4337 to bridging and MEV
Presented research and engineering talks at events including Devcon, ETHTaipei, COSCUP, and various community meetups

imToken / Tokenlon

Senior Protocol Engineer, imToken Labs • Nov. 2020 — Jun. 2025

Designed and shipped Account Abstraction (AA) smart contracts for imToken, introducing modular architecture, custom recovery mechanisms and novel validation centric design
Led integration of Order Flow Auctions across multiple chains, increasing MEV protection for DEX users and generating new revenue streams
Researched and implemented MEV prevention and mitigation strategies
Conducted security evaluations of rollups like OP Stack, Arbitrum, StarkNet, and ZKsync; identified safety gaps in force inclusion mechanisms

Ethereum Foundation

Blockchain Engineer • Jul. 2017 — Jan. 2020

Contributed to early Eth 2.0 designs and specifications
Implemented the concept of ERC-2938 (Native Account Abstraction) through prototyping and technical exploration, contributing to its feasibility and design refinement
Participated in protocol discussions and community R&D efforts

Featured Writings

Selected long-form research and explainers.

Validation Centric Design for AA wallet

Account Abstraction • Wallet design

Presents a validation-centric architecture for ERC-4337 wallets that balances developer agility with strong security guarantees.

Read article

EIP-4844 Proto-Danksharding (Part 1 & Part 2)

EIP-4844 • Data availability

Breaks down the economics and mechanics of EIP-4844, from blob fee markets to how rollups inherit cheaper data availability.

Part 1 Part 2

Data Availability Sampling series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Rollup security • Sampling

Explores how data availability sampling secures rollups, covering protocol intuition, math, and practical implementation details.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

MEV, MEV protection and MEV-aware design (Series 1–7)

MEV • Order flow • Auctions

Multi-part deep dive into MEV, explaining extraction vectors and patterns for MEV-aware protocol and product design.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Featured Talks

Conference and workshop presentations.

Validation Centric Design: agile and safe development for devs, an interchangeable AA wallet for users

ETHTaipei 2025

Presented a novel validation-centric design for Account Abstraction wallets, emphasizing interchangeable wallet modules and safer upgrade paths.

Slide Recording

Supercharging EOA with EIP-7702

imToken Internal Sharing 2024

Explained how EIP-7702 can enhance EOAs with smart account-like capabilities and what it means for wallet UX and security.

Slide

What is OFA and why should you care

ETHTaipei 2024

Introduced Order Flow Auctions (OFA) to wallet and dApp developers, covering mechanisms, incentives, and user protection benefits.

Slide Recording

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction workshops

DappLearning Online Workshop 2023

Hands-on workshop walking through the ERC-4337 workflow, highlighting common integration pitfalls and best practices.

Slide Recording

Projects

Selected protocol and tooling projects.

Force Inclusion SDK

Ethereum Support Program Grant • 2024

Developed a Force Inclusion SDK to help wallets implement censorship resistance on rollups like Optimism and Arbitrum
Built a frontend interface allowing users to force-include their transactions if censored
Delivered comprehensive research on how various L2s implement force inclusion mechanisms and their edge cases
Published implementation guides and SDK docs to support adoption by wallet developers

Uncensored Book

ZK-Based Anonymous Reputation System

Ethereum Support Program Grant • 2020

Designed and implemented a privacy-preserving reputation system using zero-knowledge proofs
Enabled Sybil-resistant interactions without compromising user anonymity, useful for voting, signaling, or access control
Prototyped credential issuance and verification flows with Solidity contracts and frontend integration

GitHub