Podcast EP 5 | Is Programmable Proof-of-Work Blockchain Set to Revolutionize the Global Monetary System? Ft. Alan Orwick, Co-Founder, Quai Network

I went to the University of Texas at Austin to study computer science and take some early programming coursework. There I was able to found the Texas Blockchain Group, the undergraduate blockchain organization at UT. And since that organization was heavily influenced with academia, we had a good understanding of actually the underlying principles of the research and a lot of the development that led to innovations like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Ripple and others.

So, there was a lot of different ways in which having an academic background is beneficial because you can apply a lot of the theory that is associated with the approach of blockchain systems. And blockchain systems are heavily complex. There’s a lot of inner workings and pieces that are really relying on a lot of different pieces from our history of computer science, distributed systems and all the different networking principles that have gotten to this point.

So, I think the tradeoff is how do you take a lot of that academia and all of the actual sort of hand wavy research and apply it to something that can actually be used every day. So, taking a lot of the work that we’ve done and making it something that people can actually use and creating blockchain and cryptocurrency systems that actually impact the real world are, I think, where a lot of academics get it wrong and where we’re trying to sort of take that next step. And so definitely not an academic by my career, but more so just a software engineer as a whole.

But I do have experience in academia, doing research, working with professors, working with other students, undergraduates, graduate students, and building curriculum and coursework. So, I think it’s a matter of tradeoff and balance between really the hand wavy theory and where the rubber meets the road with implementation. And I think that Quai walks a good balance of both of those.

Host: That was amazing. So, let’s explore now on your journey into crypto space. Moving on to the next question. What inspired you to co-found Quai Network? How do you aim to transform the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors with this firm?

Alan: Yeah, I think like any entrepreneur, when you look at software and you look at a product, you build something that ultimately you want and you see a void in the market and you see a gap that other systems don’t fulfil. And so, whenever we began working on Quai, we looked at all the existing layer one solutions and we said there isn’t something that can actually be used like a digital peer-to-peer cash. Bitcoin had attempted to become that and ultimately it evolved into a store of value over time.

Other systems like Ripple, Cardano, and sort of later layer two solutions were fast, but they didn’t have the core principles of decentralization and censorship resistance embedded into them. So, for those reasons, we realized a lot of those layer ones and layer twos wouldn’t make the correct trade-offs that are needed long-term. So, we thought from first principles on what the actual blockchains need to scale for global commerce, global adoption, getting the next billion users on chain.

I think that was a trend that we were really pushing for in 2018, 2019, getting a billion people to use blockchain and crypto. And I think we’ve settled for much less. So, with Quai, we’ve taken a step back.

And as I said earlier, with some of that research that we’ve done, a lot of the core thinking, first principles thinking, a very rigorous approach on how we can scale blockchain and crypto, make the proper trade-offs so that we can accomplish that vision and bring people with us on that journey.

Host: Your vision for Quai Network is truly inspiring. It’s such an innovative approach. You’re definitely setting new standards for the industry.

So, moving on to how digital currencies are impacting wider world, what role digital currencies like crypto play in bringing digital transformation? How does it impact overall infrastructure of finance?

Alan: Yeah, if you take a step back and look at the original purpose of crypto, it was around disintermediation, moving middlemen, creating systems that are more fair and give people buy-in to make the rules and help actually create something that can help coordinate people and society. And right now, we’ve gotten to a point where that’s actually more of a casino. It’s more gambling, it’s more permissionless access to finance, and it’s not rethinking the structures of society.

So how do we actually look at coordinating value? Again, fundamentally, these blockchains are monetary systems. They’re designed to function as money.

Bitcoin is the most successful use case in this regard. You look at, again, the top 10 cryptocurrencies that are in existence today, most of them have some monetary aspect to them. And so, with that, there’s additional features that can be built on these monetary systems, such as programmability.

Other use cases like NFTs, Deepin, DeFi, payments, you name it. So with that, crypto is enabling borderless finance and greater inclusivity to the financial industry and the financial ecosystem. If you look at some of the key use cases here, if you want to set up a crypto wallet, you don’t need three months of payment history or a bank statement or proof of living somewhere.

You can just get a wallet and get paid. And I think there’s a lot of benefits that come from that sovereign approach and that self-sovereign custody around crypto that really is rethinking the traditional finance system that we know today. And with Quai, we aim to actually sort of push forward a new system that relies closer to those principles of that cypherpunk vision, the ability to have permissionless access to the network, being able to run a node, being able to run a miner and contribute energy to the network.

So overall, I think that’s where the trend is going to continue to emerge because that has been the most successful use case is around these monetary designs so far.

Host: Digital currencies are undeniably reshaping the financial landscape. So, as we move forward, let’s dive deeper into specifics of Quai Network technology. So, what does contract enabled Proof-of-Work mean and how does it set Quai Network apart from competitors?

Alan: Yeah, good question. So, a lot of our key breakthroughs in the proof of work sector were around scaling this fundamental consensus mechanism, because again, that key breakthrough from the reason we’ve been able to have crypto is around Bitcoin and the innovation of the difficulty controller. So having someone that can take energy and use it as a civil resistance mechanism by using hashes.

And so, for us with Quai, we’ve said, okay, well, how do we start with that key breakthrough and make it even better? So, we’ve had ways in which we can take a blockchain and use a technology called sharding to break it into many blockchains that can all coordinate together to grow and expand the throughput of the network. So, increasing the overall throughput and lowering the fees so that you don’t have to have a massive fee when paying on a blockchain or sending money or interacting with the blockchain.

Subsequent uses of that blockchain, such as smart contracts, enable programmability. And so, programmability is a feature that enables all sorts of different use cases. Ethereum was the first to go and actually have that level through what is called the Ethereum virtual machine, which enabled solidity compatible smart contracts.

