Max Kei Speaking at PlanB Forum Lugano
Debifi CEO Max Kei will speak at on October 24-25, joining Pascal Eberle from for "Building 21st Century Banking: Better, Bolder, Bitcoin" at 5:30 PM on the 24th. The panel asks a question Kei has spent seven years answering in code: what does banking look like when you start with Bitcoin's security model instead of retrofitting it onto legacy finance?
From Private Banking to Bitcoin Infrastructure
Kei's path gives him a particular lens on this conversation. After ten years managing client assets in traditional finance, he left banking in late 2015 after a client demonstrated a $15,000 cross-border bitcoin transaction that took seconds. What seemed insane initially became obvious after research—Bitcoin wasn't just different money, it was different infrastructure.
By 2017, Kei was building in the Bitcoin space. He's since survived multiple bear markets while developing noncustodial peer-to-peer bitcoin-backed lending infrastructure, earning endorsements from Preston Pysh (now a Strategic Advisor to Debifi) and cypherpunk Adam Back. When financial institutions started seeking bitcoin-backed lending solutions, Kei recognized they needed purpose-built infrastructure. Debifi launched in March 2024 as that solution.
Why 3-of-4 Multisig Changes the Security Model
Debifi's core differentiator is its 3-of-4 multisig setup. Most platforms use 2-of-3 multisig: borrower, lender, and platform each hold one key, requiring two signatures to move bitcoin. Debifi adds a fourth key held by an independent institution. Three signatures are still required for any transaction, but now an attacker would need to compromise three separate entities instead of two.
The borrower's key lives on their mobile device—Debifi supports hardware wallets. The lender holds their key. Debifi and the independent institution hold the remaining two. No single party can move the bitcoin unilaterally.
Why Noncustodial Architecture Matters
The collateral stays in a multisig escrow address throughout the loan lifecycle—verifiable on-chain, enforced by Bitcoin's scripting capabilities, not by legal agreements or trust. Kei's team surveyed 300 bitcoiners: custodial loans at 8% or noncustodial at 11-12%? 91% chose noncustodial despite higher rates.
That preference reflects learned experience. BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager all filed for bankruptcy in 2022, locking up billions in customer bitcoin. Debifi's architecture makes those failure modes impossible—not because the team is more trustworthy, but because the bitcoin never leaves cryptographic control. The security model doesn't depend on Debifi being honest. It depends on three-of-four signatures and Bitcoin's native scripting.
Building Infrastructure for Institutional Bitcoin Lending
Kei now believes banks won't disappear in a Bitcoin future—they'll become infrastructure providers. Debifi operates as exactly that: infrastructure connecting lenders with borrowers seeking bitcoin-backed loans while maintaining noncustodial security.
The platform handles key management, dispute resolution, and loan coordination while keeping bitcoin under cryptographic control rather than custodial control.
The Question for Lugano
The "Building 21st Century Banking" panel happens at 5:30 PM on October 24th at PlanB Forum—fitting location given Lugano's positioning as Europe's Bitcoin hub through the Plan B initiative. Kei will be discussing infrastructure his team has built and battle-tested through bear markets. Debifi's noncustodial model proves institutional bitcoin lending works without custodial risk. The industry's choice: build on Bitcoin's security guarantees or repeat 2022's failures. Event details: https://planb.lugano.ch/planb-forum/