6 Questions For…

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Andrew Levine, CEO of Koinos Group, which is focused on accelerating the transition to a more decentralized future by helping entrepreneurial developers, entrepreneurs and enterprises build disruptive blockchain-based solutions.

Andrew leads a team of industry veterans accelerating decentralization through accessible blockchain technology. Their foundational product is Koinos, a feeless blockchain with infinite upgradeability and a proof-of-burn consensus.

1 What kind of consolidation do you expect to see in the crypto industry in 2022?

There are too many general-purpose blockchains that are effectively competing with Ethereum (and one another) in a race to the bottom on fees. Only so many of them can survive.

2 If the world is getting a new currency, will it be led by CBDCs, a permissionless blockchain like Bitcoin, or a permissioned chain such as Diem?

CBDCs, in the eyes of many, will combine the best of both worlds: the internet-nativeness of cryptocurrencies and the confidence of state-backed assets (and their military might). If the world is going to get one currency, then the odds are it will be a state-backed currency (a CBDC). If the world is going to get many currencies, then people will have many options on the spectrum between permissionless and permissioned.

3 Do you subscribe to the idea of Bitcoin as a means of payment, as a store-of-value, as both… or as neither?

I do not. It is the on-ramp into the crypto economy as a result of its age and the depth of its markets, and it is the flight-to-safety asset people use when they lose confidence in more speculative crypto assets.

4 Does it matter if we ever figure out who Satoshi really is or was? Why, or why not?

It doesnt. Hes just some human who assembled a bunch of existing ideas into an innovative solution.

5 Do you think governments will try and kill crypto?

No. Theres too much tax revenue potential.

6 If you didnt need sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Id spend more time with my child.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

Focus on creating real value.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Sonali Giovino, head of communications at Defiyield, a cross-chain asset management protocol that empowers users to be a part of the DeFi ecosystem.

Sonali Giovino has been working in the crypto space since 2017 when she began holding weekly educational workshops, which lead to public speaking events on cryptocurrency and blockchain and her production of Vancouvers first Blockchain Yacht Cruise Conference. She brings 20+ years of experience as a technical communicator to her position at Defiyield, previously holding roles in marketing, project management, business development and event coordination. She is passionate about growing the DeFi community and introducing others to asset management and has emerged as a recognizable female thought leader in the tech space as a result.

1 What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?

I think the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology is that there are still so many people who dont understand what blockchain or DeFi is, how it works, and what benefits it can bring to our society. The more we can support the industry through education, the more widespread adoption can be. Thats one of the biggest reasons I got involved in the space and with Defiyield specifically as a main focus is consistently educating new and existing users. It is still early for blockchain, and I believe consistent, gradual growth over time will lead to a more rapid growth as people have a better understanding of the space. When the internet was first growing, only a few businesses and people were using it. Fast forward to the present and its rare to hear of someone who isnt using the internet for work, play, everything. With each passing year, we are seeing new developments in the crypto and blockchain space, and now some governments are even building their own digital currencies. Despite hurdles, blockchain technology is the future.

2 If you were investing in startup companies right now, what kind of blockchain-based business opportunity would catch your eye?

Projects that are able to integrate and offer a connected network of blockchain, protocol and investing opportunities consolidated into one place are definitely gaining a lot of attention. I would be drawn to projects that simplify the process for users. Some projects require users to bridge their networks and blockchains, but anything with one click or one move is the type of opportunity that would catch my eye. People want to invest in projects that can simplify action steps into one place. Easy, simple and less work so you can spend more energy on growing, learning and finding the best opportunities.

3 What does decentralization mean to you, and why is it important?

Decentralization gives people more control, and its an important freedom to not have a single entity, like banks or governments, controlling your assets. If something goes wrong with the bank or an institution has a single point of failure, it could affect several other systems in the banking process. In decentralized systems, however, even if one node goes down or if there is a failure in the blockchain, there are several other nodes leaving the transaction safe and unaffected. Decentralization truly puts more control and power back into the peoples hands where it belongs.

4 Which two superpowers would you most want to have, and how would you combine them for good or evil?

If I could have any two superpowers, I would want to utilize teleportation and super-human strength. I would fly around the world and between the planets to explore the universe and all the mystical elements it has to offer. Id be eager to learn from different civilizations, share knowledge, and maybe hang out with an alien or two.

5 Close your eyes and think of a happy place. What do you see?

When I close my eyes and think of a happy place, I see palm trees, ocean views and sunrises and sunsets that start and end my days. I am with family and friends, all engaging in meaningful conversations and enjoying memorable nights of laughter and joy. In my happy place, a beautiful white dog is running around the garden, and I see myself thinking out loud about all the items on my bucket list Im excited to knock off for that month and the next. I see myself unfolding into all the beautiful things this world and the relationships I carry with it have to offer me in every moment.

6 What is the book that influenced you the most? Why?

The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav has influenced me the most because it speaks to me about ways to understand consciousness, breaking through inner patterns, and the differences between the personality and the soul. I love how the book speaks to understanding emotions and thoughts, and how it explains that everything is energy, which if misaligned, causes us to manifest or create misalignments in our personal reality. This book showed me that we have the power to make change in our lives.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

I wish the young, ambitious blockchain community nothing but success in learning, loving and growing within the space. The community has so much to offer and can be a place where anyone can feel confident in the control they have over their finances, assets, artwork, whatever blockchain-integrated area of life they enjoy.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Dominik Schiener, a co-founder of the Iota Foundation, a nonprofit organization, and the creator of the Tangle, a permissionless, multi-dimensional distributed ledger designed as a foundation of a global protocol for all things connected.

