Conversation with CEO of COZ: a philosophical perspective to the immortality of physical objects when bound with code on the blockchain
Blockchain exists as a software substrate within our modern ecosystem. As long as the ecosystem remains operational, our software persists.
TechFlow: Sunny
COZ: Tyler Adams
“Blockchain exists as a software substrate within our modern ecosystem. As long as the ecosystem remains operational, our software persists. ”
— Tyler Adams, CEO of COZ
We've been building blockchain technology for long enough to be able to take a philosophical stance on the way the blockchain can be used.
Our modern ecosystem refers to the epoch (i.e. anthropocene) that revolves around human activities on earth. Like any other biological entities, humans reproduce, and reproduction is always a conserved feature of living organisms. Non-biological entities such as code, software, writings, or rings are non-living things that are unable to reproduce themselves…
Since 2008, Bitcoin, a form of private currency, has emerged, capable of connecting all individuals on Earth with the concept of money. Money can be seen as a fractionalized space that flows through supply and demand, supporting fundamental economic activities necessary for humans to preserve their humanity.
Unlike private money, public money, such as nation-state currencies, is governed by a select few, mainly governments, creating a single point of failure for supply and demand when errors occur due to human factors.
Behind Bitcoin lies decentralized ledger technology, known as blockchain, which enables all humans on Earth to contribute their labor and resources to maintain the operational state of the decentralized ledger. Since Ethereum introduced smart contracts, the Ethereum blockchain has become capable of functioning as the world's computer, meaning that the smart contracts (essentially code) running on top of it are also intertwined with humanity.
So, for the first time in history, humans can link their reproductive capabilities to software (logic, language, code, memes, and etc.), and this is made possible through the blockchain.
As Tyler has described it, "blockchain exists as a software substrate" of our epoch. Now, if we have a reproductive software substrate, can we bind it to physical items such as rings, keys, and artworks, so that they can become more 'immortal' (absolute immortality would be an exaggeration as things degrade after usage) through their software layer being programmed on the blockchain?
Now, physical objects (non-biological objects) can regenerate… as long as humans regenerate, keeping the blockchain layer operational.
I found the conversation with Tyler deeply intriguing as we delved into how blockchain acts as a software layer for things on earth, and how humans behind it can keep it in a state of regeneration.
Tyler Adams's background is deeply rooted in the intersection of medical technology and biological research. Initially focusing on designing medical instruments and centrifuges, his primary work revolved around flow cytometry, a crucial tool for high-speed cell sorting and analysis used in significant research areas like AIDS and cancer. Despite not being directly involved in diagnostics, his dedication to instrument manufacturing and the broader field of biological research illustrates a profound connection to this scientific domain, underpinning his later transition to blockchain technology with a unique perspective. In Tyler’s early days with blockchain, he joined Neo ecosystem as a core contributor.
Impression of decentralized immortality generated by DALL-E3
From a Neo Ecosystem Contributor to Founding COZ
TechFlow: How did you jump from an applied biomedical engineer to Neo?
Tyler:
My journey into blockchain was a long and multi-stepped one. It began with my involvement in high-speed cell sorting and ultra-high resolution, utilizing techniques like seven laser array sub-micron cell sorting. This technical endeavor led me to Seagate (a company for mass data storage solutions), where my focus shifted to numerical modeling for the reliability of advanced technologies. There, my responsibilities expanded to include reverse engineering customer workflows and creating numerical models to simulate new hard drive technologies.
This experience segued into a role focused on global system test infrastructure and analytics. It was here that I initiated my exploration into consensus algorithms, driven by the challenge of achieving global agreement on data states within large storage arrays. This exploration brought me to the forefront of blockchain research, starting with foundational technologies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Eventually, this path led me to the Neo blockchain and its delegated Byzantine fault tolerance (dBFT) algorithm, which resonated with our architectural and industrial needs. Recognizing the limited exposure of Neo's technology, particularly outside the Chinese-speaking community, my team at COZ and I embarked on translating the Neo whitepaper into English. We developed tools and infrastructure to enhance its visibility in the Western world, marking the beginning of our full-time commitment to the blockchain industry and the Neo platform over the past seven years.