With Quai, we have similar solidity compatible smart contracts, EVM compatible smart contracts. And given we can scale natively in the blockchain with the advancements in Proof-of-Work that we talked about, there is no additional need for layer twos. So, we’ve removed the additional complexity for both users and developers around layer twos.

And we’ve kept it in a more unified and cohesive network that gives users the ability to tap into one single source of decentralization and a layer that has one single source of node participation and the aggregate liquidity around that blockchain. And so given that we can combine the scalability of Proof-of-Work there that no one else has achieved with programmability, no one else in the blockchain space is focused on this exact area.

Host: That’s really fascinating. Let’s shift focus now to challenges the industry faces. What challenges does the crypto industry generally encounter? And what is your approach to overcoming these challenges?

Alan: Another good question. I think if you look at usability, and you look at the adoption of crypto, people don’t really understand. And so, a lot of it goes back to education and understanding why cryptocurrency is so important and what the overall goal of crypto is.

If you look at a lot of the market headlines as of late, we saw the Trump tariffs that are shaking the world. And there’s economic forces that can put Bitcoin or certain cryptocurrencies in the limelight because they can say, well, is this actually going to finally decouple from tech stocks? And is Bitcoin actually going to achieve this digital gold narrative and this concept of being a store of value that it’s been hyped up to be this whole time?

And if you look at the point of Bitcoin, it’s to actually, again, go back to that same cypherpunk vision of disintermediation, taking down the banks, challenging traditional finance. And when you are in times of economic uncertainty, well, it’s giving Bitcoin that opportunity to accomplish that mission and accomplish that vision. So, I think if you look at the crypto industry as a whole, the maturity is going to look around.

Do people actually use these assets for these purposes or are they still just highly levered tech stocks that perform well in zero interest rate environments? So, I’m a fundamental believer that they will continue to decouple. We’ll see more emerging use cases around how blockchains can become more scalable, more clear on the regulatory side, and also have improved user experience so that you don’t even see that you’re using a blockchain or see that you’re using a cryptocurrency.

And so many networks are trying to accomplish that right now. There’s noisy. But I think if you cut through a lot of that noise and you see the people that are dedicated to seeing that vision through and pulling it forward and finding a way to make cryptocurrency easier for everyday people, Quai is one of those that is designed with that in mind and can be boiled down and talk to in a way that can become clear and have the various tradeoffs that people can learn about and become educated on to sort of take that approach and see why what we’re doing is so unique compared to other layer ones and layer twos.

Host: That was really great. Moving forward, I’m very curious to know more about your recent partnership. Quai Network integrated with Entangle in February 2025. What do you expect from this partnership?

Alan: Yeah, there’s many partnerships that are going to be growing around the Quai ecosystem. So, Entangle is one of those. They have bridge solutions that enable seamless transfers for Quai across other chains.

And there’s others that are growing on the ecosystem such as Quimark, QuaiSwap, Lithium DeFi is a platform that is growing. There are several NFT collections as well that are launching on the chain, many tokens that are launching on the chain. So, there’s more and more integrations and Entangle is one of those.

We’re definitely excited about the decentralized compute space. And so, making Quai this hub for multi-chain applications and solo chain applications for people that want to find their home of where they want to build. So given the fact that we do have this EVM compatible layer, it can be a seamless cross-chain solution and find ways to deploy your project on Quai.

I think we’re excited to see that future continue to grow and there’s going to be a lot of developers that are excited to build on Quai.

Host: The partnership with Entangle could definitely lead to some exciting developments. Now let’s discuss your plans for the future of crypto.

The crypto revolution is redefining the future of finance. How do you plan to contribute to the crypto revolution in the approaching years?

Alan: Yeah, I think we’ve been on this journey for a pretty long time. And again, Bitcoin is one sort of start. And I talk about Bitcoin a lot just because it is so revolutionary in many ways.

But there’s been a lot of other sorts of paradigm shifting innovations, Ethereum and other layer ones, layer twos, the concepts of zero knowledge, AI being deployed on chain, Deepin as a whole industry has emerged. Stablecoins more recently is going to be a $2 trillion industry that’s emerging as well. So, there’s a ton of appetite for people to take part in blockchain and crypto.

And we’ve looked at, again, just how difficult it is to sort of pair the market with what’s actually occurring on the ground. And I think that there is a very strong ecosystem of builders and people that are excited to see this vision through. And so, it’s a matter of tying the utility to actually the long-term approach rather than just the pure speculation.

And so, when you look at what we’re doing with Quai, it’s a matter of showing up every day. It’s a matter of continuing to build the systems that are robust, scalable for the long-term future, and can plug into other ecosystems, other builders, and people that are also heads down on that long term approach, because there’s too many people that come in and they’re looking to take advantage of people in the crypto space versus actually creating long-term thinking and long-term oriented approaches.

So, from our perspective, it’s a matter of continuing to show that there is real technology development here and that there are people that want to bring this more to the masses, bring this more into ways that make sense versus just deploying things that are speculative and short term. So, from our standpoint, again, it’s just committed to that vision and then going out and actually fulfilling it.

Host: The insights you have shared on cryptocurrency, blockchain, major industry challenges and the future of finance are absolutely valuable for us. We are thankful for your time and the knowledge that you have shared with us.

Alan: Awesome. Thank you for having me on and look forward to talking more in the future.

Host: Definitely. Thank you everyone for joining us today. I’m your host Sudakshina signing off. See you in the next episode of ExtraMile by YourTechDiet with our new guest and leader sharing their wisdom with us. Until then, stay tuned.