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Skip Protocol
Skip Protocol is a technical family office building Cosmos SDK infrastructure and validator operations across Amsterdam, New York, and London.
Skip Protocol
Skip Protocol emerged as a technically native family office built around the open-source Cosmos ecosystem. The firm functions primarily as a core infrastructure contributor and validator, a structure that separates it from the fund-of-funds and direct-equity models typical of European family offices. Its work centers on the Cosmos SDK, the modular toolkit for sovereign application-specific blockchains, and CometBFT, the underlying consensus algorithm. Rather than deploying institutional capital into limited partner fund commitments, Skip distributes its resources through protocol engineering, validator operations, and governance participation across interchain networks. Its known technical outputs include contributions to the Skip:Connect oracle system and the Skip:Select auction mechanism, which restructure block-construction incentives to mitigate maximal extractable value extraction. The firm's team operates a publicly known validator node securing Cosmos Hub and multiple consumer chains, generating yield from staking rewards rather than traditional carried interest. The multi-jurisdictional structure provides the foundation for Skip's adjacent product entity, Skip Labs, which raised a $6.5M seed round in 2022 led by Framework Ventures (per public record). Core contributor Maghnus Mareneck represents the firm in governance forums and developer summits. The New York office provides a bridge to US-based protocol foundations and venture co-investors, while Amsterdam anchors the European engineering unit. Formal headcount and aggregate family asset values remain undisclosed. Skip's structural differentiator is its hybrid model: a single-family pool of capital that seeds protocol revenues and validator income alongside a venture-backed software subsidiary. This arrangement allows patient, illiquid exposure to Cosmos-native assets through block-reward accrual while the Labs entity captures equity upside independently. The separation of staking returns and venture equity creates a non-rivalrous capital structure uncommon among crypto-native funds.
General information
Firm type
Single Family Office
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Netherlands
City
Amsterdam
Corporate office
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Additional offices
New York, NY, United States · London, United Kingdom
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What does Skip Protocol actually build?
Skip contributes to two core areas of Cosmos infrastructure. The first is the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus layer, where its engineers maintain open-source code used by app-chain networks. The second is block-construction tooling — specifically the Skip:Select auction system and Skip:Connect oracle — both aimed at redistributing maximal extractable value back to validators and delegators rather than searchers. These products operate as public infrastructure within the interchain.
How does Skip Protocol generate returns as an investment vehicle?
Skip earns yield through validator staking rewards on chains where it runs a node, including Cosmos Hub and select consumer chains. Unlike a conventional family office that allocates to external fund managers, Skip invests its engineering resources as a form of capital deployment — building and maintaining protocol infrastructure in exchange for block rewards, airdrop allocations, and governance influence. The yield model is fundamentally different from venture capital carried interest.
What is the relationship between Skip Protocol and Skip Labs?
Skip Protocol serves as the family capital and infrastructure arm, holding validator keys and staking positions. Skip Labs is a separate for-profit entity that raised a $6.5M seed round in 2022 from Framework Ventures (per public record). Skip Labs develops the software products, while Skip Protocol retains the on-chain positions. This structure keeps staking returns segregated from the equity that venture backers hold in Labs.
Who leads technical and investment decisions at Skip Protocol?
Core contributor Maghnus Mareneck is the most publicly visible operator, representing Skip at Cosmos governance forums and developer conferences. However, the firm does not publicly disclose a formal management committee, CIO, or family principal. Skip operates with a software-company organizational culture rather than a titled fund manager structure, making traditional attribution of investment-decision authority difficult from public sources.
Is Skip Protocol a single family office or a crypto-native venture firm?
Skip Protocol is a single family office in structure, but it does not operate like a typical allocator. It deploys family capital through validator operations and protocol contributions rather than making fund commitments, equity buys, or real-asset acquisitions. A separate venture-funded Labs unit captures software upside, leaving the family office side with pure staking and network-ownership exposure — a configuration designed for crypto-native sovereignties rather than traditional LP optionality.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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