Blockstream CEO Adam Back talks Bitcoin over a game of Jenga

Adam Back, now CEO of Blockstream, has spent his childhood tinkering with programming code looking for encryption keys embedded in software. Born in London in 1970, he completed his A-levels in Mathematics, Physics and Economics before devoting himself to his Science in Computing and earning his PhD. He is from the University of Exeter. Buck, who has dedicated his career to applied cryptography, in 1997 he invented HashCash. HashCash is a proof-of-work system used to limit email spam and denial-of-service attacks, later made famous for use with Bitcoin. In fact, Buck is one of the few people cited in the original Bitcoin whitepaper.

Back now manages Blockstream, a digital asset storage company based in Victoria, Canada, which raised $210 million in a Series B round last August. In an interview with Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall, Buck explained that his initial fascination with Bitcoin was fertile ground for much applied research and development. It covers a variety of middle-tier topics and people, like science, programming,” he says.

When asked what advice he could give to Gen Z and the new generation of Boomers alike to approach Bitcoin, Buck suggested getting to know people in the industry first. I think a good way to do that is to try to contribute something as a volunteer, because you can learn things by interacting with people: user interfaces, documentation, or teaching materials.

The 52-year-old cryptographer is also literally exploring new physical boundaries for using Bitcoin. For the last few years, Back has operated the Blockstream satellite network, which broadcasts his entire Bitcoin blockchain around the world 24/7 through her leased satellites. “You can also have a node synced from scratch by a satellite. It takes a week or he two weeks” of error correction and redundancy. According to Blockstream, the setup can protect against network interruptions and provide areas without reliable internet connection access to Bitcoin. However, due to the privilege of not needing internet to use bitcoin, you will need a satellite kit to receive transmissions.