Dominik Schiener is a co-founder and the chairman of the Iota Foundation, one of the largest and greenest cryptocurrency ecosystems in the world. The Iota Foundations mission is to support the research and development of new distributed ledger technologies, including the Iota Tangle. Raised in Italy, Dominik oversees partnerships and the overall realization of the projects vision toward the machine economy. He is a strong advocate for research-based, community-vetted, transparent developments in the cryptocurrency sector.

1 If you were investing in startup companies right now, what kind of blockchain-based business opportunity would catch your eye?

Id go all-in on startups focused on the intersection of Web2 and Web3. Were in a transitional period thats going to last for a long time, and embracing this ongoing transition is smart from both a financial and technical point of view. Companies helping the centralized world move into the decentralized one and vice versa are the present and the future. This includes crypto banking, fiat gateways, NFT marketplaces, and so on. The biggest barriers to adoption are user experience, not scaling. Focusing on and investing in UX is the road to mass adoption and to the new world of Web3.

2 Which people do you find most inspiring, most interesting, and most fun in this space?

Im drawn to people who have endured and risen above hardship in their personal and professional lives and have become more capable leaders as a result. Naturally, Im inspired by people like Vitalik Buterin within the crypto space, but I also admire Ray Dalio, whose innovations and thinking transformed traditional finance long before crypto even existed.

3 What is the single most innovative use case for blockchain youve ever seen? It may not be the one likeliest to succeed!

Im increasingly enthusiastic about algorithmic stablecoins. Im fascinated by their mechanics and their possibilities. They are, of course, highly experimental, and some may just fail, causing investors to lose millions. Even so, these stablecoins have enormous potential to onboard retail investors and offer a new way to transact. I believe they are crucial to mainstream adoption, so I certainly hope theyre likely to succeed.

4 Whats the most interesting place youve ever visited, and why?

Im a mountain guy. I grew up in the Alps, so Im probably a little biased. My favorite places are remote areas in the mountains, where youre far from civilization and can really take a moment to step back, reflect, and appreciate the beauty of our world. That kind of tranquility is the best way to take a break from the crypto madness. I love being in a place where the only reminder of the modern world is the occasional airplane overhead. I love Sdtirol [in northern Italy] in particular.

5 Which movie alternate universe would you most like to live in, and why?

Im going to go with Avatar. Its such a stunningly gorgeous and fully realized world. I love the look of that movie and the deep importance it places on the interconnectedness of nature. If Im a nature guy on Earth, I figure Im a nature guy on other planets, too. Living in an alternate reality and becoming part of the Navi tribe sounds like an amazing exploration adventure.

6 What should we be teaching our kids?

Financial literacy still isnt the priority it should be within education, and the sooner that changes, the better. I also think there needs to be a bigger emphasis on philosophy and, more specifically, ethics. Science and technology are developing more rapidly than ever before in human history, and we simply cant have a generation that is unable to think critically about the human element of these developments. We know about the dangers of technical advancement without ethical boundaries there are countless dystopian movies about exactly this! and its importance cannot be understated.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

That we never forget why were here. Its not about getting rich quick. Its about removing centralization and abuses of power to lead billions of people to prosperity and abundance through decentralized technologies.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Ming Duan, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Umee, a cross-chain DeFi hub that allows decentralized interactions between different blockchains.

Ming Duans knowledge of the crypto and blockchain world goes back to 2014 when she initially learned about the emerging industry through the first-ever blockchain course taught at a business school. Since then, she has developed extensive crypto investment knowledge through hands-on practice. Duan brings unique insight to Umee, having experience as both a crypto investor and builder in the ecosystem. Her goal for Umee is to build a platform where individuals can interact with different tokens and chains all in one place. While propelling Umee forward, Duan leads crypto investments at Argonautic Ventures and Fenbushi Capital. She graduated from Duke University and received her Master of Business Administration degree in 2016.

1 What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?

Simply put, blockchain technology is too hard to use.

When it comes to mass adoption, its really about comparing what blockchain technology can bring to users through existing solutions. The challenge is that, most of the time, our existing solutions work. When wearing my investors hat on a new project, I always like to ask about whether blockchain is really necessary to achieve the goal for the product. From a users perspective, if the target audience is not already in Web3, blockchain is oftentimes not needed because a centralized solution is already faster, cheaper and easier to use.

So, why are we here? Well, its because of the potential that blockchain-based applications can be as fast, cheap and easy to use as existing solutions while creating new solutions: new ways of looking at economic coordination, new ways of looking at finance, from both an open-source as well as open-access perspective. There is also that little extra element of being decentralized. Were getting there.

2 From smart contracts to DApps to NFTs to DeFi, we have seen so many of the next killer apps for crypto, but none have really taken off just yet. What will stick?

The idea of a decentralized digital world will stick. Its too early to say what will, or what has already, taken off when it comes to crypto experiments. Crypto follows market cycles, and it takes time for people to understand this new industry. We will be seeing new ideas and new experiments, and a lot of them will fail, but some of them will leave an impression on people that will push it to evolve into something new. This process is completely expected and healthy. Crypto is both a technological and social paradigm shift. We cant get it right in one attempt and we have the luxury of a promising future to make trial and error. The promise of such an uncoordinated and distributed mechanism to run a digital world will stick in individuals heads. It will spur questions designed to challenge the status quo, and attract more talent to join the space and build out this decentralized digital future.

