Written interviews with Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) on the Cardano blockchain.
Link to post on my Medium
This week’s Cardano SPO is Vic from Virginia US with a background in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, on a mission to spread the stoic philosophy: Sparta Stake Pool [SPRTA].
The previous guest was a stake pool operated by Robin from Germany who works as a freelancer alongside his involvement in the Cardano ecosystem.
This initiative is a point of reference for everything Cardano and every week or two we will invite a Stake Pool Operator (SPO) to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.
Hi, thanks for your time. Tell us something about yourself, where are you based and what is your background?
Thank you for this opportunity. I am based in the US in the state of Virginia near Washington, D.C.
I am a solo operator/owner for now until I am able to dedicate myself to Cardano full-time and grow the company.
My background is in Computer Networking, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering. I have over 20 years of experience in technology and currently work in the Cyber Security industry.
What’s the path that led you to Cardano and to become a Stake Pool Operator (SPO)?
I first heard of Bitcoin in early 2013 but was sceptical so I didn’t take it seriously. In 2016, XRP came onto my radar after an assisted stretching session with a young crypto enthusiast. She was so excited about it and convinced me to take a look at XRP. I went down the rabbit hole and began to understand what crypto could offer to society.
Not long after that I made my way to Cardano. I watched the now famous Charles Hoskinson whiteboard video and immediately became fascinated with Cardano.
I decided to become a SPO because it was a fun challenge and I really believed in the vision for Cardano. The vision for my stake pool is to spread the word on stoic philosophy, healthy eating, and fitness. All of these things have been tremendously beneficial in my life and I want to promote them as part of a more holistic healthy lifestyle.
I also want to build a smart contracts consulting and auditing business to ensure safety and security of the system.
What I love about Cardano is that you can make a difference with the combination of a stake pool and a mission and you see many great examples of that in the community.
How does Cardano’s Proof-of-Stake differ from the other major blockchains? What are its advantages?
Cardano is the only true proof of stake protocol that is truly liquid, trustless, and decentralised. From a technology perspective the research, rigorous development, and execution of the roadmap is unparalleled.
People complain about delays in Cardano but turn a blind eye to more egregious delays in other chains. Development takes time to do correctly. I love the focus on correctness since we are talking about real value at risk and peoples lives.
What are you most looking forward to in 2023? Are there any upgrades or projects that you are excited to see implemented?
I am looking forward to the age of Voltaire. It completes the initial phase of the vision laid out in the CH whiteboard video and it’s really cool to see it come to fruition. I am excited to see the community come to life with on-chain voting and driving the next evolution of Cardano.
It’s also very exciting to see DeFi come to life on Cardano. I think TVL will reach all time highs this cycle and we will have some very compelling DEXs on Cardano that will rival other chains. There is so much innovation happening on Cardano and the development tools are becoming more mature. I think we will see a massive wave of developers entering the ecosystem as more and more people discover the advantages of the EUTXO model and the merits of functional programming at the base layer.
The proliferation of layer-2s this cycle will also be very exciting to watch. I also think we will see more multi-chain dApps and Cardano will be a huge beneficiary of that trend.
Lastly, I am hopeful that there will be positive regulatory changes in the US in 2023 or 2024. Once we have a positive regulatory framework in the US, we will see innovation and progress accelerate worldwide.
Great contribution. Any final thoughts? Where can people stay in touch?
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss my stake pool, my vision, and my background.
I look forward to what’s ahead and will continue to contribute to the Cardano network.
People can reach me on Twitter.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the SPOs are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG.