Introducing FLUID pool — Hardliners faction

3 min readJan 29, 2023

Hello Jonathan, could you please present yourself and tell us about your journey to Cardano?

I run a small web development agency out of the UK, and after hearing about blockchain utility beyond cryptocurrencies, I started to investigate in 2020. Like many in the space, this led me to Charles Hoskinson’s legendary whiteboard video from 2017, and from then on I was hooked.
I started spending time learning how blockchain could solve many of the ills of the current Web and beyond, and decided to get involved. Stake pool operation was a natural fit for me as we’ve always managed dedicated servers for our clients. Since then I’ve been working on bringing #ImpactStaking verification to mission driven SPOs through Project Catalyst and helping where I can in various alliances and working groups.

Please tell us something about your pool.

I setup and ran my pool on testnet for 3 months before deciding to commit to this long term. FLUID pool launched on the 6th September just before the Alonzo hard fork. The deciding factor came for me once I had figured out I could use Stake pool operation to fill a bigger a purpose by using the pool rewards to impact the wider world. We currently fund access to computers and the internet for students in an Ethiopian school for every day each delegator is with the pool.

How has your experience been so far, and were there/are there any challenges?

I’ve loved the technical side of running the pool as there are ever deeper rabbit holes to explore and investigate in the ecosystem. However, like most small SPOs the much bigger challenge is in growing awareness, spreading the importance of decentralisation and attracting delegators. I run weekly Q&A sessions to try and help reach out to the uninitiated and introduce them to Cardano.

Where do you see Cardano and your pool in 5 years?

I believe Cardano will be at the forefront of blockchain adoption and innovation for the next several years. There is a really strong base here in terms of community and also technology, so I think adoption will be steady, organic and pretty unstoppable. I see good Governance as the biggest challenge and so the shift in focus during this era of Voltaire is really great to see. In 5 years, FLUID Pool will still be contributing blocks and educating delegators and hopefully making an impact to more and more individual lives.

What’s your opinion on blockchain gaming? Do you believe blockchain technology and character/item NFT ownership will be adopted by mainstream gamers?

I’m convinced this is the way forward. There has always been considerable time spent in games, especially during the formative years, so creating a portable store of value from the skills and relationships invested into games is a natural progression. It has been 5 years since a young member of my team blew my mind by purchasing his real world engagement ring with the proceeds from his CS:GO crate sales!

Which faction does your pool represent?

Hardliners! This is as far from my IRL personality as it could be, but then games have always been about escape and imagination, so for now .. Come get some!