6 questions for Lugui Tillier about Bitcoin and the future of crypto

Lugui Tillier is the Sales Manager at Lumx Studio, one of the top cryptocurrency companies in Rio de Janeiro – a city with a growing crypto industry.

But for Tillier – who has dual citizenship between Belgium and Brazil – cryptocurrency is more than just a job. It was a passion sparked by a friend and turned into my first full-time crypto career with Lumx in 2021.

1) How did you get into crypto?

I was very lucky because my best friends father founded the first crypto firm in Brazil in 2016 – BLP Crypto. Before that, he always talked to me about crypto and blockchain, telling me that it was the future and that I should learn more about it. So around 2019, I finally listened to him and started studying Bitcoin. I started working on Lumx in 2021.

2) Tell us about Lumx and what you do.

We are a blockchain abstraction solution for large enterprises. We help companies that want to integrate blockchain into their business or want to deploy projects or experiment on blockchain. We do solutions like payment solutions and Decentralized Identity (DID).

Large companies often focus only on their own applications – not hiring blockchain engineers or learning about blockchain technology and infrastructure, which is still complex. So we enable those big companies to operate and experiment safely. I am the sales manager of Lumx, so I am responsible for building and maintaining relationships with blockchain and protocols.

3) Do you invest in crypto yourself? What are you most interested in right now?

I'm investing heavily in layer 2s. (I like Polygon, Arbitrum and ZK solutions – like ZK-Sync and Linea.) In the last cycle we saw many projects starting on Ethereum, and this was not sustainable. We were paying $50 (or more) per transaction. There were days when we were involved in gas wars, and people were paying six Ethereum per transaction.

I still don't know if there was just a lack of knowledge among new projects and companies at the time that they could build things on layer 2. But people wanted exposure to Ethereum, so things that should have happened on Layer 2s were happening on Ethereum.

Fluid is now flowing into layer 2s, so layer 2s are more prepared for the next wave.

I also really like Bitcoin Ordinals and Ordinal Maxi Biz (OMB). We are experiencing an explosion of NFTs being built on top of Bitcoin, the world's largest blockchain. Being able to trade and express culture – it's amazing. This is why I love Ordinal so much.

I believe that Ordinals can probably hold most of the way to describe everything in this new culture and Bitcoin. They help define Bitcoin's core values ​​in a more friendly way than Bitcoin, which is too technical or aggressive for some people.

4) Where do you see Bitcoin and Ethereum in 10 years?

I think that Bitcoin and Ethereum are the main consensus platforms in the world. This is curious, because nowadays it is rare to see Bitcoin as a platform. We see it as a platform that other applications and platforms can be built around. Due to the development of certain protocols – such as Taproot Assets and Ordinals – I see Bitcoin entering a new era.

Related: Bitcoin Fragments May Be More Valuable Than Whole Bitcoins

In addition to being a currency for things or a store of value, you can also store other currencies. Bitcoin is moving from an era of wealth to a platform for storing and trading other assets.

5) What is the main obstacle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?

Although we have made significant progress, blockchain still consists of complex infrastructure. It's complicated not only for end users, but also for traditional companies that want to work with it. I often joke that you only realize how complicated MetaMask is when you try to teach your dad how to use it.

While these solutions may undermine decentralization a bit, they will maintain blockchain programming and automation and significantly lower the barrier to entry. This is important because now we have a second option. People can remain 100% decentralized if they choose, but they have the option to adopt a “semi-decentralized” model for those who don't, which is the missing link to mainstream adoption.

6) What do you do in your spare time?

I really enjoy studying philosophy, especially Stoicism. Everyone who works or lives in this crypto world is exposed to a lot of volatility, and is used to a lot of dopamine and stimulation. I like things you can't control, so I like Stoic philosophy. The mantra of stoicism is to cultivate the variety of things you cannot control. When you master this, you can live peacefully in this crazy crypto world. So it's one of my favorite subjects – not only for my personal life, but also for my professional life.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.