Meet our new hire — Cryptographer, Cristian Lupascu
This post is the first part of a series to introduce you to our new hires and the growing team. We hope this can give you a better view of what’s going on behind the scenes at BLANK.
We are kicking this series off with our newly added Cryptographer, Cristian Lupascu. Cristian has been working in software security & cryptography for several years now, and he’s also an associate teacher in cryptography. We are pretty excited to have him on board and to benefit from his years of experience.
We are looking forward to seeing his cryptography skills applied to our privacy and user-focused business plans!
Keep reading to learn more about Cristian.
What’s your position here at Blank?
I’m a cryptographic primitives advisor and oversee privacy-enhancing technologies. Put shortly, I focus on the research and implementation of code in both of these areas.
What’s your background?
I’ve been working in the security solution field for roughly six years. For the last 5 years, I’ve been working with six different companies as an employee/consultant, helping them with a broad range of security-related tasks. I have also co-founded a blockchain consultancy service back in 2018, which has allowed me to gain new market strategies and business skills (outside of software/technical areas).
Now, I focus solely on privacy-related technology, which has led me to BLANK. I rather focus on privacy than the whole blockchain scene since it’s extensive and overwhelming with new stuff popping up every day.
I’m also an associate teacher in practical cryptography at a University in Bucharest, where I teach laboratory cryptography, including primitives, schemes, algorithms, and more.
When did you first get involved with Crypto?
My first contact with crypto was in 2015 when I did my master thesis. I was working on some related technologies and then discovered blockchain technologies.
But it wasn’t until 2017 that I started to get more involved in the industry via employment and consultancy.
What made you excited about Crypto in the first place?
When I first understood how cryptographic primitives could achieve confidentiality/authenticity. After looking into those primitives, I started to go in deeper into other topics. I discovered more and more compelling applications that blockchain technology could be used for and just fell in love with all the security aspects and the cryptographic primitives.
What made you interested in BLANK?
I believe that privacy and the confidentiality of transactions are human right to everyone, and this is something that BLANK strives to achieve. That’s the main reason why I joined the team.
I also see BLANK as an excellent opportunity to apply all my knowledge in privacy and security into a product brought to market and used by potentially many users.
The last reason is that this line of work also aligns very well with my Ph.D. thesis. My Ph.D.’s main topic is privacy-enhancing technologies, like zero-knowledge proofs and other primitives closely related to what BLANK works on.
Why do you think privacy matters on blockchains?
I think that the blockchain’s transparency and openness are a benefit rather than a weakness for the entire ecosystem as a whole. But it also comes with some drawbacks.
For example, If you’re trading, utilize DeFi, or other means of use on the blockchain, you can easily be tracked, and others can take actions based on what you’re doing. This could lead to disruptive actions not only for you but to the ecosystem as a whole.
Blockchains should stay open where it has its benefits, but there are also many areas where it doesn’t benefit the system and becomes an issue.
Currently, I see DeFi being the most exposed to this issue, and I believe that what we are building at BLANK will be a great solution that will solve this issue with more privacy.
Where do you think crypto will be 5 years from now?
I see a lot of similarities between crypto and the internet when it first came out. Since the inception of the internet, many people did not think it would stay for a long time, and we can see a similar situation with crypto today. Another example would be when computers were first being introduced. Most people said it would only be used for big corporations and industries, but now we all use laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
I definitely think that Crypto is here to stay for the long term. I believe that crypto will be looked at like a new type of infrastructure and not just a technology five years from now. Similar to how we see the infrastructure of the internet today.
Any parting thoughts?
Try to remain #BLANK out there in the crypto world. Remember that others can take action towards your on-chain behavior, which in some cases might not be good for you.
About Blank Wallet
Blank is the most private, non-custodial Ethereum browser extension wallet.
Blank allows the user to easily interact with privacy smart contracts on Ethereum to hide the amounts and the origins of cryptocurrency held, in a decentralized, non-custodial, and frictionless manner.
Blank solves the problem of privacy in crypto transactions. Each time you want to make a withdrawal, Blank will create a new wallet address for you with the amount of crypto that you requested. This address originates from the smart contract where everyone’s funds are pooled. All of this is achieved using cryptographic proofs to ensure that the user cannot be linked with the original depositing address.
With crypto transactions increasing, on-chain transaction privacy is being highly discussed to keep you safe from exposing yourself. Blank has developed a system that adds the ultimate protective layer to your crypto transactions while facilitating every function that other wallets offer.
Anyone can easily install Blank and start reaping the privacy benefits in no time at all. Besides the smart contract functionality, Blank wallet offers a higher level of privacy due to Tor integration. Upcoming functionality includes DeFi web3 integrations as well as support for Metamask Snaps Plugins to allow for seamless connectivity and usage.
Reclaim privacy on your Ethereum transfers. Go Blank.
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