3 What are the top five Crypto Twitter feeds you cant do without, and why?

Umee_CrossChain needs no explanation its our bread and butter! I find such joy and excitement when seeing Umees latest updates via our Twitter feed. Plus, just seeing Adora the octopuss smiley face every now and then makes everyone feel happy, right?

Zhu Su is your cheatsheet to being a crypto insider. He helps you zoom out and understand how crypto fits into the broader social and economic picture while paying attention to the macro trends. Oftentimes in the crypto space, we get too deep into the weeds and forget about the bigger picture, but grasping the bigger picture is what sets the foundation for solid long-term success.

Samczsun is the reason why everyone should hold a healthy sense of paranoia when it comes to software security in crypto. His habit of generously sharing security vulnerability and hack reviews is extremely beneficial even to non-technical readers.

If you are looking for an alpha or trying to land on the right side of the bell curve of the crypto crowd, I would recommend following ASvanevik. He is a founder as well as a talented data scientist who has shed much-needed light on the dark forest of blockchain data. Alex has Ieft me with a lasting impression since the very first time we spoke.

Bond_dog_51 is my partner in crypto, so his Twitter feed is an important follow for me. As the chief executive office of Umee, we work side by side to make this platform all it can be. I enjoy following his unique insight on the industry through his feed, and I love reading his retweets.

And a sixth one, just for fun! Weird_AnimaIs is one of the few Twitter accounts I follow that have nothing to do with crypto. It makes me smile and take a moment to appreciate the power of mother nature and how things are all interconnected. Im a big fan of how nature follows the same patterns in an interesting and transcendent way.

4 Which two superpowers would you most want to have, and how would you combine them for good or evil?

I would love to have the power to freeze time, like Hermione in Harry Potter! We crypto people always joke about how it already feels like one month is equivalent to years in crypto time with exciting, new things happening every day and so much information to ingest. Im a very slow reader and like to spend time understanding the ins and outs of a topic before moving on to the next. Having 200 tabs open on my browser is inevitable because I dont have enough time to process everything! How about a little one-hour time freeze everyday? Ill be able to save my Chrome from burning down too quickly.

Alternatively, I would also love to have the superpower to clone myself not once, but twice! One of me would attend all the crypto conferences and meetups, while the other keeps track of the latest news and trends in the space. The third Ming would focus solely on shipping and building!

5 Whats the thing on your bucket list that is most unlikely to happen?

Im afraid itll be the one where I complete a part-time program at a culinary school. Im a big foodie. I started attempting to cook on the stove when I was six years old and I almost applied to a culinary school for college, but I gave in to my mom and studied finance instead. Reading and practicing different recipes has been one of the most relaxing activities when taking a break from living in the limitless crypto world. Remember Monica from Friends? I imagine myself to be quite like her if I actually accomplished my dream of becoming a chef. Although crypto never disappoints in 2020, I happily indulged in all the food coins out there. Food was actually a large inspiration for Umee, as the word in Japanese means Delicious! Team Umee cant get enough of the food coin degen culture.

6 Where do you stand on alien intelligence and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe?

Aliens absolutely exist! What we currently know about the universe is very limited, almost similar to how early we are in crypto adoption. The idea that life, or whatever form of intelligence, exists somewhere out there is really exciting. Though Im a fan of The Three-Body Problem, Id like to think that we should be cautious when reaching out and looking for aliens.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

I wish and hope to see more women in the crypto world use their voices. There is a diversity problem, but it is important to highlight that women are already in the space and are using their intelligence to propel the crypto industry forward. Lets see them shine!

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Dawn Newton, co-founder and chief operating officer of Netki a remote digital identity verification technology provider intended to facilitate compliance with KYC/AML regulations.

Dawn Newton is the chief operating officer and co-founder of Netki, the Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering technology provider purpose-built for blockchain. Dawns work is driven by her desire to increase global access to crypto assets in a sustainable, secure and equitable manner. At Netki, Dawn has contributed to the development of OnboardID, which facilitates identity verification and onboarding for custodial wallets, and TransactID, which is the only fully compliant solution to Financial Action Task Force Travel Rule regulations.

With 30 years of experience managing technical teams and growing innovative companies, Dawn has proven to be a premier operations executive at the forefront of emerging technology industries. From the early days of the internet to the booming blockchain industry, Dawns work has had a formative effect on todays leading tech companies.

1 If you were investing in startup companies right now, what kind of blockchain-based business opportunity would catch your eye?

For me, I would be looking at applications that impact as broad of a base of people as possible, preferably from an inclusion aspect. Projects that allow new communities to connect, create and earn are ultimately the ones that will have the most impact and, thus, create the most value in the world.

2 What is the single most innovative use case for blockchain youve ever seen? It may not be the one likeliest to succeed!

The most innovative use case to me continues to be the first one people talked about in the early Bitcoin days. Everyone on the planet (who has internet access) has the ability to participate in a global financial system that is owned by no government.

It is an extremely hard endeavor to tackle, and I am proud that Netki was a part of it by onboarding the first nation to the Bitcoin blockchain. Giving 4 million people the ability to transact and receive funds without exorbitant money transmitter fees makes my heart sing!

3 When you tell people youre in the blockchain industry, how do they react?

For non-technical people, their initial reaction used to be: OMG isnt that all scammers? Thank goodness that is happening less and less. I have been working in tech innovation for more than 30 years, and as a result, as interest in crypto has grown, many of my friends and family have come to me for advice or to better understand the ecosystem.