In discussing dBFT, or delegated Byzantine fault tolerance, I highlighted how Neo pioneered this protocol, setting a precedent for energy efficiency and computational effectiveness in the blockchain space. This innovation has not just been confined to Neo; it's garnered interest and adoption from other major players like Binance Chain, among others. The attraction to dBFT stems from its stark contrast to the energy-intensive proof-of-work solutions, positioning it as a more sustainable and efficient framework for Layer 1 blockchains.
TechFlow: How did you establish this developer group during your time at Neo and subsequently transition it into COZ?
Tyler:
I didn't initially begin with Neo directly. My journey into Neo started from the outside. About seven years ago, although my memory may not be flawless, the experience was very natural.
Many individuals, like myself, came across Neo independently and recognized its value as a protocol and project. As community members, we united and began communicating, organizing, and collaborating. We embarked on various initiatives, such as translating documentation and developing software for the platform.
We initiated the creation of a wallet, which has evolved into a BIP39 multi-protocol wallet. Additionally, we developed contract compilers for writing smart contracts on the platform and software development kits to enable application development. These efforts allowed platforms like Binance and Kucoin to interface with the blockchain effectively.
The Neo team provided significant support for our endeavors, even providing funding to sustain our development work. This financial support helped attract developers to the ecosystem. In essence, this marks the inception of COZ and outlines how we began our journey.
Understanding the Software Development Difference in Web2 and Web3
TechFlow: What do you perceive as the most significant disparity in developer onboarding between Web2 and Web3 development?
Tyler:
There are a couple of critical aspects to consider - the tooling and the support.
Firstly, let's address the fundamental differences in software architecture.
In traditional software development, we often talk about a frontend and a backend, two static constructs that define the application's structure. However, when it comes to blockchain, we encounter an entirely new architecture. While blockchain can sometimes be used solely as a backend, maintaining the frontend-backend concept, there are instances where this approach doesn't suffice. This is particularly evident in the realm of smart contracts, where cryptography and security considerations play a significant role.
Understanding and navigating these security implications pose one of the most significant challenges for developers transitioning from Web2 to Web3 development.
For instance, let's consider data storage in the healthcare sector. In traditional healthcare software development, encrypted data stored in databases can comply with regulatory standards, ensuring security and compliance.
However, if the same data is encrypted and stored on a blockchain, regulatory concerns arise due to the immutability of blockchain data.
Unlike traditional databases, where data can be deleted and re-encrypted to meet new cryptographic standards, blockchain data remains immutable.
This fundamental difference undermines many standard practices in software development and necessitates a thorough reevaluation of security protocols.
Furthermore, COZ focuses on building contract compilers and software development kits, particularly in Python, which is widely recognized as the primary programming language in information technology.
With Python being a prevalent language taught in schools, the programming language barrier is no longer a significant concern. Instead, the primary challenge lies in understanding these architectural concepts. When participating in hackathons, for example, participants are encouraged to design their architecture and seek feedback, as many traditional software architectures are incompatible with blockchain technology.
COZ’s Mission: Cryptographically Bind Physical Assets onto the Blockchain
TechFlow: When envisioning the future trajectory of COZ, how do you see its role evolving in architecture development within Web3, particularly in relation to traditional Web2 companies and Web3?
Tyler:
Currently, we offer services tailored to Web2 businesses looking to transition into Web3. We position ourselves as partners, leveraging our extensive experience and deep understanding of the ecosystem to ensure that partners' architectures and product concepts are seamlessly and securely implemented within the Web3 landscape. Our expertise spans from core protocol development and consensus mechanism design to end-user activations, with products deployed to thousands of users at various live events on mainnet.
Through these services, we address the challenges specific to non-FinTech blockchain use cases, leveraging insights gained from proof points and activations to streamline processes and remove hurdles.
In recent times, we've been focusing on the development of physical assets cryptographically linked to the blockchain, offering a utility-driven use case devoid of any financial components.
