The Enigma Collective is comprised of talented individuals who represent our project and communicate our technology and vision to their communities and industries. Our goal has been to build a program where everyone feels valued, learns daily, builds skills, and has direct access to the Enigma team. Being involved at the early stages of an ambitious blockchain project like Enigma is an incredible opportunity — and joining the Collective can mean gaining lifelong friends and colleagues.

With the Collective active in over 15 countries, we are slowly building what we believe is the best core community in the blockchain space — curious, committed, and kind. Members bring many different skills and backgrounds to their work, including development experience, artistic talents, business acumen, community-building expertise, and much more.

Previously we’ve shared stories from other members of the Enigma Collective, including Kristi and Brendan.

Today we highlight Josh Lines, one of the first Collective members and a great contributor to our project. Read his story in his own words below.

“I feel like Enigma’s community-driven style is what distinguishes them. They provide a launch pad for existing developers to build for the future while producing quality content, like their blog posts, which people in all walks of life can understand.”

Who are you?

My name’s Josh, and I’d say I’m a bit of a wildcard. I find myself often obsessed with learning about something intensely and then moving on. This has given me a wide set of skills which I utilize between my job and hobbies.

From an early age I’ve been deeply interested in science and technology. As a child I was obsessed with discovering how things worked. I would spend a lot of time on my laptop — growing up in the age of the internet is something I didn’t take for granted. Personally, I blame my parents. After all, they are responsible for introducing me to replica model kits, engines, supporting my constant tinkering, and taking me to many science exhibitions, fostering my insatiable curiosity. I wanted to know just how things worked, why they worked, and what else they could do (and I still do).

This interest has only grown more profound and impassioned with time and with each new discovery. From adding a car battery to my electric car as a kid (which caused it to melt after zooming around for 10 minutes), to optimizing my DPS in World of Warcraft today using simulations and spreadsheets, discovery and optimization has been a constant force in my life.

Why Enigma?

While blockchain presented itself as an amazing technological innovation, I found the real world application of them to be sub-optimal. The computing capacity is slow and expensive for one, furthermore data on the chain is on display. Data being public severely limits adoption as privacy is a well-recognized human right, which is enforced with protection laws such as GDPR.

After falling down the 3am reading rabbit hole, I pored through multiple ‘solutions’ which just didn’t satisfy me — until I stumbled upon Guy’s thesis. I didn’t expect to find a project which resonated so strongly with my personal ethics whilst providing the solutions that I was searching for.

I feel like Enigma’s community-driven style is what distinguishes them. They provide a launch pad for existing developers to build for the future while producing quality content, like their blog posts, which people in all walks of life can understand.

What do you enjoy working on?

Between Monday to Friday 9–5, I’m a business administrator for a ‘fire, sound, and security’ company. But as I work for a small company, I’m cross-trained to do CAD & electrical engineering work.

In my free time, I spend time with my horse, organize a local book club, play an array of stringed instruments, and of course, theorycraft a few games.

During my time in the Collective I’ve enjoyed pushing the fundamentals of business, providing a solid ground and consistency for the Enigma project, and empowering current and future ambassadors to work with pride and certainty.

“I feel like the Collective is something to be proud of. It was my foot in the doorway to the new and exciting world of blockchain when, to be honest, I knew very little.”

What do you want to see in a decentralized, privacy-oriented digital future?

Human society has existed in a decentralized manner for way longer than it has existed under centralized authorities. It is only due to the invention of agriculture that we first banded together.

This banding together initially caused social chaos with a rise of facelessness due to the human memory limit, and from this rose a centralized power which instituted social systems. As demonstrated throughout history, hierarchical systems often lead to massive abuse.

Whilst we have been taking steps in the right direction in many ways (such as the printing press and the internet which have allowed us to record and communicate globally), we’re still in a power struggle of centralized powers taking over these services.

Being British, I’ve been raised with the idea of classical British liberalism. I am an individualist and I believe blockchain is the next step in moving towards a meaningful decentralized future.

In a decentralized future I would love to see a blockchain identity system, including personal credit evaluation and lending, and possible multi-factor authentication methods going so far as using your biometric data.

This kind of information I couldn’t trust to an individual party, and therefore seek a ‘trustless’ system to house it.

Why should someone join the Enigma Collective?

I feel like the Enigma Collective is something to be proud of. It was my foot in the doorway to the new and exciting world of blockchain when, to be honest, I knew very little.

I was provided with resources, direction, and constructive criticism throughout my time in the Collective, and now I’m finally starting to feel like I’m having a real impact on the direction of Enigma.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who thinks they have something to provide but isn’t confident in their technical skills — I’d just say ‘Apply’. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

If you’re passionate about learning about this space, being part of the Collectiveis a huge opportunity — one that will enable you to explore it from the inside and work side by side with other driven individuals, for something bigger than yourself.