That curiosity dominates most of the conversations that I have today, although I do still run into the occasional person who gets all of their information about crypto from Elizabeth Warren. The conversations with those people definitely take a little more effort to untangle all of the misleading statements theyve been fed. Overall, more and more people are starting to get curious about it, and that is how we change things!

4 Tell us about a hidden talent and give us a link to prove it!

My cooking skills are out of this world (pun intended re: the last question). I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu and trained in Italy, Japan and the United States under several Michelin Star chefs. Wanna take your chocolate chip cookie game to the next level?

5 Close your eyes and think of a happy place. What do you see?

Easy, a beach with black volcanic sand in El Salvador, great waves, great food purchased using Bitcoin, of course and great people.

6 Where do you stand on alien intelligence and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe?

I have no opinion, as I am not an expert in the field, but how amazing would it be to have another life out there and for us to be able to explore that one day in the future!? I grew up watching the original Star Trek series and absolutely loved it. Imagine my surprise years later when I meet the real-life Seven of Nine [from Star Trek: Voyager], Jeri Ryan, while cooking together at a restaurant in LA, and she becomes my best friend. While I wouldnt look forward to an encounter with her as a Borg in real life, I think it would be amazing to be a part of a team whose mission was to seek out new life and new civilizations!

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

My one wish is WAGMI, and where we wind up will be spectacular!

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Lili Zhao, director of ecosystem growth at Neo an open-source blockchain development platform.

The A to Z of Lili Zhao:

Authenticity easier said than done

Blockchain advocate

Community Neo has the best!

DAO fascinating!

Economics interests me much more now than when I was studying it at university

Falling never afraid of it because I always bounce back

Game life is a game, so lets play

Hot N3 is hot

Ideas too many ideas, not enough focus

Job growing the ecosystem of the Neo blockchain by profession and passion

Key keep your private key safe

Love may everyone be blessed with it

Minimalist a chaotic minimalist wannabe

Neo an open network for the smart economy

Open source love it

Polaris Neo hackathon, register now

Qi breath, energy and flow

Raison detre if you found it, tell me how?

Spicy food cant live without it for more than a week!

Twitter @Lili_Zurich

Unique all of us are

Vegetarian 90% of the time, I am one

Wallet get a NEO wallet on our website

X do you have a word suggestion?

Yield a stable NEO/GAS yield

Zurich-based, zest for life!

1 Does it matter if we ever figure out who Satoshi really is or was? Why, or why not?

It doesnt matter at all! The technology Satoshi created and its legacy has lived on and will continue to live on. One of the main appeals of the blockchain ecosystem is its community-driven spirit instead of being about personal glorification. Imagine if someone comes out and is indeed being confirmed as Satoshi Nakamoto. If that person deviates widely in terms of values and ethics from the ones envisioned by many, that may shatter some dreams and faith!

The anonymity of Satoshi has allowed people to have their own version of who they might or should be. The identity, or lack thereof, of Satoshi has been elevated into a Holy Grail that is to be pursued.

We say curiosity kills the cat and in this case, curiosity may kill Bitcoin! Let Satoshi remain as a legendary myth, and let us honor their creation, Bitcoin, by advancing it to mass adoption.

2 Which countries are doing the most to support blockchain, and which ones will be left behind?

There are quite a few countries that immediately come to peoples minds for those of us working in the blockchain space namely, Switzerland, Singapore, El Salvador, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates especially Dubai and more. However, in my opinion, the country that is doing the most to support the adoption of blockchain technology is actually China. It may surprise some people, as China has been known to ban Bitcoin mining and crypto trading. Let me explain why.

Chinas state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network is working on an interoperable blockchain infrastructure at both the national and international levels. As an open-source blockchain platform, Neo forms part of the permissionless blockchains from the international version of the BSN. The organization plans to support multiple future central bank digital currencies an initiative in which China is the undisputed champion.

At the national level, the BSN is integrating Neos Jiuquan Chain for the large-scale issuance of NFTs, or distributed digital certificates its alternative name as preferred by China. As stated by He Yifan, CEO of Red Date Technology the BSNs technology support provider NFTs in China will see annual output in the billions in the future. The use of the term digital certificate indicates that the technology could be used to digitize any asset and automate any paper-based process with smart contracts.

The mass adoption of blockchain technology can only come when the underlying infrastructure is built with it from the ground up. This is because it is a replacement rather than an upgrade to the existing legacy technology.

China is leading this digital transformation in building blockchain infrastructure and launching large-scale mainstream use cases. This will greatly advance the whole industry globally and, in the long term, benefit everyone.

3 Which is sillier: $500,000 Bitcoin or $0 Bitcoin? Why?

Bitcoin at $500,000 is sillier because Bitcoin at $0 is impossible!

Ten years ago, Bitcoin at $50,000 would have been thought of as silly. Today, it has become a norm, even though some question how sustainable it is. Bitcoin will never become zero because it has intrinsic value beyond its technological and monetary merits. In addition, it has become a domain of economics, philosophy and politics.

Value has been redefined in the smart economy underpinned by blockchain technology. The factors that make things valuable according to mainstream economic theories such as labor, costs of production, utility or even scarcity can no longer explain the rise of cryptocurrencies. Take the memecoin Dogecoin, for example: It has an infinite supply and ranks 12th on CoinMarketCap at the time of writing. Or is it because it has a God-like father figure advocate in Elon Musk?

