Blockchain Use Cases with Collin O’Brien

Unknown Speaker 0:00
Hey

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what’s up this George G and the time is right welcome today’s guest strung apart for Colin O’Brien. Colin, are you ready to do this? Absolutely. All right, let’s go. Colin is the head of marketing with Rubik. They’re a leading cross swap service that allows users to swap assets between major block chains in one click for the lowest fees, Colin excited to have you on. Tell us a little about your personal laughs more about your work and why you do what you do. Absolutely appreciate it.

Unknown Speaker 0:44
These days, I’m a family man. Married. I’ve got a daughter now who’s 16 months old, a fun age everyone tells me and they’re absolutely correct.

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And

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working with Rubik doing doing marketing with them has been absolutely thrilling for me. I’ve always been a big tech lover throughout my entire life.

Unknown Speaker 1:08
And when crypto started to click for me many years ago, and getting invested into the industry getting invested in the space, and then watching it grow and evolve over the last five years has been tremendously exciting. And now working in the industry getting to see what takes place behind the scenes has been just it’s it’s it’s a dream come true. Awesome. Well, it’s been certainly the last five years.

Unknown Speaker 1:36
That’s probably around my exposure to the world of crypto assets and cryptocurrency and blockchain. And it’s been fascinating to go from zero knowledge to whatever speed I’m traveling at now, probably 45 miles an hour, roughly speaking.

Unknown Speaker 1:53
And now we have obviously everything that’s going on with FTX, which I’m sure makes your job a lot more interesting. Yeah. Where do you think that that that we are, you know, there was web the first web and the web one web to web three? Where are we kind of at with with with Blockchain?

Unknown Speaker 2:13
I think where we are right now is late 90s, early 2000s. If we’re comparing it to web two, and, and getting you know, the.com, boom, and then bust, I feel like we’re kind of going through that bust cycle right now. Especially with the the all the FTX and Alameda stuff.

Unknown Speaker 2:33
You’re just seeing all the negative market sentiment right now. It’s not too dissimilar from what, you know, the the.com companies experienced in 99 2000 2001. I really think we are right there in terms of

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progress for the industry as a whole.

Unknown Speaker 2:54
And if you’re talking more specifically about potential Metaverse, right VR, AR style interaction for the average person, I think if you’d have told people in the early 90s, that they’d be able to pull up in their phone and do all the things we could do today. They would have laughed and said, No, that’s like from the Jetsons, you know, that’s going to be 50 6070 years away. Yet. Here we are. So I think we’re in terms of the metaverse, and in terms of AR and VR and stuff. We’re in the early 90s In terms of public perception towards it and whether or not it will be feasible, right to go to these virtual spaces and interact with commerce and purchase things and, and go to concerts and sporting events all in like a virtual way. It’s still very early. And I think most people are discounting that. It’s something that that won’t come to fruition. But I think there’s sort of a mistake.

Unknown Speaker 3:57
So I introduced you and we talked about Rubik. It’s a leading cross chain swap service. Now there are words there and I just read them, but I don’t know that I know what that means.

Unknown Speaker 4:11
Sure, I’d be happy to explain it. Basically, what Rubik is doing is creating a tech suite for web three development. So we pivoted a couple of times and the the project has definitely evolved over the last two years into something much different from its original inception. As time has gone on, we realized there needs to be a solution in the industry that aggregates all the different work that’s being done by different companies in terms of providing liquidity sourcing liquidity, exchanging the liquidity across different blockchain networks, and housing everything in one simple, easy to integrate software development kit to enable developers who know nothing about blockchain who are one

Unknown Speaker 5:00
Up to developers to be able to jump into the web three space, without complication, right? We’re trying to remove a lot of the pain points that crypto currently has for developers by making it all hidden on the back end from users, and making it very, very easy for, you know, app developers to be able to navigate in this web three environment without having to concern themselves with learning and a whole new host of languages. And all the the muddled infrastructure that we’re currently trying to work through right now.

