Ashton Barger

Amitej is a seasoned entrepreneur and Web3 visionary with a proven track record of building and scaling successful ventures. As the Co-founder of Kelp and KernelDAO, he has played a pivotal role in establishing it as a leader in the restaking ecosystem. Kelp, one of KernelDAO’s key products, was among the first platforms to introduce ETH restaking and now stands as a top protocol with $2B+ in TVL and 40+ DeFi integrations, setting benchmarks in decentralized infrastructure.Before this, Amitej co-founded Stader Labs, where he built a liquid staking ecosystem that grew to $400M+ in TVL, securing its place as a leader in staking solutions.His professional foundation includes impactful roles at Swiggy, one of India’s leading food tech platforms, and Kearney, a global management consultancy, where he developed deep expertise in strategy, operations, and scaling systems.Amitej’s entrepreneurial vision, technical acumen, and strategic insights have made him a sought-after thought leader on topics such as restaking, DeFi, and decentralized ecosystem growth.