Bankless · Thursday, July 2, 2026
Ian DeBode, CEO of Ondo Finance, paid tribute to the company's co-founder, Nathan Allman, who recently passed away. DeBode described Allman as an exceptional founder with a prescient vision for the future of tokenized assets, who laid the groundwork for Ondo's current product roadmap. He emphasized Allman's humility and brilliance, and shared that his mother encouraged the team to 'keep two feet on the gas pedal' to honor his legacy.
“Oh, yeah. I mean, it's a huge loss. Nathan was the guy who started it all. He was the one who also got me into the space, at least within Ando. But I remember meeting him about three years ago. And everything that I'm talking about now, he had already laid out. He knew exactly where the space was going. So, yeah.”
“He will be dearly missed. He was an exceptional founder. He had the most, you know, his product vision of everything that could happen is happening. He was incredibly prescient. But the weirdest thing about him was that his brilliance was really only matched by his humility. He was incredibly humble because he also then realized that that you never know what happens, particularly in crypto. So he always wanted to hear from others what they thought to make sure that his own assumptions were always pressure tested. So he will be very much missed. He was an exceptional person, not just an exceptional founder.”
“But the one thing she also said to us and the entire team was, Ian, two feet on the gas pedal. Because she understands there's no time to lose, right? Everyone and their mother is getting into tokenized stocks and perps. So there really is no time to lose. So everyone at the team is extraordinarily motivated to make his vision come to life, to make him proud, and to make Ando the best it can be.”