Despite this, they offer unique value propositions by harnessing blockchain technology. As an organization, we believe that our extensive tenure in the ecosystem enables us to pioneer novel use cases beyond financial applications.
This approach aligns with our vision of driving general adoption by integrating blockchain seamlessly into everyday life, where users interact with blockchain technology without even realizing it.
Contrary to the prevailing trend within the industry, where many focus solely on blockchain-centric narratives, we adopt a customer-centric approach. Our philosophy is to meet customers where they are, prioritizing the delivery of tangible value propositions over blockchain hype.
Drawing parallels with the evolution of cloud computing, we recognize the tendency for early cloud marketing efforts to emphasize the technology itself rather than its practical benefits.
Similarly, in the blockchain space, there's a tendency to tout blockchain for its own sake. However, we believe that the future lies in blockchain becoming an infrastructure layer, akin to cloud computing, seamlessly integrated into everyday applications without drawing attention to its underlying technology.
In essence, we anticipate blockchain evolving into a foundational tool used to build products, much like the cloud infrastructure. Our goal at COZ is to align with this trajectory and position ourselves at the forefront of this shift towards blockchain as an integral part of the technological landscape.
TechFlow:Could you provide an example of a real-world use case where a physical object utilizes your services, yet the users are unaware that it's based on blockchain technology?
Tyler:
Last year in Denver, Colorado, the renowned mural festival, Worldwide Walls, took place, drawing the participation of 17 muralists from across the globe who flew in to create stunning artworks. Some of these murals stood as tall as five stories, truly magnificent in scale. Subsequently, bronze plaques were installed on them, and I have an example right here. Embedded within these plaques is a microcomputer, allowing users to tap or scan them to collect a unique signature. These signatures can then be burned onto the blockchain to redeem rewards from local businesses within the district. We had plans to revive this initiative for ETHDenver in three weeks.
This serves as an excellent example where individuals don't necessarily need to be aware of it. They have no direct interaction with the blockchain and don't need to create a wallet or any related actions. However, they are utilizing the blockchain to enhance their experience.
TechFlow: Is it like a POAP?
Tyler:
Kind of, except that it's not spoofable.
It's peer-to-peer, with no super user in existence. It's directly the vendor, the local merchant, interacting with the community. The walls themselves in the murals serve as the waypoints.
Another good example of this would be the activation we conducted at Token2049 in Singapore, where we distributed rings.
These rings are counterfeit-proof, making us the sole manufacturers of such physical assets on Earth at present. They utilize blockchain to provide provenance information and assert ownership data.
During our Token2049 activation, approximately 300 of these rings were distributed. Participants engaged in a curated museum experience where they could tap-scan their rings to interact with the exhibit. This interaction, facilitated by blockchain technology, required no communication, private key, or sign-up process, boasting a clean user interface and experience. A similar experience was deployed at Consensus last year as well.
Moreover, we executed something similar at the Tribeca Film Festival, featuring cast art pieces from one of this year's Academy Award-nominated films. These pieces are bonded into wax cast frames with a chip embedded in the back. By tap-scanning these items, users can interface with the blockchain to validate their cryptographic authenticity, making them counterfeit-proof physical assets.
What's particularly interesting about this setup is that it directly interfaces with the blockchain, enabling the creation of decentralized applications that utilize it as a key for interaction. For instance, envision a smart contract wallet incorporating features where this ring serves as a two-factor authentication device for verifying authenticity during transactions.
It could also be employed to open doors and serve various other purposes. Beyond proving authenticity and displaying provenance data for collectible items—a significant concern in the art market—it also serves as a tool for the broader art community, which frequently grapples with issues of piracy and counterfeiting.
TechFlow: Why have you chosen to utilize blockchain in this particular case, particularly in providing the signature required to open doors?
Tyler:
There's the cryptographic value. It's also the fact that it's decentralized.
We've been building blockchain technology for a really long time. In doing so, we've taken kind of a philosophical perspective on the way that blockchain can be used. In this case, blockchain exists as a software substrate within our modern ecosystem.
