DeFi Quant Research Intern (Digital Assets Market Making) - Brussels

The role

You will research on-chain market structure and support the development of data-driven trading strategies. This involves analyzing blockchain and market data, testing hypotheses through backtesting, and building research tooling.

What you will do

• Research on-chain market structure by analysing liquidity, price formation, participant behaviour and execution
• Study how protocol mechanics, transaction ordering, gas, slippage, latency and MEV affect execution quality
• Formulate trading hypotheses and evaluate them using blockchain data, market data, backtests and simulations
• Build reusable Python tools and data pipelines for research, monitoring and performance analysis
• Analyse relationships between centralized and decentralized markets
• Support live strategies through monitoring, post-trade analysis and investigation of unexpected performance
• Present findings clearly, including assumptions, limitations, risks and recommended next steps

Required qualifications

• Pursuing or recently completed a degree in mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, quantitative finance or a related field
• Proficient in Python for data analysis
• Comfortable with SQL, Git and command-line workflows
• Understand transactions, state changes, gas, blocks, consensus and finality at a working level
• Can reason about how smart-contract interactions execute on-chain
• Understand AMMs, concentrated liquidity, swaps, liquidity provision, oracles and liquidations
• Understand how decentralized execution differs from a centralized order book
• Understand how transaction ordering and block construction create arbitrage, liquidation, backrunning and sandwiching opportunities or risks
• Have used DeFi beyond coursework or social media
• Can structure an ambiguous problem, test assumptions and communicate findings and limitations clearly in English

Nice to have

• Experience querying blockchain data through RPCs, indexers, subgraphs or analytics platforms
• Ability to read Solidity, contract interfaces and event logs
• Exposure to Rust or another systems programming language
• Familiarity with non-EVM ecosystems or Layer 2 execution models
• A technical project demonstrating sustained interest in DeFi or on-chain markets

Benefits

• 6 month paid internship
• Accommodation provided for entirety or part of it
• Opportunity to learn about digital assets and blockchain from a 30,000 ft view
• Working from one of Brussels newest, nicest and most advanced office spaces
• Global, collaborative and tech-driven environment
• Autonomy and impact within a flat structure

Before you apply

• Application deadline: 30 November 2026
• Interview with Talent Acquisition representative
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Recruitment Challenge
• Background checks are a prerequisite

About the company

Keyrock is a global, remote-first team of 200+ people providing liquidity across 80+ centralized and decentralized exchanges. They run a full spectrum of capital markets businesses including market making, high-frequency trading, and asset management.