Across from a seedy 7-Eleven and around the corner from a Victorian-style municipal hall in central Salt Lake City, Utah, Solana developers flock for a month-long coding retreat: mtnDAO.

“GM,” the builders crowed to each tired face that shuffled into The Shop – this hacker house’s upscale coworking space – on a recent Monday morning. “Are you skiing later today?” one arrival asked Barrett, the ringleader who rips Snowbird ski resort when he’s not building software to trade tokens that centralized exchanges don’t touch. (Barrett asked not to be referred to by his full name.)

“Nah,” Barrett replied. His team at Cypher had just launched version three of its on-chain trading software and the behind-the-scenes needed a little risk tuning. “We’ve got some degenerates on the platform already,” he said a little later to a passerby.

Besides, he said, the midweek snow forecast for Little Cottonwood Canyon looked absolutely delectable: 60 inches! Better to frontload the backend work to make room for powder heaven. “I have been known to get up there and get inverted from time to time,” he explained.