---
title: "Blockdaemon MCP Gateway Case Study | Zuplo"
description: "Blockdaemon uses Zuplo MCP Gateway to connect AI agents to financial tools with authentication, controlled tool access, rate limits, and a record of each call."
canonicalUrl: "https://zuplo.com/customers/blockdaemon"
pageType: "customer"
companyName: "Blockdaemon"
companyUrl: "https://www.blockdaemon.com"
---

# Blockdaemon connects AI agents to financial tools with Zuplo MCP Gateway

> Blockdaemon uses Zuplo MCP Gateway to launch financial tools for AI agents with authentication, access controls, and audit logs in place. Its API management work with Zuplo also delivered a 90% reduction in hardware nodes, 70% lower gateway costs, and improved global performance.

## About Blockdaemon

![Blockdaemon](https://zuplo.com/logos/blockdaemon.svg)

Blockdaemon provides blockchain infrastructure for customers including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Plaid, and J.P. Morgan. It processes billions of API calls per month and handles petabytes of bandwidth. Its decentralized finance (DeFi) API provides access to financial services built on blockchain networks, including token exchanges, lending, and staking, across more than 30 networks.

[Visit Blockdaemon](https://www.blockdaemon.com)

### Key Numbers

| Metric | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Financial tools | 180+ |
| Fewer nodes | 90% |
| Cost reduction | 70% |

## Launching MCP tools and scaling global APIs

Blockdaemon wanted to bring its financial APIs to AI assistants quickly, with confidence that its MCP server was secure and observable. Its engineers needed to control who could connect, which tools they could use, and how to trace each call. Building and maintaining those systems in-house would take time away from developing financial tools.

Blockdaemon also wanted to give customers a consistent way to connect from their preferred AI clients. Its MCP server provides that interface; Blockdaemon uses Zuplo to control access to the service.

For its public APIs, Blockdaemon had also faced costs and regional latency that limited global growth. Its reliance on Apigee, fragmented gateways, and separate APIs made the service harder to manage and secure. Customers had to manage multiple API keys per product.

Blockdaemon needed a flexible, multi-region gateway with fine-grained security, programmable policies, and dynamic routing for real-time blockchain transactions. It also required access to gateway data to power its internal billing engine.

### Pain Points

- **Authenticated access** — Identify callers before they reach financial tools.
- **Tool access controls** — Choose which tools an agent can use.
- **Audit logs** — Record what was called and who called it.
- **Repeated integration work** — Connect AI clients through a common MCP interface.
- **Regional latency** — Support growth in the APAC and EU regions.
- **Inconsistent API experience** — Give customers a consistent way to access APIs.
- **API management** — Manage routing, policies, and billing data in one place.
- **API gateway costs** — Reduce the high add-on costs of Apigee.

## Zuplo handles MCP access and API management

Blockdaemon built the DeFi MCP Server to make its financial APIs available as tools for AI assistants. Agents can search more than 180 tools to find the one they need. Zuplo MCP Gateway sits in front of the server to enforce access policies and record tool calls.

Zuplo MCP Gateway reduced the infrastructure work Blockdaemon had to take on before launch. Its engineers could focus on financial tools with authentication, access controls, and tool-call logging in place. Rate limits and prompt-injection screening also run at the gateway.

For API management, Blockdaemon chose Zuplo after evaluating Kong and similar providers. Zuplo met its requirements for a gateway that could run close to customers, route requests between services, and give customers one place to connect.

Zuplo lowered Blockdaemon's gateway costs, and running it in multiple regions reduced latency. Programmable policies and dynamic routing gave Blockdaemon control over traffic, and access to gateway data supported its billing integration.

Ryan Waites, Senior Director at Blockdaemon, described the engineering experience: "Our engineers absolutely love working with Zuplo and compete for tickets to work with it."

### What Zuplo Provides

- Authentication: check who is connecting before requests reach the MCP server.
- Tool access: choose which tools agents can use without rebuilding the financial tools.
- Audit logs: record which tools were called and who called them.
- Traffic controls: limit repeated calls and screen MCP traffic for prompt injection.

> Our customers adopt what they can audit, so agent access had to ship with authentication, curation, and logging enforced at the gateway from the first request.
>
> — **Varun Gyanchandani**, Director of Engineering, Blockdaemon

## Results

| Metric | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Remote MCP endpoint | 1 |
| Tool call logged | Every |
| Fewer nodes | 90% |
| Cost reduction | 70% |
| Reach | Global |
| Reliability | ↑ |

### Financial tools in developers' AI clients

Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and Codex connect to the same remote MCP endpoint. Developers can use financial tools across more than 30 blockchain networks, including token exchange quotes, lending positions, and staking rewards.

### Tool calls Blockdaemon can audit

Zuplo MCP Gateway records which tools agents call and who made each request. Blockdaemon can review that activity without building its own logging system.

### 90% reduction in hardware nodes

Within two months of implementing Zuplo for API management, Blockdaemon migrated critical systems and reduced hardware nodes by 90%, lowering infrastructure costs and simplifying maintenance.

### 70% lower API gateway costs

The API gateway migration reduced gateway costs by 70% compared with Blockdaemon's previous solution.

### Expansion into new regions

Running Zuplo close to customers helped Blockdaemon expand in the APAC and EU regions, where latency had previously limited growth.

### Improved reliability and customer experience

Blockdaemon's API infrastructure became more reliable, giving customers more consistent performance and less downtime.

## Bring your APIs to AI agents with Zuplo MCP Gateway

Give agents access to your tools with authentication, tool access controls, rate limits, and audit logs managed at the gateway.