Community Spotlight: Patrick Huston

“I was waiting for a project to come along that ignited genuine excitement. “

If you follow XYO on Twitter, you might have noticed some tweets from @XGeoHacker. Patrick J. Huston, the man behind the account, is one of the most active members of the geohacking community. He might have been the first COIN app user to start mining from a plane! Patrick lives in Northern California, where he advises, plans and executes innovative security solutions and technology adoption in the logistics space for a global tech company.

Patrick was kind enough to answer a few questions for me as part of our first Community Spotlight feature!

When did you first get involved in blockchain/crypto?

I have been on the periphery of crypto for about 5 years, watching from the sidelines collecting as much information as possible but never taking the dive. I always felt drawn to blockchain technology but, honestly, I was waiting for a project to come along that excited me.

When did you first get involved in XYO? What inspired you to make the first purchase, whether it was tokens, shares, or a mining kit?

I have to say I feel a little late to the party missing out on the ICO, Gamma and first ever Spatial. The cutting edge ideas behind the XYO and the real-world applications that can be developed pushed me to research the project, and around every corner I’ve found dedication and innovation which was infectious and inspiring.

What excites you most about the project?

XYO excites me on a lot of levels. The concept/platform comes from a traditional company with the proven ability to manufacture a viable product. The company has shown an ability to shift its focus, to scale, and to attract new talent. There is excitement in the crypto community, not only for the ideas, but from individuals joining the revolution and dedicating their time to architecting this trillion dollar industry disruptor.

The real-world use case for this technology that gets me most excited is the potential for real time tracking in the logistics industry. The partnership with FedEx Institute of Technology and the applications that may be developed out of that partnership would revolutionize the logistics space and enhance the security of global supply chain. The execution of smart contracts in global supply chain could revolutionize the biggest industry on the planet.

I saw your photo using COIN on a plane — how was that experience? It’s not something we’d anticipated happening so quickly!

I started using the COIN app the day before the launch. Call me an overachiever. I have so far utilized COIN in 4 countries: The United States, Netherlands, Ireland and Germany. I started @XGeoHacker as a way to document my journey, expand the reach of the XYO revolution and help educate the XYO community along the way.

I travel extensively throughout the year for my job. I had a flight already scheduled for the week of the COIN app launch, which allowed me to test this capability rather quickly. Logically walking through the functionality of the app I felt like it was possible to geomine in the sky. I tested if COIN would launch on airplane mode tethered to an internet connection on the ground and it seemed to work flawlessly. I knew utilization of the app on a plane traveling at 500 miles an hour with a subpar internet connection might prevent it from working as tested. In fact, I encountered a few issues. The internet connection was not viable enough throughout the duration of the flight to continuously mine. At the speed planes travel, the map doesn’t always render correctly, and will get stuck on the last known location. Still, I have over the course of two flights managed to mine 3–4 hours with a couple of 60 minute blocks.

Are there any potential use cases for XYO that you’ve seen in your day-to-day life?

I run a global security program for a tech company that is responsible for real-time tracking of intellectual property and high value logistical moves around the world. XYO could allow for the expansion of that capability, eliminating the constraints associated with current market solutions that encounter country, carrier, inventory and price restrictions that encumber true global scalability.

Are there any other blockchain projects you’re interested in or excited about?

I am constantly researching new innovative projects in blockchain, most notably in the security space. The paradigm shift in the crypto world away from full transparency to secure private interactions has recently piqued my interest. No specific project stands out, but the future expansion of secure blockchain ideology is worth paying attention to as real-world applications align more closely with the privacy concerns of society.

Do you know someone who you think could be featured in the XYO Community Spotlight? Send me an email at johnny@xyo.network and let’s chat!