Blockchain expert Viktoria Dolzhenko shares how her initial interest in blockchain technology was driven by the high salaries in the industry. However, as she gained more experience, she came to appreciate the innovative potential of blockchain beyond just cryptocurrencies.
Viktoria recounts the technical challenges she faced when building her first blockchain project – a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet startup. A major difficulty was supporting the multitude of blockchain types and tokens. She also notes the steep learning curve as “another problem was the different speed at which each developer on the team learned blockchain, which led to misunderstandings and delays.”
According to Viktoria, one of the most surprising evolutions in blockchain has been the exponential increase in complexity of smart contracts and systems built on them. She highlights how projects now utilize dozens of intricate smart contracts rather than just one or two like in the past.
Viktoria finds the most exciting aspect of blockchain development to be the vast variety of applications across finance, gaming, NFTs, and more. She also values the transparency and reliability blockchain provides, saying “Anyone can open a dedicated website and look at the code that I personally wrote and see that the code does exactly what they need.”
Viktoria believes blockchain could revolutionize property ownership transfers by replacing bureaucratic procedures with straightforward smart contracts. She predicts that with blockchain, these processes “will become simpler, more open, more accessible and faster.”
To Viktoria, the biggest misconception about blockchain is that it is difficult to understand and illegal everywhere. She counters that blockchain is easier than navigating complex legal systems and that governments like Malta, Canada, and Germany have introduced crypto-friendly laws.
For those looking to enter blockchain development, Viktoria advises attending a blockchain academy to quickly learn from experienced mentors, even without a coding background. She says “the most important thing is my openness to something completely new.”
Viktoria is currently working on a startup building a bridge between government currencies and cryptocurrencies to make them an “equal concept for every person.” She aims to close the gap in people’s attitudes towards crypto versus fiat currencies.
Overall, Viktoria believes blockchain will continue expanding into banking, investing, commerce, services, and more over the next 5-10 years. She notes blockchain is not a solution for every problem, but sees great potential when decentralization, security and reliability are needed.
Viktoria’s complete interview is here