Ulys ships consumer-grade DeFi, and an engineering team that builds AI-native by default
How Nearform built the platform behind Ulys's January 2026 launch while embedding Claude Code across Ulys's own engineering team, so the pace held after we stepped back
Decentralised finance holds enormous potential, but it has never been easy to use, and that keeps most people out. Ulys set out to change that with a crypto app that feels as simple as a consumer banking app. Nearform partnered with Ulys to build the foundational platform, and to leave behind an engineering team that could keep building at the same pace on its own.
The challenge: two problems, one timeline
Ulys was founded to democratise access to crypto and DeFi, bringing the simplicity of consumer finance to the opportunity of decentralised investing. Making that real meant clearing the barriers that have kept DeFi a niche for technical users:
- Wallet and key management that is opaque and intimidating for non-technical users
- Gas fees that make every transaction unpredictable
- Cross-chain investing across ecosystems that are incompatible by design
- Onboarding and KYC processes that are fragmented and poorly designed
The second challenge was internal. Ulys had a capable engineering but lean team and an ambitious roadmap. They knew AI-assisted development could change what a team that size can deliver. They had also seen what usually happens when AI coding tools are rolled out: a handful of enthusiasts adopt them, everyone else carries on as before, and the promised productivity never reaches the whole team.
Ulys needed a production-grade platform on a tight timeline, and an engineering organisation that would still move fast once that platform had shipped.
Why Nearform?
Ulys needed a partner that could move quickly without cutting corners in a regulated, high-trust market. Nearform's track record includes Travelex's mobile money transfer experience and critical public health tooling for a national government, alongside work for professional services clients where confidentiality is non-negotiable.
Just as important was how we work. As an Anthropic partner, Nearform builds AI-native, with Claude Code at the centre of how our senior engineers design, build and test. Ulys wanted that capability delivered into their own team, not just a platform delivered to them.
The solution: a platform that makes DeFi feel familiar
We designed and built the back end of a platform that simplifies the entire customer journey, from sign-up and KYC through to active DeFi investment across multiple blockchain networks, in a single interface.
| Feature | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Intuitive user experience | An interface that makes DeFi approachable for mainstream users by stripping out the intimidating complexity of blockchain interactions. |
| Non-custodial MPC wallets | Cryptographic security without the burden of managing private keys. Users have ownership of their assets, and no single party controls the system. |
| TradFi on/off ramp | Frictionless movement of funds between bank accounts and DeFi, lowering the barrier to entry and supporting long-term engagement |
| Seamless cross-chain trading | Invest and trade across multiple blockchains from one interface, with routing handled invisibly. |
| Gas-free transactions | Smart contract account abstraction removes gas fees from the user experience entirely. |
Building alongside Ulys: making AI-native the default
We didn't build Ulys's platform in a separate room and hand it over. Over the course of the project, Nearform's AI-native delivery pod worked side by side with Ulys's engineers in the same codebase, ceremonies and review process. The aim was for Claude Code to become how the whole team worked, not something a few people used.
Phase one: build together. Nearform engineers led the core architecture while pairing with Ulys developers on real delivery work. Together we built the working foundations for AI-native development: shared Claude Code conventions, project context that gave Claude a deep understanding of the Ulys domain, and reusable workflows for common tasks such as writing tests, integrating new protocols and reviewing changes.
Phase two: hand over the lead. Ulys engineers took the lead on new features while Nearform worked alongside them. As each workflow proved itself, it was codified and shared so that every engineer, not just the early adopters, worked the same way.
Phase three: step back. Ulys's team owned delivery end to end, and Nearform moved into a review and coaching role. By handover, Claude Code was the default for the entire team.
The trust stack made speed safe. In a product that moves people's money, AI-generated code has to be held to a higher standard, not a lower one. Alongside the tech stack, we introduced a trust stack: layered governance across the SDLC that catches obvious issues automatically, checks that each change does what it was meant to do, validates behaviour through automated testing, and keeps a clear chain of human accountability for every change that reaches production. Ulys's engineers inherited that governance as part of how they build, so moving faster never meant accepting more risk.
The results
A production platform, launched
Ulys launched publicly in January 2026, delivering on its vision of making decentralised investing as intuitive as modern consumer banking.
- Rapid user adoption from day one, driven by frictionless onboarding
- Multi-chain investing made available to mainstream users
- Major sources of friction removed, including gas fees and cross-chain complexity
- A reusable platform foundation that now underpins Ulys's product strategy
An engineering team transformed
The more lasting result is how Ulys builds today.
- Platform to public launch in months, not years. A lean pod, working alongside Ulys, delivered a multi-chain DeFi platform on a timeline that would typically require a far larger team.
- AI-native across the whole team. Claude Code is used by every Ulys engineer, not a few early adopters.
- Quality built in, not bolted on. Comprehensive automated test coverage was part of every feature from the start, not a backlog of gaps to close later.
- Pace that held after handover. Ulys has kept shipping at the rhythm set during the engagement, without Nearform in the room.
- Faster expansion. Integrating new chains and protocols, once a major engineering effort, is now a routine and repeatable workflow.
What’s your mission?
Ulys shows what a lean, AI-native partnership can deliver in a regulated, high-stakes market: a production-grade platform, and a team that keeps building at that level on its own. By combining senior engineers, Claude Code and rigorous governance, we accelerated delivery without trading away security or quality, and left the capability behind.
The right engineering partner doesn't just write code. They build the foundation that makes everything you do next possible, and they make sure your team can take it from there. Building modern financial systems in the age of AI? Talk to us about what's possible.
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