Konstantin Lomashuk, founder and CEO of P2P.org, provided an insightful look into his journey and philosophies in the blockchain space, emphasizing his unwavering belief in decentralization and the power of collaborative teams. Starting P2P.org in 2018 with a focus on running testnets for Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems like Tezos, his primary motivation stemmed from his background as an early investor in projects such as Cosmos, Definity, Polkadot, Ethereum, and Solana since 2014. He established P2P.org with the vision that "governance will be very important and usually when you do in staking, it's also important for you when you also govern the network." The platform grew significantly, now managing over $1.2 billion in staked assets. A core tenet for Lomashuk is non-custodial staking, born from his deep-seated belief in decentralization. He candidly expressed his concerns about the increasing centralization of blockchain networks through exchanges: "the blockchain has a pretty big risk because tokens can be staked through the centralized exchanges. And the worst case is that we will have like four exchanges and they will have all the tokens and the blockchains will be pretty centralized." This conviction led P2P.org to focus exclusively on non-custodial solutions. This commitment to decentralization and user empowerment also drove the creation of Lido.fi, a liquid staking solution. Lomashuk recognized the significant hurdles in Ethereum staking, where users face illiquidity for extended periods (six months to three years), require a substantial 32 ETH, and struggle with validator selection, leading to centralization. Lido.fi addresses these issues by allowing users to stake any amount of ETH and receive liquid staked ETH (stETH) in return. He envisions stETH as "one of the first brick of this DeFi," enabling users to earn staking yield while retaining liquidity, even potentially using it as collateral in DeFi protocols like Maker to offset loan costs. He believes Lido.fi holds the future for P2P.org by offering a solution that can genuinely compete with centralized exchanges like Binance and Kraken. Lomashuk offered nuanced perspectives on the centralization of PoS networks. While acknowledging Cosmos's relatively good situation, he shared a general principle: "then more complex the logic, then more centralized your network." He observed that Ethereum staking is "even more complex" than Cosmos or Polkadot, making it harder for small non-custodian validators to compete, thereby centralizing power among larger entities. He foresees greater decentralization in Cosmos in the long run as the ecosystem expands and competition increases, highlighting its transparency in validator token holdings compared to other networks where stake can be obscured across multiple nodes. On shared security, he echoed Zaki's sentiment that major chains like Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cosmos will converge in 3-5 years, all incorporating shared security and cross-chain capabilities, albeit with different architectural trade-offs. Reflecting on his past successes, including the Satoshi Fund (which he closed due to its custodial nature), Lomashuk attributed product success to two crucial factors: "timing and the quality of the team." He stressed that perceived overnight successes are often the culmination of years of diligent work and learning from mistakes. He openly admitted to making "a lot of mistakes," citing a past venture, a social network called Commune, where he spent a million dollars only to realize that such platforms are "not about the problem. It is about dopamine." This experience taught him the importance of thorough research and long-term commitment to a particular domain. He also emphasized the difficulty of estimating timelines in the novel blockchain space, where new ground is constantly broken. As an economist, not a developer, he values understanding one's strengths and weaknesses and building a complementary team. He believes in iterative learning and adopts a flexible approach to development, favoring agile methods but allowing teams to choose what works best for them, even in a fully remote setup. Lomashuk's ambitions extend beyond mere profit; he views his work as a hobby and aims to build a company with a clear vision: "We want to really make staking, for example, and maybe long-run decentralized finance, more simple for everyone." His ultimate goal is to build "a successful company with pretty good people and we will feel good from that." He champions collaboration, exemplified by Lido.fi, where former competitors now work together: "From one side, you are competitors... But from other side, we find the way how we can do it better together." Regarding decentralization, he holds a pragmatic view, acknowledging that "it's really difficult to build a fully decentralized product from day one." He advocates for a "step-by-step decentralization" model, where a product is built, a community is established, and then tokens are introduced for governance. He suggests that community funds in networks like Cosmos could better reward those who "prove that they did a lot" for the ecosystem, such as core development teams and active community members, rather than just initial investors. While he sees value in different organizational structures—some fully decentralized from day one, others evolving over time, and even centralized models like Binance Chain—he believes in continuous experimentation. He also highlighted the essential role of leaders, even in decentralized communities, citing Satoshi Nakamoto and Vitalik Buterin as examples of individuals who launched ideas and rallied communities. Looking to the future, Lomashuk predicted that 2021 would primarily be about "the centralize of some organizations and decentralized finance," rather than NFTs, which he feels haven't yet found their product-market fit and might gain traction in 2023. He humorously recounted selling a Crypto Kitty he bought for $4,000 in 2017 for 200 ETH, using the funds to buy a car, an anecdote that underscores the transformative power of crypto. His investment philosophy centers on identifying "great teams" that can build compelling products and foster vibrant communities. He highlighted projects like Swarm (for its robust technology and privacy-focused applications like Fair Drive) and One Inch (for its on-chain aggregation). Concluding the interview, Lomashuk announced that P2P.org is actively hiring senior and lead developers, sales, and general managers, aiming to build "the best team in the crypto" with a family-like culture. He also expressed openness to investing as an early partner in projects that share his vision of simplifying crypto for a global audience.