Unknown Speaker 5:35
Is there an easy? Is there a example maybe you can share, say this, you know, you’re interested in doing an app like this, but here are sort of the challenges here are some of those existing blocks you’re talking about? Sure, right. Now, think of any app that you would use to purchase something or use a service, you’re linking your bank account, you’re linking a credit card or debit card.

Unknown Speaker 5:56
We’re making that possible, but in a web three environment, so that you can now interact with crypto in a decentralized way, you know, chain agnostic, right? So it doesn’t matter what application

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or where that where the network, the application is located on which network that doesn’t matter, right, I should just be able to use an application on my mobile device or on my PC,

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and not not concern myself with the rigmarole of trying to figure out okay, how do I get value from this blockchain network to another, I have money, it’s worth something, let me use it. That’s what we’re enabling on, you know, for users, for the individual to experience web three, it needs to be a seamless experience. And so that’s why we’re doing things like we have an upcoming feature where we have a Fiat on ramp built right into our software development kit. So you know, a particular application on your phone integrates our software development kit. Now you can link a credit card or a debit card, and purchase crypto right there inside the application. And then go to another application that may have the Rubik SDK and use that crypto even if it’s on a completely separate blockchain network. That’s what we’re aiming to do to make it you know, ready for mass adoption for not just users but developers as well. Got it.

Unknown Speaker 7:18
That that that was helpful because I’m more of a What time is it? Versus how does the watch actually work? Kind of a person. So I’m very I’m, I’m the consumer, which I certainly am, I’ve got my phone and or I’ve got my my headset on, and I’m going through different worlds. And on my end, I’ve got a my banking with with, with Chase, I’ve got a wallet, and I want to be able to use those things and buy things in all the different places that I go to, and I don’t care. You know what the back end looks like I just want to be able to purchase, is that what we’re talking about? Exactly. Yes. And we’re not limiting it to just transferring value between networks. We are going to be incorporating NF T bridges. For you listeners out there unfamiliar with that acronym. Get ready because you’re going to hear it everywhere in the coming decade. Nf T stands for non fungible tokens, something that’s not divisible. So it represents a digital asset.

Unknown Speaker 8:21
And, you know, I think gaming is going to be very huge for NF Ts. And eventually once we get a number of different governments around the world on board with crypto, you’re going to start to see things like licenses and deeds and titles and certificates and things like that being issued for as NF TS Same goes for for normal business, right? Invoices, Bill of ladings, things like that will be NF Ts. So we’re we’re trying to build an environment where people can interact the way they do today. But everything is on the blockchain, right? So so transferring NF T’s between blockchain networks between apps, again, it shouldn’t matter where the app is located. We’re trying to operate in a blockchain agnostic way. We currently have 26 blockchains, that are part of the ecosystem. And we’re servicing over 15,500 tokens. So beyond the NF T’s beyond moving value, we also want to provide Oracle’s and signals for applications to be able to pull data from multiple sources, whether it be off chain, it’s not on any blockchain network. It’s it’s getting a data feed from somewhere else, or it’s from an entirely separate blockchain network. We want to be able to provide that in one comprehensive software package where again, people can just make it easy to to integrate web three directly into their application. They don’t need to preoccupy themselves with having to learn about all the nuances of blockchain technology. Got it? So 1500 tokens, I think is what you said roughly, and I think I understand that 15,000 15,000 If I said 1500 I misspoke. I’m sure you said I’m sure that you did not. Alright, so 15,000 So that’s

Unknown Speaker 10:00
That’s more 26 blockchains is that a lot? How many blockchains are there roughly? Well, operating maintenance right now there’s around 150, Blockchain networks. 26 is a robust amount.

Unknown Speaker 10:16
And we’re going to continue servicing, you know, more and more blockchains. As time goes on, I’m one to believe that as we progress in the industry matures, that number will whittle down as things start consolidating. But there will be different blockchain networks servicing different application environments, right, there are going to be some networks that cater to data storage, there will be others that cater to

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commerce, right being able to process 1000s 10s of 1000s of transactions per second, some that are going to be more conducive for gaming.