Whatever the case, the point is that value has been fundamentally challenged. Anyone who envisages Bitcoin going down to zero is too attached to the traditional economic theories to recognize this paradigm shift. And silly can be the birthplace of innovation. So, be kind to silliness! (Silly emoticon here)

4 Whats the most interesting place youve ever visited, and why?

I would say the Canggu surf beach in Bali is the most interesting place I have visited. It tops my list not because of the exotic nature but more the feelings it evoked in me while I surfed there a sense of total freedom and flow! I am a rather spiritual person, so a place with only physical spectacles will delight or impress me; but to move me, it will need to evoke something deep.

However, despite my passion for surfing, I am actually pretty lousy at it. Haha! I do want to get better, but for me, its about the experience rather than being competitive. As someone who values experiences above all, this question is one that I hope I will have a different answer for every year.

5 What talent do you lack but wish you had? How would you use it if you had it?

I wish I could sing so I could use this talent to make some cool songs that will make people happy or bring some positive impact to their life. Our thoughts and emotions are often suppressed because words are inadequate to capture them. When they are properly captured by the linguistically blessed, they are poetry.

However, when they are linguistically captured and also musically conveyed, they are like food and cocktails for the soul both nourishing and tasty. A song with the right lyrics and melody can easily move me into a state of bliss, calm or melancholy.

Of course, there is also the possibility of becoming a commercial hit while doing what you love. Singing is one of the few talents that affords such an opportunity.

I would then tokenize all my songs on the Neo blockchain and receive and distribute royalty payments with full transparency. Here, the use case excites me more than being a commercial hit. I suppose I could already become a hit by singing now people would pay for me to shut up!

6 Who makes sense to you, and who makes no sense whatsoever?

When I was younger, I was much more opinionated and binary, so I could have given you a long list of who made sense and who didnt! Now, I am wiser. At least thats my sense of it. This may make no sense whatsoever to somebody who witnesses the silly things I still say and do at my not-so-tender age.

I am an existentialist. I believe that life has no inherent meaning apart from what each of us chooses to do that gives sense to it. There are three key qualities that I value and use to guide me in life: freedom (to do what I love), authenticity (to be who I am) and growth (a dynamic process evolving with new experiences).

I believe that everything that happens makes sense, even if it might appear senseless at the time of it happening. Navigating through nuance is the fundamental difference that separates us from artificial intelligence, which works best in binary.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

No one would be asking for the elusive killer DApp if it were already here it would be everywhere!

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Lynn Liss, the chief operating officer and co-founder of Akoin, a cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem designed to empower entrepreneurship and fuel rising entrepreneurs in Africa.

Lynn Liss serves as chief operating officer of blockchain company and cryptocurrency Akoin, co-founded with global leader Akon. She is an operations executive and social impact leader driving financial revolutions, building empowering technology and business models, and forging strategy, partnerships and teams for massive social change. Steering Akoins mission to empower entrepreneurship and financial inclusion across Africa, she brings more than 10 years in the social impact and startup sector to the table as well as another 10 years as a management consultant advising, executing and operating innovative business and financial models for world change with C-level executives at top global firms. Lynn was a first mover in the blockchain for good space, providing executive advice to blockchain companies and new cryptocurrencies and blockchains with a social impact.

1 What kind of consolidation do you expect to see in the crypto industry in 2022?

Well, were certainly in the protocol wars right now between L1s, L2s, and every walk of life in between and around the protocol space. While the idea of interoperability allows many protocols to exist simultaneously, the space wont require the current amount thats being envisioned or is coming to life. That said, having these various models to both technically and financially assess and determine where and how you want to experience them, coupled with the pure competition makes you stronger mentality, causes the platforms to sharpen their approach and platform by the minute. Its beyond thrilling to watch such a race!

We all benefit from the plethora of strong protocol options just getting better and better, including the approach for interoperability simultaneously getting stronger from an industry perspective and how we adopt these tools into our toolset. So, consolidation, yes, but existing together and cross-chain also yes.

Im very encouraged by the sheer number of projects being launched right now. In my opinion, were witnessing a renaissance in the blockchain space where there are no wrong answers. This will not last indefinitely, as is always the case, emerging use cases will render others obsolete, different mechanics will be well-received, while others wont be. This will in turn lead to the next gen of blockchain applications launching with much higher fidelity from a UX perspective as well as strong corporate structures and operational procedures. This transition from experiment to use case as an overarching industry ethos is going to be fascinating to watch in the coming months and years.

2 What will happen to Bitcoin and Ethereum over the next 10 years?

Speaking of walks, I just took one with a friend in the neighborhood who is relatively new to the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, and found myself suggesting that a toe in the water would be to invest in a few of the major currencies and protocols as a starting point via wallets such as Coinbase. Given Bitcoin and Ether are the most commonplace stepping stone for the masses (there are one or two others I added to that list, and Bitcoin is too volatile for my liking), these OG players obviously arent going anywhere, and given the size of the the communities that support them, theyll continue to drive industry innovation along with the new L1s and L2s described above. As others rise up, well see stronger competition and more interoperability with these majors. This is also where most companies first start to consider receiving cryptocurrency for basic payments, which leaves no doubt in making these currencies even stronger and not go anywhere anytime soon.

