Reimagining Proof of Work: Anastasia Bez, Kadena Director of Operations
As the crypto industry works to accommodate the Ethereum merge, the founders of Kadena are taking a different approach.
Born from visionary ideas that pre-date Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper, Kadena is committed to building a scalable Proof-of-Work blockchain for both enterprise and individual use.
That’s where people like Anastasia Bez, Director of Operations at Kadena, step in. She and the rest of the team at Kadena are ensuring the architects of crypto’s future can keep building, sourcing future crypto leaders from diverse backgrounds and demystifying crypto for non-experienced users.
In a recent episode of Masters of Web3, Anastasia shared some of the key ways Kadena are achieving all this, including:
- Redesigning Proof of Work to tackle network congestion and scalability issues
- Improving security and simplifying crypto for newer users
- Implementing a grant program designed to keep builders building
Proof of Work & Scalability
Kadena’s goal is ultimately to make blockchain work for everyone, which is something that can only be done at scale.
Their ecosystem is built upon a Proof-of-Work approach that relies on a braided-chain architecture to alleviate congestion issues and ensure maximum scalability.
Essentially, how it works is when one chain becomes congested or clogged, you can just hop over to another chain and relieve the pressure.
This is an area Anastasia is particularly excited about, since the ability to continually expand opens up all sorts of possibilities — especially for companies looking to build on top.
This efficiency and flexibility also has a major impact on less-experienced users, too. Reducing congestion keeps transaction costs down, removing a costly barrier to entry and allowing a broader range of users into the crypto space.
When Mom Mints an NFT
For Anastasia, reducing costs is a big piece of the puzzle for how to broaden adoption of crypto. In fact, one of her goals is to get her mom to mint her first NFT — something that, without Kadena’s architecture, could cost hundreds in gas fees.
Still, Anastasia knows that increasing adoption is about more than just reducing costs. Users need simplicity and security.
When it comes to simplicity, Anastasia contends that users don’t want to be involved in complex tasks, they just want crypto to work.
When you go to the bank, you don’t go to the vault and grab stacks of cash. Instead, transaction processes are not visible to the customer but still occur.
That’s one goal at Kadena — to create systems to help ease learners into crypto would decrease overall anxiety and hesitation.
As for security, Kadena flattens the learning curve by building in processes — such as requiring both sender and receiver to verify transactions — that simultaneously offer increased security while also educating the user on sound security hygiene.
Built for Builders
Above all, Anastasia sees Kadena’s role as helping blockchain builders do what they do best: build.
This is evidenced in Kadena’s architecture, which makes building in their ecosystem simple — but it’s also apparent in their grant program, which empowers new builders and veterans alike.
Whether it’s $5,000 or a six-figure sum, Kadena wants to help fund the future of crypto.
They’ve even earmarked 10% of their grants for economically-displaced builders to make sure their collective knowledge doesn’t get lost from the crypto space.
Anyone looking for help funding their next great idea can head to https://kadena.io/grants/ and fill out an application. Just make sure to be as detailed as possible.
Everyone Belongs in Crypto
While Kadena are working to broaden crypto’s user-base, they are also trying to diversify the space with their hiring practices and counter stereotypes about what it means to work in crypto.
For Anastasia, hiring from a more diverse pool means moving beyond hiring within Kadena’s collective network. Instead, she says it takes actively entering spaces producing emerging crypto superstars and recruiting there.
The other half of the equation for fostering more diversity in crypto, Anastasia says, is to stop the pigeonholing of particular groups into certain roles within the space.
Crypto has the power to change our whole world — but that can only happen when the whole world is included.
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