Sergiy, who operates as Quokka Stake, is a full-time backend developer and DevOps engineer with a deep interest in technology and programming, particularly the technical aspects of cryptocurrency such as running full nodes and validators. He runs his validator, Quokka Stake, across several Cosmos chains, including Cosmos Hub, and also supports two consumer chains and a promising non-Cosmos chain called Nomik. The name Quokka Stake was inspired by the quokka, a "cute animal with a smile," which he relates to. Sergiy's approach to selecting chains to validate is notably distinct from the common pursuit of profitability. For him, "it's not about profits at all, because I have other ways to earn money, let's say. But for me, it's mostly about the project itself. And I'm really passionate about projects which have real utility." He is drawn to projects with tangible applications, such as Sentinel (a decentralized VPN), Jakal (a blockchain-based Dropbox), and Gitopia (GitHub on blockchain). These are projects that one can "really touch, you can really use." He emphasizes the importance of a project's underlying idea and its potential, even if it's not immediately profitable or is resource-intensive, citing Gitopia as an example. His journey into Web3 began when he assisted his non-technical brother with Sentinel, sparking his curiosity about how blockchain technology functions. Beyond the technical fascination, Sergiy's commitment to Web3, especially privacy-focused blockchains, is rooted in personal values. Living in a country where privacy is a significant concern, he seeks involvement with initiatives that "fights for human rights, for privacy and stuff like this." Projects like Nym, which he describes as "like Tor," resonate deeply with this motivation. For Sergiy, maintaining validators and contributing to the ecosystem is more than just a job; "for me it's more like a hobby. I wouldn't do it if it wouldn't be interesting for me." He holds an optimistic view on the future of Web3 adoption, despite acknowledging that it hasn't yet reached a mass adoption stage where people abandon Web2 applications. Sergiy believes the primary "bottleneck here, but mostly the marketing because it's not like public as much as Web2 apps." He foresees the popularity of Web3 applications increasing as more people discover their potential. He highlights Sentinel as an example of an application that could drive adoption, envisioning a future where decentralized VPNs have as many users as traditional ones. He strongly advocates for a truly decentralized infrastructure to eliminate single points of failure, praising Cosmos's Tendermint (now CometBFT) for its P2P design, comparing it favorably to the resilience of torrents over single-server downloads. Regarding his validator infrastructure, Sergiy takes immense pride in its stability and security. Unusually for many validators, he hosts all his validators "at home" on bare metal servers he personally assembled, while utilizing cloud providers like Hetzner for public infrastructure such as public nodes. This bare metal approach offers him "more control over my infrastructure," reducing risks like accidental double-signing that can occur with cloud-based setups if a malfunctioning server unexpectedly reconnects. He states, "If something happens to my infrastructure, you can just plug it off. So it would never get back." Security is paramount, and he uses a hardware security module (UBHSM) to safeguard his validator keys, in addition to a Ledger for storing mnemonics. He strongly encourages others to adopt such measures if they can afford it. He also criticizes validators with significant stake who neglect proper monitoring, recounting a humorous but concerning anecdote where delegators served as a validator's de facto monitoring system, alerting them when they were jailed. While acknowledging the trade-offs of bare metal, such as the need for personal redundancy planning for power and internet outages, he remains "totally pro-BIM metal because it really feels more safe for me as well." He sees value in using refurbished hardware for its recycling aspect, though he personally opts to assemble new components due to cost-effectiveness compared to enterprise-grade servers. The "crazy idea" of powering validators with solar and wind energy appeals to him greatly, though he views it as impractical in his current location, yet he encourages anyone who can to pursue it. Sergiy's "biggest difficulty" as a validator was securing a stable position within the Cosmos Hub active set. After receiving a delegation from the Interchain Foundation, he found himself at the bottom of the active set, in a constant "race" to maintain his spot. He proactively addressed this by launching a governance proposal to increase the active set size from 175 to 180, a compromise from previous suggestions, which successfully passed and secured his position. He believes in sharing his knowledge and experience, viewing it as a "collaborative effort" and actively writes on a channel about validator internals to help others. When asked about the most crucial educational message for crypto users, Sergiy offers two points: "do your own research" and "never share your seat face with others." He particularly stresses the importance of "do your own research" (DYOR), advocating for users to learn "how could they educate themselves and how they can find the information and how to make up their own opinion." This is vital to prevent people from being swayed by others' opinions, promises of airdrops, or manipulative influences. He clarifies that while it's acceptable to share one's own opinion, it should always be accompanied by the understanding that "others are free to disagree with them." His most significant technological interest remains blockchain, specifically projects focused on security, such as Nym. While he couldn't name a project outside the Cosmos ecosystem beyond Nomik, he also expresses enthusiasm for Cosmos projects in diverse fields, like music industry applications. An influential piece of media for him was the TV series *Ted Lasso*, which he found "kind of therapeutic." His daily motivation comes from seeing the substantial value delegated to Quokka Stake (over $3 million), which makes him feel appreciated for his technical contributions, especially when users laud his infrastructure. Ultimately, he is driven by doing something he genuinely enjoys. His lifelong inspiration comes from a YouTuber named Bradiaga Fishai, whose travel videos, such as hitchhiking to Moscow without money, embody an infectious energy and willingness to share, deeply motivating Sergiy.