Bitcoin.com News Interviews

Pavel Nikienkov is a co-founder and key figure behind Zano, a privacy-focused blockchain project launched in 2019. With over five years of experience in blockchain privacy, Pavel has played a crucial role in evolving Zano from a privacy coin into a full-fledged platform for building privacy-preserving tokens. In this interview, Bitcoin.com News dives into Zano’s hybrid proof-of-work and proof-of-stake consensus, its confidential asset features, and its mission to simplify privacy tokenization. Pavel also shares insights on Zano’s roadmap, including smart contract functionality and updates to the hybrid consensus.

io.net is a decentralized GPU network that offers scalable and cost-effective computing power for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. Boasting over 325,000 verified GPUs, io.net aims to address the GPU supply crunch by creating a more accessible and efficient marketplace for compute resources.Tausif Ahmed is the Chief Business Development Officer at io.net, a decentralized physical infrastructure network specializing in GPU solutions. He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the technology.Tausif Ahmed is based in Los Angeles and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tausif has a diverse background in business development, having worked previously at Kraken, Amazon, and Deloitte. He has led strategic partnerships and business development initiatives across multiple industries, including cloud computing and digital assets. Tausif is known for his expertise in driving growth through innovative partnerships and strategic planning.To learn more about the network visit io.net, and follow the team on X.

Adam Reeds is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ledn, a global company that focuses on building financial products to help people save in bitcoin and digital assets. The company offers bitcoin-backed loans and yield products, having originated $900 million in retail loans and $5.7 billion in institutional loans since its inceptionLedn, under Reeds’ leadership, survived the FTX-induced 2022 crash and bear market. That crash tarnished the entire lending and yield generating sector of crypto, but Ledn persevered and now is stronger than ever before.

Charles Cascarilla is the CEO and co-founder of Paxos, a financial technology company that specializes in blockchain infrastructure. Founded in 2012, Paxos aims to create a regulated platform for the movement of assets, integrating traditional financial systems with blockchain technology. Cascarilla has over 20 years of experience in financial services, previously co-founding Cedar Hill Capital Partners and its venture capital subsidiary, Liberty City VenturesPaxos has become a pioneer in the blockchain space, being the first regulated trust company for digital assets. The firm has developed several products, including: a regulated stablecoin anda digital asset backed by physical gold.

Io.net is a decentralized computing platform that provides affordable and efficient access to GPU resources for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It leverages unused computing power from a global network of nodes, including independent data centers and crypto miners. Gaurav Sharma is the CTO at Io.net with experience at Binance, Agoda, Amazon, and Ebay.

The European Crypto Initiative (EUCI) is an organization focused on influencing European Union regulations to support open, permissionless, and decentralized applications that utilize blockchain technology. Marina Markezic is the Co-founder and Executive Director. of EUCI.

Bartek Kiepuszewski is the founder of L2BEAT. L2BEAT is an analytics and research platform dedicated to Ethereum layer two (L2) scaling solutions. It provides comprehensive comparisons of various Ethereum L2 systems, focusing on projects that meet specific criteria for being considered true L2 solutions.

Vugar Usi Zade is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of⁠Bitget⁠. He recently joined the Bitcoin.com News Podcast to talk about the market. He discussed Bitget's significant growth, reaching 100 million users and becoming a top-tier crypto exchange. He addressed the evolving regulatory landscape, emphasizing Bitget's proactive compliance efforts and the importance of clear regulations for the industry's long-term health. Vugar analyzed the impact of political and macroeconomic factors on crypto adoption, including the influence of figures like President Trump and the potential for BRICS nations to utilize cryptocurrency. He predicted centralized exchanges will bridge traditional finance and crypto, leading to mass adoption, and highlighted Bitget's investments in decentralized wallets and gaming. Finally, he described Bitget's leadership philosophy as agile and empowering, focused on team trust and quick decision-making.

Ralph Gebran is the Managing Partner at Onramp MENA, a company focused on introducing Bitcoin to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.Onramp MENA is working to help institutions and high-net-worth individuals in the region navigate the evolving space of Bitcoin custody and asset management. Gebran is actively involved in discussions about custody models and regulatory matters related to Bitcoin in the MENA region.

FOSSASIA is a prominent organization based in Asia that focuses on developing Open Source software and hardware solutions. Co-founder Mario Behling talks about fostering developers , engineers, and designers, with an emphasis in Asia.