Whats more interesting to me is which of the up-and-coming L1s and L2s related currencies will rise to the top and begin getting adopted by the lesser crypto-savvy players. My forecast is that when it comes to specific industry lanes (i.e., market sectors such as lending all the way to geographics, like what were doing with Akoin in Africa), many altcoins will rise up into the top 20 and become more commonplace and utilized for everyday activities. This is the place where youll find users who really care about a specific market or space, that want more value and utility then the current offerings provide, and are seeking solutions custom to their needs. These users will become more and more comfortable holding those assets, not from an investment perspective, but from a true utility and daily usage perspective, which is the holy grail.

Doubling back to the original question, the reality is that these main protocols arent going anywhere, particularly as far as Bitcoin is concerned, as it represents the gold equivalent to a store of value on the blockchain. Ethereum, on the other hand, is far more analogous to an operating system than anything else. The benefit of Ethereum is the constant attention to upgrades and usability. While its currently price-prohibitive due to a host of reasons not the least of which being exorbitant gas fees the emergence of L2 solutions enable Ethereum to essentially cannibalize the useful mechanics it comes across while discarding the less useful. As a result, I see Ethereum remaining as the dominant L1 for years to come, with Bitcoin retaining its status as the primary store of value on the blockchain.

3 When you tell people youre in the blockchain industry, how do they react?

Im happy to report that, generally, people are less surprised and perplexed about what the heck that means than two years ago, when the ICO craze was taking the world by storm. While still very nascent, blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies have found their way into traditional banking, government agencies and fortune 500s, all the way to people holding a few of the major cryptocurrencies. There seems to be a higher comfort level with making basic payments in crypto, there is less perplexion and more curiosity these days. That curiosity coupled with people and major companies willing to dip their toes in the blockchain waters is where major crypto adoption will occur, and were thrilled to be able to figure it out together. This is what gets me most excited to be at that tipping point between an emerging technology paradigm and widespread adoption into industry standard. With that, myself and others, who have been in the space for a long time and want to see this industry grow, enthusiastically take the time to walk and talk the newbies through it. In doing so, you sharpen the story and the pathway, and forge how everyone will find their way into this space some way or the other. This all keeps us excited, and on our toes too!

4 List your favorite sports teams, and choose the single most memorable moment from watching them. If you arent a sports fan, choose a few movies and a moment!

Ask my husband I had to ask him who was playing at the Super Bowl, and we live in Los Angeles. When it comes to movies, anyone who knows me well knows that Eminems Lose Yourself from the movie 8 Mile will be playing at my funeral, (unless we exist in another interdimensional plane by then, but thats for another question). That moment on stage and the lyrics sum it all up.

5 Where do you stand on alien intelligence and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe?

I have no doubt on the existence of life elsewhere in the universe front, so a resounding Yes. For a deep dive on all things alien intelligence and whether weve been visited by such forces here on Earth, youd have to ask my husband, Ira Liss, who is a semi-expert on the matter. I remain openly curious, as with all things.

6 Other than the present day, in what time and in which country would you like to have lived?

I had to really think about this one, from the glamor and sensational music of the 1920s into the 30s coming from the jazz renaissance happening in Paris, to New York in the 40s and 50s with its eclectic literary circles and swanky gatherings. That said, I wouldnt choose to exist anywhere else but my present place and time. One of my favorite sayings is: Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift! That is why it is called the present. Many wonderful people have been credited with creating this quote, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Bil Keane and more. This resonates for me on a daily basis, as making the most of each day and the magical energy that surrounds you is truly a gift.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community?

Continued curiosity, experimentation and innovation.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Michelle Legge, head of crypto tax education at Koinly a cryptocurrency tax calculator and portfolio tracker for traders, investors and accountants.

Alongside her work at Koinly, Michelle is passionate about closing the financial literacy gap for women. Before crossing into the crypto space, she looked after consumer education for an Australian fintech startup, where she launched a world-first gender-pay-gap insurance product.

Today, Michelle is back in her homeland of South Africa, living the digital nomad life and managing a remote team of content and social media wizards from plant-based cafes across Cape Town. As for her crypto curiosity, Michelle is cautiously optimistic, betting on altcoins with unconventional use cases. Blame it on her day job, but while Michelle knows that crypto is the future, crypto tax appears to be the dark side of the moon. Helping crypto investors to be tax-strategic seems a worthy cause in light of ever-tightening regulations.

1 From smart contracts to DApps, NFTs and DeFi, we have seen so many of the next killer apps for crypto, but none have really taken off quite yet. What will stick?

Projects that attract the warm embrace of Joe Public are the ones that stick. Weve gotten a lot closer to a retail use case with DeFis many yield farming products, and that shows no signs of slowing down. But will it go fully mainstream? Possibly, in time provided the space doesnt get taxed into oblivion. On the other hand, NFTs have seen massive adoption from all walks of life, creating a sense that this blockchain use case has cracked a very tough nut.

While the NFT arena might be dominated by the glitz and glam of the celebrity art scene today, I imagine NFTs will come into their own in a rather mundane way. If the public can interface with the blockchain via pictures, then its logical to assume that anything were used to seeing on paper will go the way of a digitized, ownable NFT. What could this look like at the most basic level? Share certificates, graduation diplomas, medical records, insurance policies, birth certificates, passports, etc.

The creation, distribution and management of proof-of-ownership NFT administration could spawn an industry of its own, much like it already has in the gaming industry. However, for NFTs to work like this, we need to remember that the NFT art were just getting our heads around is a taxable asset. Thats fine when were thinking about art, music, movies and domain names, but no one wants to face a tax bill for erroneously profiting from the disposal of a health insurance policy. It will need to be clear to all, the taxman included, that NFTs used in this way have a zero-dollar value.

