Declan Hannon is an experienced strategic partnerships leader with over a decade of commercial expertise spanning product development and go-to-market execution. He is currently Vice President of Growth at Aurora, where he drives expansion through strategic partnerships and enterprise business development. Declan has a proven track record of guiding innovative products from early-stage concepts to full commercial maturity. Before joining Aurora, he led global strategic partnerships at Revolut, Europe’s most valuable challenger bank, and held senior roles at Epos Now, the UK’s largest point-of-sale provider. Known for his results-driven approach, Declan has consistently delivered exceptional outcomes for clients and partners across both web2 and web3 industries.
I’ve found that most people involved in crypto have a wacky backstory for how they got into the industry. What’s yours?
I started out in traditional fintech — point-of-sale systems and payments. At Revolut, I led global business development and worked on some of their early crypto offerings.
We launched a tool that let business accounts buy and hold crypto, and the demand for it, especially around DeFi, really pulled me in. After that, I joined Coincover, which focused on crypto asset security. Lost funds were a huge issue at the time, and Coincover built recovery tools, including a controversial ledger recovery product. But even then, it felt like one foot was still in web2. Joining Aurora was my first proper step into web3. What really drew me was the mission to make blockchain more accessible.
Aurora spun out of NEAR, didn’t it? right?
That’s right. NEAR wasn’t compatible with Ethereum by default, so Aurora was launched in 2021 to bridge that gap.
It lets Ethereum-based projects run on NEAR’s infrastructure using horizontal sharding to scale.
So Aurora is technically a layer 2 network on NEAR?
Exactly.
What exactly is a virtual chain?
It’s essentially a smart contract that functions like a blockchain. You can think of it as the most advanced smart contract in the world.
Through Aurora Cloud, a project can spin up its own chain in about 30 seconds, with no need for validators, oracles, or complex setup. It’s fully packaged and abstracts all the difficult bits.
And those chains settle on NEAR?
Exactly. They sit alongside Aurora Mainnet and use NEAR’s sharded infrastructure for settlement. So you get scalability without having to build another layer on top.
Who’s using these virtual chains?
Two main types of projects. Web2 teams who want to avoid blockchain complexity, and web3-native projects looking for speed and control.
Each chain is isolated, so you’re not competing for throughput like on shared rollups. It’s like having your own motorway, not just a lane.
How does value flow through Aurora’s ecosystem?
We’re more focused on sustainability than raw scale. Chains need to be productive, not just numerous. Virtual chains offer low, fixed fees and scale horizontally.
We also support interoperable chains with shared liquidity to keep the ecosystem connected.
How does the NEAR Intents multiDEX fit into all this?
It makes multichain swaps simple. You don’t need a wallet, just a passkey or FaceID. Virtual chains can list tokens and plug into shared liquidity pools, allowing for smooth cross-chain swaps between networks like Solana, Bitcoin, and Aurora.
How do projects like PipeFlare and PowerGold end up on Aurora?
It’s a mix of inbound interest, hackathons, events, and partnerships, like with NEAR and Hacken.
PipeFlare needed fast finality for its gaming audience, and PowerGold needed permissioned access and tools for fractionalised renewable energy investments. We build around each project’s needs.
What’s the difference in working with web2 and web3 teams?
Web3 teams usually move quickly and have clear priorities — it’s very product-driven.
Web2 clients are more cautious. They’ve got legacy systems and often need more support, so we offer pilots, proofs of concept, and a hands-on onboarding process.
You’ve got a goal of reaching 1,000 virtual chains in 2025. How do you measure success?
It’s not just about the number. A dormant chain doesn’t help anyone.
We look at “productive TVL”. This is capital that’s active and generating value. We also track user growth, transaction volumes, and engagement across our stack, like Aurora Wallet, Aurora+, and NEAR Intents.
What’s been the biggest hurdle so far?
Convincing teams that our solution really is as simple and low-cost as we say. People expect blockchain to be complicated. So education is huge.
And we’ve had to adapt fast to support trends like gaming, AI, and real-world assets.
Any new developments in the pipeline?
Yes, we’re about to launch a marketplace for all virtual chains. We’ve got over 140 chains and 500+ registered teams already.
The marketplace will offer services like legal, marketing, tokenomics, cloud hosting, and GPU access. Think of it like an App Store for chains. It gives teams what they need, and providers a platform to be discovered.
Sounds like a big step for the ecosystem.
It is. Partners are already lining up. It’s good for everyone. Teams get trusted services, providers get visibility, and we build stronger, more successful chains.
What are you bullish on beyond Aurora?
Bitcoin. With ETFs and clearer regulation, it’s becoming more relevant. We’ve just added it as a base token for virtual chains.
There are over 75 Bitcoin L2s now being built, so it’s finally becoming usable, not just an idle asset. I think we’ll see it powering real-world apps soon.