Interview: Anton Bukov
When did you start working with the blockchain? What was the first experience?
It all began in 2016, in the heyday of the blockchain industry. At that time, I wrote my first smart contract on a hackathon. It allowed users to buy a “nice-looking” bitcoin address while others could perform the sampling of these addresses for a fee. This solved a problem of the randomly generated address. By the way, for beginners, I always advise to participate in hackathons; there, you are immersed with the topic during one day, which is much faster than at home or at work, because it gives the opportunity to communicate closely with specialists.
Why blockchain? What was attractive about it?
For the last 15 years that I’ve engaged in programming, I’ve most of all liked to solve abstract problems related to algorithms, interaction, but not to eliminate bugs and debug the work of off-the-shelf products. The purpose of my development is the creation of new conceptual projects that do not have an alternative, which is the key in the blockchain, and it is here that I can engage in high-level development. Blockchain for me is the first programmable universal intermediary in human history that behaves honestly.
What are the principal vectors in the field?
One is a decentralization guideline, especially for the internet at the protocol level. Now, the web is working on a centralized scheme (HTTPS/DNS), and for me, it is an obvious thing that humanity must move away from this to increase the fault tolerance and eliminate a single point of failure and censorship.
What is your forecast for the industry for the next 10 years? Where does all this go and what should it turn into?
I believe that in the next ten years, the internet will begin its transformation towards decentralization. There is a feeling that there will be a trend of transition from financial markets to blockchain markets because it is convenient and it works. The blockchain scheme for the exchange of funds, in its mechanics, is close to the cash exchange scheme. For example, it does not require an intermediary in the form of a bank but acts always clearly — from person to person.
Why multitoken? Tell us more about how you came up with this idea and why you believe in it.
I keep trying to figure out whether any functionality can be implemented on a non-trustworthy smart contract. And the more I learn the possibilities of using it, the more new cases I think up, and, conversely, the more cases I learn, the more options I see for smart contracts. When I came up with it the idea of composing tokens seemed to be unique to me. Later I learned that on the traditional financial market, the composition of securities is called ETF, but everything works on trust there. Then I realized that the cryptocurrency market needs a multitoken on a non-trust contract. During one of the hackathons, I decided to develop the first version of the multitoken and write tests for it. Then this idea took first place, and that convinced me that it is necessary to implement it in the market.
We heard that you recently won the main prize in another hackathon?
Yes, I often participate in the hackathons and I often happen to be among the winners. I have recently won the main prize of HackSummit Virtual Hackathon. About 10 sponsoring companies were announced, each of which provided several assignments with its nominations for the several hundred participants that were there. I decided to make just an extension for ERC20 tokens that would allow restoring tokens that are sent to addresses with typos — TypoToken. And at the last moment, I tried to define my solution in several more or less suitable nominations, but, to my big surprise, I have been announced a winner. The jury, the CTOs of the sponsoring companies, chose — in their opinion — the most interesting crypto project. This was something that I could not expect — to make the project not for a specific nomination, but for the soul, and to win the main prize.
What principles do you follow when developing a multitoken?
Without a doubt, all participants in the process of the creation, purchase, sale, and burning of a multitoken operate for their own benefit. It only takes one attacker and the whole system, along with the users, can get hurt. The basic principle that I am now guided by is to minimize this damage for the system and to eliminate it for the users, to think through all possible aspects of the participants’ behavior, and to provide for all possible penalties.
Can you tell us about the latest updates of the multi-token? When should we expect the release?
Recently, there was a release of the alpha version, where you could buy a ready multitoken in one transaction for Ether. This month, we will add another feature that will allow you to sell the multitoken in one transaction. And in a couple of months, the user will be able to create custom multitokens, enclosing any tokens in any proportions.