2 If the world is getting a new currency, will it be led by CBDCs, a permissionless blockchain like Bitcoin, or a permissioned chain such as Diem?

It pains me to say, but central bank digital currencies are waiting in the wings. Everything weve seen, from Bidens executive order to the much-hyped inflation curse throttling the global economy, tells us that governments are hungry for CBDCs. Even without the regulation headlines, we need only consider the power and control that CBDCs offer. Rishi Sunaks Britcoin appears in the works, with disturbing undercurrents of programmability leaning into the likes of Chinas social credit system. CBDCs will be, but unlike the disruptive and empowering future presented by Bitcoin and friends, CBDCs seem a different blockchain beast altogether.

3 Which is sillier: $500,000 Bitcoin or $0 Bitcoin? Why?

Dont call me negative, but I work in crypto tax. Its my opinion that the bulk of the Bitcoin mooning happened behind the curtains, in the good old days when governments and tax agencies were none the wiser. Can stratospheric growth happen under the iron fist of rampant regulations and scrutiny? I fear not.

4 Tell us about a hidden talent, and give us a link to prove it!

A talent so hidden it might not even exist? I guess I dont have bedroom DJ in my Twitter bio for nothing, but if being good at Spotify playlists makes me gifted, then so be it. Le Crush is the name of my pet playlist, and a homage to my heady nights (perhaps seven in total?) steering the decks in Melbournes noughties club scene.

5 What talent do you lack and wish you had? How would you use it if you had it?

Is it because women are coded for multitasking, or because we live in a high-octane, caffeine-fuelled society? Either way, the talent I lack is the laser-beam focus of a border collie and its tennis ball.

If focus is the house, then the foundation is Buffetts famous Say no to almost everything. The key, it would appear, is to limit open tabs to five max a great step down from the 39 currently calling my attention. Hyperfocus in a crazy world? I think its a talent, or rather a superpower, that most of us wish for.

6 Whats the silliest conspiracy theory out there… and which one makes you pause for a moment?

This question and its loaded gun is just the kind of thing to get a woman canceled! The fact is, Im rather a reasonable conspiracy theorist, but theres a spot for a tinfoil hat in my closet, nonetheless.

I think, like many people drawn to cryptocurrency, our sort comes bearing gifts of distrust and who could blame us? Some of the rabbit holes biggest targets lets mention Big Pharma here do have priors. Its right to question everything, and its good to remember that no chapter on WWII is complete without an entry on the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. I will say this though: A flat earth could be a great solution to the rising tides, right?

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

To the women of blockchain, we need your voices. Be the reason and balance that keeps us moving in the right direction.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Chen Li, the co-founder and CEO of Youbi Capital, a venture capital firm investing in blockchain technologies and disruptive decentralized applications.

Chen Li is the co-founder and CEO of Youbi Capital. He has a Ph.D. in chemistry and worked as a scientist for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he won two awards for his contributions to developing groundbreaking antibody drugs. In 2015, he was introduced to Bitcoin mining by his roommate in college, then jointly founded Youbi Capital in 2017. Chen built the foundation of Youbis thesis in blockchain infrastructure and led investments in Algorand, Avalanche, Polkadot, Flow, Kadena, Chainlink, Debank and others. He was also an advisor to JP Morgans blockchain team.

1 What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?

The main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology now is still its infrastructure, specifically, scalability and security of layer 1s. We all saw that the watershed moment for Axie Infinity was not the play-to-earn movement that started in early 2020 but the migration of the game from Ethereum to Ronin in mid 2021, which led to an explosion of players and revenue growth right away.

But Axie was just one application, and can therefore be easily accommodated on a dedicated chain, while for the DeFi protocols which are highly composable and already interconnected we still dont have a layer 1 for the entire set of DeFi protocols to migrate over without starting to jam its traffic. Solana might be the closest to achieving this goal, but it is not horizontally scalable for mass adoption.

There is still a lot to do to lay a solid foundation for the blockchain application.

2 What will happen to Bitcoin and Ethereum over the next 10 years?

Bitcoin has successfully extended the consensus on its asset as a decentralized store of value for everyone from individuals to a large group of institutions in this cycle. It is only a matter of time before it is universally accepted. Furthermore, under the global inflation backdrop, Bitcoin might also have the chance to become a broadly used currency in international settlements. There has been a lot of speculation on the Bitcoin value proposition broken down to its usage in different categories.

In terms of technology, the community has intentionally kept Bitcoins progress at a slow pace to avoid introducing any uncertainty. While I believe that is the right strategy for its use cases, Bitcoin will still be limited in supporting smart contracts over the next 10 years.

Ethereum, on the other hand, is going through much faster reiteration by transitioning to proof-of-stake and potentially sharding in the near future. All EVM-supporting chains are also in the Ethereum ecosystem, contributing value to the base layer. Due to the strong network effect, the Ethereum ecosystem will likely remain as a dominant force in the DeFi space throughout the next 10 years.

3 When you tell people youre in the blockchain industry, how do they react?

I remember when I first talked to outsiders about Bitcoin in 2015 they either fell silent and gave me awkward looks like I was trying to talk them into some kind of scam, or in some cases, enthusiastically challenged me on whether Bitcoin had any value. Bitcoin mining was more of a business that people could understand, but it was extremely rare to find someone that was open-minded about the cryptocurrency itself.

