Our next guest of the column “Questioned by weiDex” is Milen Radkov. It is a great pleasure for us to welcome such a passionate blockchain developer and a devoted DLT advocate.

Milen has an extensive blockchain experience both as a developer and an entrepreneur. In 2018 he became an Organizer of the Blockchain Developers Meetup community in Bulgaria with the aim to spread passionately the concept of this innovative technology. Then he embraced another serious challenge — he became a Founder, CEO, Lead Software and Blockchain Developer @ hack.bg — Blockchain and Software Solutions and Consultancy Agency — rapidly growing in tech with a globally distributed team of developers and experts https://hack.bg/.

It will definitely be hard to present all his technical knowledge and skills but among the list are deep understanding of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), cryptography and designing, developing, maintaining and scaling Decentralized Applications (dApps) as well as Solidity, JavaScript, Node.js, Python, MEAN, C#, Java, PHP, Databases, Web and Mobile development.

Undoubtedly, there is much to be learned from him, so let’s start with the questions.

You are deeply involved in the blockchain industry. What are the benefits of the Blockchain that you most admire?

Blockchain fascinates me for how math, cryptography, and economy are closely tied together to create a system giving the ability to interact directly peer-to-peer, making transparent transactions of value or data, provide trust between trustlessness parties, and traceability of the true ownership of digital assets.

But I’m most inspired by the privacy-preserving cryptography, such as Zero-knowledge protocols, used in some blockchain networks, enhancing them with a great level of privacy.

2. How would you explain to your grandma what blockchain is?

First I don’t think my grandma needs to know what blockchain is the same way she doesn’t know what relational or non-relational databases are.

The truth is that people rarely think about what the technology behind a product they are using is — so developers of such blockchain applications should make it so the technology blends in and not make any difference for the users while still taking advantage of its properties.

If I really have to explain blockchain to my grandma — blockchain is a network where every participant holds the same public record of data and there is no single one in control of it.

P.S. She would love to hear if she hadn’t already about the Byzantine Generals Problem.

3. We are still waiting for user-friendly and engaging apps built on a blockchain. When are we going to see the mass adoption of blockchain and how?

In my opinion, mass adoption is going to be a slow process but we are getting there.

The applications indeed are becoming more and more user-centric, friendly and intuitive, but people should focus more on what the product is and what it is offering besides blockchain. We often see blockchain put in the names of products and companies just because it is trendy and people should be educated enough to make the difference and evaluate what they are being offered.

With the constant data breaches, hacks, privacy slight, and identity and money thefts we see almost every day happening in big corporations, people will soon realize what the potential of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies is.

4. What do you think is the biggest challenge for blockchain at the moment?

From the technical perspective, everybody is talking about scalability, but I personally think the biggest challenge is not technical at all — it's our mindset and for people to understand what this technology can bring them and how can they benefit from it.

5. There is one keyword connected with blockchain and it is “decentralization”. Do you truly believe in the decentralization and to what extent you think it can be achieved?

Decentralization is an undeniable necessity for our freedom and privacy — which is a basic human right. Decentralization also enables to maintain secrecy without much cost and unnecessary trouble and I think it is a long-needed form of distribution of power and control. Decentralization enables us to measure our work according to standard easily and quickly while facilitating taking up a quick decision.

It will be hard to achieve full decentralization as people nowadays don’t care much about it, but we are headed there slowly.

6. Despite talking about decentralization, we are currently going through a process of shaping up the regulations in the industry. Do you agree that we really need regulations and, if yes, to what extent?

Regulations are probably needed to some extent, but I’m not an expert in the field of law. But I think they may only be harmful to crypto if it is aimed towards financial inclusion and recognition.

7. Why do the world need crypto (or why not?)

It can reduce fees big time, also it is trackable and safer than using traditional money. I think its a matter of time until we (people as a whole) start working only with digital currencies.

8. What do you think will finally stabilize the crypto market (make it less volatile)?

In my humble opinion that would be when we face more adoption. The market is still very very small and that is why we suffer big up and down volatile movements in some cryptocurrencies prices.

9. Do you use DEXes (decentralized exchanges) to trade your assets and what is your opinion about them?

I rarely trade, because it is a whole new profession and it requires quite a lot of time and dedication for research and analysis. I use DEXes (WeiDex) when I need to make some crypto <> crypto exchanges and I’m very satisfied with the flow.

Unfortunately, DEXes still don’t offer crypto <> fiat exchanges (which is still needed sometimes :D) and that case I use Kraken — it is the best centralized custodial exchange out there.

10. The community has recently come out of the crypto winter with great disappointment and doubt about the efficiency and the real purpose of most ICOs. What is the last promising and innovative ICO that you’ve come across?

I honestly stopped looking at ICOs quite a long time ago. I initially liked the new model of fundraising that ICO offers, but as we all can see — the big percentage of projects are not delivering.

That is why I’m lately into bonding curves — I think this could be the next wave of fundraising that is also protecting the investors in a way and is much more efficient compared to previous models like ICO.

11. What advice would you give to the blockchain startups which have just begun their journey with great enthusiasm but a relatively small amount of experience?

Keep learning. The blockchain space and technology is constantly changing and evolving as we speak, so if startups and teams want to be on the cutting-edge tech and keep innovating — they need to be in a constant learning loop. Enthusiasm and proactiveness are key for this field.

Thank you for your time! We appreciate your cooperation!