Unknown Speaker 10:54
And some that may be more conducive for social media platforms, right. So there will be different environments that attract those applications based on the logic governing those chains. Now, for those maybe not too familiar with with Blockchain tech, you have different block sizes, and different times that those blocks will get packed with information and then locked and then put into the sequence on the chain. Those all factor in you have to weigh the pros and cons of of how big those blocks are, and how fast they can be closed. And again, those specific parameters will dictate certain environments that attract certain applications. So we see a multi blockchain future as an inevitability and a necessity just based on the logic and the math that governs the industry as a whole. So, again, there’s going to not just be one chain that has a monopoly over, you know, data chains, right? Like I’m a firm believer that there’s usually two major competitors, and then a distant third, all operating all been very successful, but you do have usually two to three people in a niche space. So we see that evolving and there being anywhere from, you know, at least a dozen, if not two dozen to three dozen major blockchain networks, when the dust settles 1020 years from now, and apps have kind of consolidated to their respective networks.

Unknown Speaker 12:24
Is there one Bitcoin or one blockchain that handles all Bitcoin? Or is Bitcoin spread across several different blockchains? Well, Bitcoin is its own blockchain bitcoin is is the first major blockchain right the first one that had Byzantine fault tolerance.

Unknown Speaker 12:42
And there are wrapped versions of Bitcoin that exist on a number of different blockchains. But Bitcoin in and of itself is like the original blockchain. It’s, it’s the it’s the iPhone one of blockchains.

Unknown Speaker 12:57
Got it. Okay, thank you. So I imagine that security and transparency, and all of those things were really, really important up until a couple of weeks ago, and now all of a sudden, they’re more important or the same.

Unknown Speaker 13:13
I would say they’re more important. You know, obviously, the recent developments with FTX have left a sour taste in the average, retail investors mouth and it’s it, there’s really no way to skirt around that the person who was

Unknown Speaker 13:32
you know, rubbing shoulders with the people responsible for regulation is the same person who had one of the biggest fraud schemes in the history of mankind, right. So it definitely gives people pause gives people concern and trepidation about whether or not this industry is for real. But I can tell you, the underlying technology represents a new form of accounting, a new form of record keeping. And because this technology exists, and because it can offer so many benefits to not only businesses, but the way that governments operate, and the way that people interact with each other, and the way they can control their data in an ever increasing digital world. There’s no There’s no going back Pandora’s box has been opened. And this technology is here to stay the same way the internet is here, just to this day, but you had people back in the 80s and 90s, saying, Oh, that’ll never happen. People will never do all of their Christmas shopping from their computer at home. That’s ludicrous.

Unknown Speaker 14:35
Now, now we have Cyber Monday. Right? And you don’t even do it from your PC. You do it from your smartphone sitting on the sofa drinking coffee at 7am. You know?

Unknown Speaker 14:46
Yeah, yeah, it is a brave new world around every corner for sure. And looking back on this time. I think that you described it really well talking about the.com collapse, sort of where we’re at. And that was an awfully long time ago.

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But

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super interesting and the promise of the blockchain.

Unknown Speaker 15:06
I think that that certainly makes sense to everybody and how, why we don’t vote using it. And all that stuff is probably a conversation for another day. But perhaps that’s something that y’all are working to tackle as well.

Unknown Speaker 15:20
That’s not in the wheelhouse right now. That’s not, it’s not in the dev pipeline. But I’m an advocate of that. I’m an advocate of of, you know, major, important processes being done on the blockchain, obviously, there’s, there’s growing pains that the industry is still going through with all the hacks that have been taking place.

Unknown Speaker 15:41
It’s not too dissimilar from the growing pains that went to went through in the tech industry in the early 2000s.

Unknown Speaker 15:49
So you know, collectively as a, as an industry, we’re learning from the missteps. And when this tech finally gets dialed in, I think it’s going to be revolutionary. This is the next major revolution for mankind. I mean, we just had a communication revolution, only 30 years ago with the advent of the internet. But here we are, again, on the cusp of a finance and data storage.