Now, people are becoming more and more knowledgeable and engaged about blockchain technology and crypto. I am often not the only person they know in the industry. I used to be asked lots of basic questions about blockchain. But now, people who arent blockchain professionals sometimes share their perspectives first once they know I am in the industry.

They have much more diverse perspectives on the blockchain industry now. Besides holding crypto in their portfolio, several people are NFT collectors or even landowners in blockchain games. They see blockchain as a technology to issue and transact NFT assets as well as infrastructure for the Metaverse, but are more attracted to NFTs and Metaverses. That is why I am very confident that the Metaverse will be the entry point to the Web3 era.

4 Who makes sense to you, and who makes no sense whatsoever?

Whoever is building a product then tells a story makes sense to me and who just tells a story or builds a product for imaginary demand makes no sense whatsoever.

There are lots of great products that are carefully designed and reiterated to fit the needs of the users. For example, Binance has a very efficient feedback loop, from customer service to management. As a result, it is able to reiterate its product in the right way and engage a new trend in the market. The Binance team makes sense to me. Polygon, Debank and The Graph are all excellent examples of products with strong product-market fit. All these teams make sense to me and I see lots of potential in the adoption of their product.

5 List your favorite sports teams, and choose the single most memorable moment from watching them.

My favorite sports teams were the Chicago Bulls and Denver Broncos. The most memorable moment was Michael Jordans final shot with the Bulls that won them the sixth championship.

6 Other than the present day, in what time and in what country would you like to have lived?

I wish I had lived in Shanghai, China from 2012 to 2015. That was the first crypto market cycle that I missed. The two major events in that time frame were the growth of Bitcoin mining and the fundraising and initial community-building of Ethereum. They both happened during that time in China.

Plus, China is my home country. I love the food and people.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

I wish that everyone in the community can survive the ups and downs, holding tight to their crypto assets.

We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes!

This week, our 6 Questions go to Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs a decentralized video streaming platform powered by users and built on a new blockchain.

Theta Labs is the organization behind the Theta Network a fast, green blockchain designed from the bottom up for media and entertainment. In 2019, Mitch launched Theta.tv, a decentralized livestreaming platform that makes use of tokenized bandwidth-sharing to make video content delivery faster and cheaper than mainstream alternatives. Most recently, Mitch and his team launched ThetaDrop, an NFT marketplace powered by the Theta Network.

Mitch has been an investor and entrepreneur in the tech space since 2007. He received a BS in computer science engineering from MIT, conducted research at MIT Media Labs Interactive Cinema group and received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

1 What has been the toughest challenge youve faced in our industry so far?

I think convincing stakeholders in legacy industries that blockchain and Web3 technologies have a place in their industrys future. Understandably, this wasnt as hard with the tech folks new technologies and new ideas are kind of their bread and butter. But youd be surprised at how even people in those spaces can be wedded to an older way of doing things. Its hard to totally reimagine your industry. I dont blame anyone for that.

In media and entertainment, it has been a little more difficult. The transition from television, radio and Web1 to social media and Web2 seemed pretty intuitive. Were traveling from a one-directional kind of media to a shared, more collaborative model. Web3 and distributed ledger technology are the same but turbocharged, and a little harder to wrap your head around. But weve started to see a shift in the attitudes of media companies. Once people realize how, for example, sharing computer power and bandwidth to reduce cost and energy consumption in video streaming works, the concept clicks for them pretty quickly. One day, Web3 will seem just as intuitive as the TV. I really believe that.

2 What does decentralization mean to you, and why is it important?

To me, decentralization means taking back control and sharing power with the people and the broader community. Over the last couple of decades, we have sleepwalked into an internet a society even that has placed far too much power in the hands of too few people and organizations. Tech giants like Facebook (or Meta) are starting to realize that, and theyre now trying to innovate and change their narrative to convince users that they are still valued.

3 When you tell people youre in the blockchain industry, how do they react?

Im quite lucky. Most of my contemporaries are familiar with what I do and react really well to our work in the blockchain space. I also have an easier answer I can use if I want because, in so many respects, Theta is in the business of media and entertainment, and its easier to understand. Blockchain is just the technology that allows us to add new value to the media industry, not necessarily replacing the entire industry.

4 Which two superpowers would you most want to have, and how would you combine them for good or evil?

I would have to pick one for practical reasons and one for fun. As much as I like to sleep, it can be such an inconvenience when you have so many plans. Id love to be able to spend more time on Theta. We have so many exciting projects in the works, and instead of spending my nights with my head on the pillow, it would be great to turn that into productive time Id have no distractions!

My second superpower would have to be the ability to fly. Sure, it has a practical transportation element (is that cheating?), but it would also be the greatest adrenaline rush.

5 If you didnt need sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Id like to spend as much time as possible with my friends and family. Life is too short, and its only after a hard week at your desk that you realize how little time there is for the good things in life. To relax and unwind with the people you love is one of lifes blessings, and Id love to spend more quality time doing it.

6 What should we be teaching our kids?

Things are almost never as hard as they first appear to be.

Unless youre blessed with unnatural confidence, taking on a new challenge is always difficult. But I have lost track of all the times in my life when a task seemed impossible yet I ended up either doing better than expected or learning from the experience. And this has nothing to do with my natural ability at any given thing. From what I can see, this is universal. Try your best, and it will be infinitely easier the next time.

A wish for the young, ambitious blockchain community:

I would like to wish them the best of luck in this space… and tell them to keep on innovating! It is them who will lead us to global adoption. Well get there… its just about when.