Titan CEO Chris Chung Calls on Crypto Industry to Establish Ethical Norms Through Social Consensus

Chris Chung, CEO and co-founder of DEX aggregator Titan, has called for the crypto industry to establish ethical norms through social consensus

Chris Chung, CEO and co-founder of DEX aggregator Titan, has called for the crypto industry to establish ethical norms through social consensus, especially in response to controversies involving political fundraising via meme coins and token launches.

In an interview with Benzinga, Chung highlighted the importance of community-driven standards to maintain integrity in the rapidly evolving sector, while also sharing insights on the future of decentralized exchanges, stablecoin legislation and the role of blockchain in financial markets.

Pointing to the backlash following the Libra fiasco as an example of the crypto community’s ability to self-regulate, Chung said: “I think ethical considerations are social ones—if people react strongly against a certain thing, everybody really quickly understands what the line is.”

This collective response, he said, is crucial for setting boundaries on acceptable practices in token launches, marketing and other areas that have sparked controversy.

“You actually need a government for physical enforcement of laws if you want to codify something more. Crypto enforcement is basically social enforcement,” Chung added.

His comments come amid a decline in retail investor interest, driven by significant losses in meme coins like Trump TRUMP/USD and Melania MELANIA/USD, which have contributed to a broader drop in trading volumes, as noted by research firms like Standard Chartered.

However, Chung sees a silver lining in the meme coin frenzy, particularly for Solana-based platforms like Titan.

However, Chung sees a silver lining in the meme coin frenzy, particularly for Solana-based platforms like Titan.

“Although meme coin volume has dropped, it made the blockchain itself develop the infrastructure to handle that much volume,” Chung explained.

He noted that Solana’s SOL/USD trading volumes have increased fivefold compared to last year, reaching $40 to $50 billion last month despite a mini bear market, while Bitcoin’s BTC/USD daily trading volume hovers around $30 billion.

Solana’s platform has been able to handle these astronomical trading amounts, which began spiking last year with the rise of meme coins and retail interest in crypto.

Titan, a Solana meta-DEX aggregator, has already launched on mainnet and is currently in private beta, with a couple hundred users providing feedback on live trades.

Chung plans to make the platform fully public in the coming months, focusing on infrastructure upgrades to handle growing demand.

Chung plans to make the platform fully public in the coming months, focusing on infrastructure upgrades to handle growing demand.

He highlighted Titan’s unique position in the market, noting that it aggregates quotes from other Solana DEX aggregators like Jupiter JUP/USD and Deepflow, while also using its proprietary algorithm, Talos, which boasts an 80% win rate against competitors.

He highlighted Titan’s unique position in the market, noting that it aggregates quotes from other Solana DEX aggregators like Jupiter JUP/USD and Deepflow, while also using its proprietary algorithm, Talos, which boasts an 80% win rate against competitors.

“The combination of having our own algorithm plus aggregating others is really what makes Titan unique,” he said.

In the broader DeFi landscape, Chung expressed optimism about the potential impact of stablecoin legislation, particularly with the U.S. Senate advancing a bill in March 2025 and President Trump pushing a pro-crypto agenda.

In the broader DeFi landscape, Chung expressed optimism about the potential impact of stablecoin legislation, particularly with the U.S. Senate advancing a bill in March 2025 and President Trump pushing a pro-crypto agenda.

He believes clearer regulations could bring more institutional capital into DeFi markets.

He believes clearer regulations could bring more institutional capital into DeFi markets.

“If more of these institutions come on the chain, that means a lot more dollars, a lot more stablecoins have been minted,” Chung noted, although he cautioned that DEXs must address liquidity fragmentation among stablecoins to maintain market efficiency.

Chung also discussed the role of zero-knowledge (ZK) technology and :Layer-2 (L2) solutions in driving DeFi growth.

While he believes ZK tech needs to mature before it can be widely implemented, he finds its potential applications—like on-chain dark pools and independently verifiable data—fascinating.

While he believes ZK tech needs to mature before it can be widely implemented, he finds its potential applications—like on-chain dark pools and independently verifiable data—fascinating.

Regarding L2s, he noted the ongoing debate between monolithic L1 chains like Solana and Ethereum’s ETH/USD L2 roadmap, pointing out that Solana’s concentrated volume suggests user preference for a single-chain ecosystem.

Despite the current market challenges, including a mini bear market for Bitcoin and major altcoins like Solana and BNB BNB/USD, Chung remains confident in DeFi’s long-term potential.

He believes innovations in on-chain derivatives, such as options and perpetual futures, could mark a maturity moment for the sector, although he cautioned that the crowded perp DEX space may struggle to sustain new entrants without significant differentiation.