When you think about a physical asset, you have your headphones for example. If you hand those to somebody, you can sell them right now. There's no centralized infrastructure that exists for that transaction. It's peer-to-peer. And that, fundamentally, is the concept of blockchain as well. It's peer-to-peer. It's permissionless. You can do what you want with your assets.
So for us, we see a lot of analogs, between these physical assets and blockchain, which we perceive with this type of product as being a really good interface. We could, as an organization, completely disappear off the face of the earth, and our physical assets would still exist. People could continue to write software that uses our physical assets. They could continue to use them, prove that they are authentic, and continue to operate with them, irrelevant of whether we, the producers, are even solvent anymore. And that's the same as your headphones. All physical assets.
The person or the company that made your physical assets – your headphones, your clothing – those still exist whether the company exists or not. Blockchain is a perfect tool to build physical assets with or against. We've seen other solutions for this, but that problem doesn't go away. If you've ever purchased some piece of technology, and the company disappears and then you just can't use it anymore. That's a horrible experience. So we're trying to drive this concept that physical assets and blockchain are a very good meeting.
TechFlow: Can you explain a bit more on how you modify the ‘substrate’ or the physical asset without interacting with the producer?
Tyler:
As an organization, we deploy a collection of smart contracts onto the blockchain. We've been discussing the distinction between backend and frontend, highlighting the architectural contrast between traditional software and Web3.
In traditional software, the company typically maintains the backend infrastructure. If the company ceases to exist, the backend infrastructure disappears with it. However, in our case, our code resides on the blockchain.
We don't manage the infrastructure, servers, or any related components. Instead, our code is embedded within the blockchain fabric, which is maintained by the entire ecosystem.
As long as the ecosystem remains operational, our software persists.
This contrasts with conventional software models where the cessation of a company can lead to the cessation of its services. For instance, if Microsoft or Apple were to go out of business, all services reliant on their backend infrastructure would cease to function.
In our scenario, where physical assets may endure for decades, this offers a reassuring sense of security for users. They can trust that software can continue to be developed for these assets, ensuring their continued functionality and authenticity verification. This is the unique value proposition provided by blockchain.
For us, blockchain presents a distinctive utility and value proposition that cannot be replicated by any other software solution. This product simply couldn't exist without blockchain technology.
TechFlow: That's what really makes physical or inorganic objects immortal or regenerative.
Tyler:
We have dedicated years to enhancing user experience and making blockchain more accessible, striving to identify the true use cases and value proposition for the technology in various industries. When we break down distributed ledger technology, what emerges as its core value proposition to businesses? To answer this question, we have extensively field-tested our theories.
For the past seven years, our team has traversed the globe, engaging in numerous activities and events, meeting with individuals and organizations embarking on blockchain projects. Our aim has been to gain insights into the essence of blockchain technology and its potential applications.
Looking ahead 50 years, where will blockchain stand? We anticipate that discussions about "being on the blockchain" will fade into the background, much like discussions about the cloud. Instead, blockchain will become recognized as a tool that adds value to other products and processes. Our ongoing efforts have been focused on unraveling this intrinsic value proposition.
Knowledge, Internet, Open Source, and Decentralized Science
TechFlow: How do you envision the intersection of decentralized science (DeSci) and blockchain technology, particularly in fields such as medicine where you have a keen interest? Currently, many decentralized science projects in space serve as funding mechanisms for small to medium-sized labs. However, looking ahead, what potential do you see for blockchain to integrate with scientific instruments, such as using DNA as a form of data storage?
Tyler:
Five years ago, a team within our ecosystem submitted a proposal to a hackathon centered around the concept of conducting peer reviews for research on the blockchain. Currently, we have a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) established within the Neo ecosystem, where individuals can submit proposals for funding. These proposals are then voted upon and discussed entirely on the blockchain by a committee.
The idea of using DAOs to transparently distribute funding and facilitate peer reviews for academic research holds immense potential. This approach addresses the politics and bureaucracy often encountered within academia. Furthermore, it allows for anonymity in the peer review process, leveraging blockchain technology to ensure transparency and fairness.
