1 June 2015
Here at The Bitcoin Podcast, we managed to catch up in an exclusive interview with Herbert R. Sim, the founder of Crypto Chain University, the world’s oldest library for crypto and blockchain research papers.
Thank you for taking the time for this interview. To start off, please share with us about how you first entered the industry of Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency.
Sometime in 2009, I came across ‘The Cypherpunk Manifesto’ written by Eric Hughes in 1993, and ‘The Cyphernomicon’ written by Timothy C. May in 1994, and was sold by the vision of championing privacy, to push the technological development of encryption and cryptography.
It was also then with further research that I chanced onto Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper, and realized that the technology is real, and the magnitude of the use cases behind blockchain.
In my own personal view, beyond the fight for privacy, it is also about the fight to make knowledge and education available and free for all, to embrace the theory of decentralization, and thus the driver for me to have founded Crypto Chain University on February 2010, to compile research papers in Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, and making it open-source.
That’s very interesting, tell us more about Crypto Chain University.
Crypto Chain University, is the oldest institution for compilation of Crypto and Blockchain research in the world, established in 2010. You will notice that the logo has the subtle design of the symbol ‘T’ as the skeleton structure, the center piece, of the University’s logo, which some may refer it to crypto or blockchain project Tokens; which is also the website of the University – ፐ.com.
Also, around the founding of the University, the Order of Arts and Technologies, translated into English from its original French name of “Ordre des Arts et des Technologies”, was set up. The purpose of this Order, an official highest honors by the University, is for the recognition of individuals who have significantly contributed to the technological arts, or the propagation of these fields.
We understand that Crypto Chain University has underwent a few major rebranding exercises. Please share with us about the Institute’s history thus far.
In February 2010, the University used the official URL of ☓.com by the unicode/punycode of xn--33h.com, registered on 3 February 2005. The symbol of “☓” known as Saltire, is also called Saint Andrew’s Cross or the Crux Decussata. It is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman Numeral of the number 10. Unicode website url was chosen because it was something that of meaning to coders alike.
On 10 December 2014, the University changed its official URL to ፐ.com by the unicode/punycode of xn--v6d.com. I acquired back the domain name of ☓.com, as it held strong personal meaning to me.
It was only a couple months back, on 15 April 2015, the University Logo was also revamped, with the symbol of “ፐ” distinctly yet subtly as the skeleton structure, the center piece, of the University’s logo. The symbol of “ፐ” is commonly referenced and represented within the industry to crypto or blockchain tokens.
What are the future plans for Crypto Chain University?
Crypto Chain University first started only as an open-source library, compiling research papers in crypto and blockchain, however over the recent years, we have been developing internally, to make a one-stop information resource destination for one’s knowledge needs in crypto and blockchain.
In 2013, we made leap developments launching “cryptocurrency market capitalizations” segment on website; and also to include the aggregation of cryptocurrency and blockchain news portals – news.Bitcoin.com and CoinDesk.com, and overtime integrated the aggregation of CoinTelegraph.com as well.
The crypto and blockchain industry is developing at an extremely fast pace, and the University and its board will continue to monitor the industry, to add more resources over time, open-source, free-for-all.
Will Crypto Chain University be launching any online programs in the near future?
At this point of time, we are not aware of any other such programs offered across the world, as crypto and blockchain is still an infant technology, with very few experts in the world actually qualified to teach this subject.
That said, we are on the lookout to collaborate and partner up with other academic institutions to try match-up accordingly to the demands from the public, and will keep the public updated as soon as it is available.
Thank you again for your time for the interview Herbert.