Unknown Speaker 16:13
Revolution. So

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so that makes perfect sense. We talked about swapping assets between major blockchains. That is, those are NF T’s. So it’s those non fungible tokens.

Unknown Speaker 16:30
So somebody is taking custody of the asset? And

Unknown Speaker 16:37
is it are you working with I think I use the example of of Chase. So in this example, how is how is actual fiat currency playing in if, if at all?

Unknown Speaker 16:51
Sure. We’re working right now with Fiat on ramp providers that essentially Yeah, act as like a bank, essentially, right? They’re, they’re receiving Fiat, and then they’re giving out another currency in kind and taking a little bit of a fee off the top to do so.

Unknown Speaker 17:11
That is important. Right? That is that is that is definitely going to be a way in which we onboard more people into the industry. However, I do think with the trillions of dollars that exist in the world right now is m one money stock, right that people have in piggy banks at home in their checking accounts and, and et cetera, et cetera. How do we get that in mass into the industry? Right? How do we digitize all of the current money that’s in the world, that’s going to take a government intervention and central bank intervention, and that’s another acronym that the average person is probably going to get sick of hearing in the coming decade is CB DC, Central Bank, digital currency, essentially, a crypto that represents fiat currency issued by a country’s central bank. And I can definitely see a situation where, like, back in the early 70s, the United States said, we are no longer accepting gold is legal tender, you have to turn that all in, and we will compensate you for it one time tax free. And, and you know, they got everybody off off of gold, right. And then we shifted away from gold back Fiat dollar.

Unknown Speaker 18:25
And something similar, I think is going to happen here with CBDCs, they’re going to say we’re no longer going to allow you to use cash as legal tender, your digital dollars need to be converted into cbdc dollars. So, you know, work with your bank, or go into a, you know, a participating bank, and you’ll be able to exchange all of the actual cash or digital dollars for a cbdc version of the US dollar. And then that will extend to the euro, the yen, the yuan, the peso, etcetera, etcetera.

Unknown Speaker 19:01
Makes sense?

Unknown Speaker 19:04
Well, the time will tell Colin, only Only time will tell. But I think that that is going to be the catalyst like if there’s going to be anything that gets the entirety of mankind shifted off of our old fiat monetary system, with the US dollar acting as essentially a petro dollar.

Unknown Speaker 19:21
That event with cbdc issuance by governments around the world is going to be a paradigm shift for the entire global financial system. And that’s really it is as much as web three prepares for it. It’s going to make our head spins when that day happens, because we’re going to have people in flexing into the industry by the millions on a daily basis when that happens.

Unknown Speaker 19:45
Well, Colin, thank you so much for coming on. Do people will people are people directly going to Rubik and signing up with you? Or are we using Rubik without even realizing it?

Unknown Speaker 20:00
Currently both. In the future the goal is for people to be using Rubik without even realizing that they’re using it. It’s a full white label solution. And fully customizable. So when people do integrate our software development kit, it is up to them how they want to present it as a user interface and user experience. But all of the operations happening on the back end will will continue to happen. And again, the goal is people won’t even know they’re using it. But if you want to go use Rebic right now, go check us out. Our website is Rubik dot exchange. And our actual application is app dot Rebic dot exchange. Again, currently servicing 26 blockchain networks, we have source liquidity from over 70 decentralized exchanges. We’re utilizing upwards of 28 Bridge providers to interact between the different blockchain networks and we have over 15,500 tokens in our ecosystem. Excellent.

Unknown Speaker 20:59
Well if you enjoyed as much as I did show Colin your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciates good ideas go to Rubik Are you bi C dot exchange? And also check out app dot Rubik dot exchange? And

Unknown Speaker 21:16
educate yourself a little further on what Colin and Colin and I have been talking about today. Thanks again, Colin.

Unknown Speaker 21:23
Thank you, and until next time, remember, do your part by doing your best

Transcribed by https://otter.ai