By adopting this model, peer reviews and voting for academic journals and conferences can be conducted openly, without the usual secrecy associated with traditional processes.
Additionally, there is significant potential for extending these principles of transparency and collaboration to other industries, drawing parallels with the ethos of Open Source.
Scientific research, in particular, stands to benefit greatly from such an approach, given its alignment with the principles of open collaboration and knowledge sharing.
At COZ, we are strong advocates of open source principles. Many of our products and a significant portion of our infrastructure are open source.
We host public nodes for people to use, which has worked really well with software. If it weren't for open source software, we wouldn't even be having this video chat right now. It's a straightforward argument to make against anyone who claims that open source isn't responsible for the existence of our software infrastructure on Earth.
It all exists thanks to the open-source software movement. Blockchain opens up similar capabilities for many other areas as well. I entered a technical field from a mechanical engineering perspective, and a great example of this is the 3D printing movement, which has recently seen significant advancements. It's all based on open hardware and open source principles.
One challenge with hardware is how to share information in a way that proves you're the creator of the designs. Blockchain helps with this because we have ECDSA, an immutable ledger that allows you to publish to decentralized storage and have the signing recorded on the chain.
Decentralized science, or DeSci, is another example. You can publish papers to decentralized storage, or even store already-published ones, including algorithms, on the chain. This ensures access, issues rights correctly, and adheres to licensing agreements because it's programmatically managed.
Historically, the academic field has been mined by private industry for technology, and these private companies can restrict access to content once they become successful. With decentralized solutions, this is much more difficult because the data is stored permanently by the author in a specific way that can't be altered by anyone except the original author.
There's a significant value proposition there, in my opinion. I might be biased because our organization strongly supports open-source software and decentralized scientific discovery, but it presents a huge opportunity.
However, it's an uphill battle because traditional academic institutions are resistant to this concept; it's how they differentiate and exist. Credentialing is also complicated. In the U.S., when you graduate from college, you receive a degree, but for degree verification, you have to request it from the institution, which goes through a third party, and there's often a fee involved.
In Singapore, they issue a digital certificate that allows you to prove your university attendance and degree. There are numerous infrastructure layers within academia, including research and decentralized scientific advancement, and academic achievement, where verifiable credentials through decentralized identity (DID) hold value over time.
Tyler’s Advice for Young People: Going to the Gemba
TechFlow: Do you have any advice for young people who are trying to learn how to code smart contracts and entering the industry in general?
Tyler:
This isn't just about software; it's about engaging with people, listening to their frustrations, and pinpointing potential solutions. Being a successful player in this industry doesn't necessarily require exceptional software development skills. It's more about recognizing the pain points and having the ability to address them. Software serves as a valuable tool for this, whether it's blockchain-based or not. Understanding people's needs and frustrations, as well as grasping the basic concepts of available tools and how to apply them, is crucial.
Both blockchain and cloud computing are powerful tools, but they're not magic solutions. It's essential to comprehend their high-level value propositions. Can they actually add value and help resolve the problem at hand? Over the past seven years, I've witnessed numerous projects encountering this common pitfall. They identify a problem and seek to develop an application to solve it, but they try to force-fit blockchain or cloud solutions where they aren't appropriate. It's akin to using a hammer on a screw – simply the wrong tool for the job.
This scenario is likely to repeat itself with AI as well. While it's an incredibly powerful tool, it won't be suitable for every situation. Before attempting to apply these technologies, it's crucial to understand their value propositions at a high level. Blindly hoping they'll work without this understanding is ill-advised.
There's a concept from Motorola and Toyota about going to the Gemba (the Japanese term for “actual place”), the place where things are happening. This applies not just to blockchain but to engineering in general. Engaging with and learning from the people you're building for is invaluable.
More about COZ:
https://www.coz.io/
About TechFlow
Founded in 2020, TechFlow is a cutting-edge crypto media with the top social media influence that produces the most popular original content and has the highest user quality. TechFlow is well - known for the content quality and depth of reports, and has been recognized and favored by many top partners in the industry.
Website: https://www.techflowpost.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechFlow_Intern