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Lugui Tillier is the sales manager for Lumx Studios, one of the top cryptocurrency firms in Rio de Janeiro — a city with a burgeoning crypto industry.

But for Tillier — who holds dual citizenship between Belgium and Brazil — cryptocurrency is more than a job. It was a passion sparked by a friend, and it evolved into his first full-time crypto job with Lumx in 2021.

1) How did you get into crypto?

I was very fortunate because the father of one of my closest friends was the one who founded the first crypto firm here in Brazil in 2016 — BLP Crypto. Before that, he was always talking to me about crypto and blockchain, telling me 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 for Lumx in 2021.

2) Tell us about Lumx and what you do for them.

We are a blockchain abstraction solution for big enterprises. We help anyone who wants to integrate blockchain into their business, or companies that want to deploy projects or experiment on blockchain. We do things like payment solutions and decentralized identity (DID) solutions.

Big companies can mostly focus only on their own applications — not on hiring blockchain engineers or learning about blockchain technology and infrastructure, which is still complex. So we enable those big companies to work and test safely. I’m the manager of sales for Lumx, so I’m the one responsible for building and maintaining relationships with blockchains and protocols.

3) Do you invest in crypto yourself? What do you take the most interest in right now?

Lugui Tillier
Lugui Tillier at the Savvy Brain Academy in Tanzania, a school he began donating to in 2017 using Bitcoin. Source: Lugui Tillier

I’m investing a lot in layer 2s. (I like Polygon, Arbitrum, and ZK solutions — such as ZK-Sync and Linea.) In the last cycle, we saw a lot of projects start on Ethereum, and that was unsustainable. We were paying $50 (or more) per transaction. There were days that we had gas wars, and people were paying almost six Ethereum per transaction.

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

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

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I also really like Bitcoin Ordinals and Ordinal Maxi Biz (OMB). We’re having an explosion of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) being built on Bitcoin, the biggest blockchain in the world. Being able to trade and express culture — it’s really amazing. That’s why I really like Ordinals.

I believe that Ordinals will perhaps capture the most of this new culture and way of expressing everything on Bitcoin. Ordinals help to express the core values of Bitcoin in a much more friendly way than Bitcoin, which is too technical or harsh for some people.

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

I think I see Bitcoin and Ethereum as the main consensus platforms in the world. This is curious, because nowadays it’s rare to see Bitcoin as a platform. We already see Ethereum as a platform where you have other applications and layers to build around it. Because of the advancements of some protocols — like Taproot Assets and Ordinals — I see Bitcoin venturing into a new era.

Related: Bitcoin fragments could become more valuable than full Bitcoins

Besides being a currency to pay for stuff, or a store of value, you will be able to store other currencies on it. Bitcoin is moving from an era where it’s been an asset to an era where it will be a platform for storing and trading other assets.

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

Lugui Tillier
Lugui Tillier (second from right) in 2022 speaking at NFC Brasil, one of the main Web3 events in Latin America, where he shared his experience of working with traditional companies in Web3. Source: Lugui Tillier

Even though we have made significant progress, blockchain is still composed of complex infrastructure. It’s complicated not just for end-users, but also for traditional companies that want to work with it. I often joke that you only realize how complex MetaMask is when you try to teach your father how to use it — hence the importance of the emerging abstraction solutions.

While these solutions may slightly compromise decentralization, they preserve a blockchain’s programmability and automation and significantly lower the barrier to entry. This is crucial because now we have a second option. People can stay 100% decentralized if they prefer it, but for those who do not, they have the option of adopting a “semi-decentralized” model, which is the missing link to mainstream adoption.

6) What do you do in your free time?

I really like to study philosophy, especially stoicism. Everyone who works or lives in this crypto world is exposed to a lot of volatility, and they’re used to a lot of dopamine and incentives. I like stuff that you are not able to control, so I like the stoic philosophy. The mantra of stoicism is to cultivate different stuff that you are not able to control. When you master this, you are able to live in peace 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.

Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.

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Zarah Sultana drops legal threat to reconcile with Jeremy Corbyn after row

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Zarah Sultana drops legal threat to reconcile with Jeremy Corbyn after row

Zarah Sultana has said she will not pursue legal action in a bid to repair the row that has engulfed her new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Ms Sultana, who co-leads “Your Party” with the former Labour leader, initially said she had hired defamation lawyers following a public spat in which she was accused of launching her own “unauthorised” membership drive.

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The former Labour MP, who now represents Coventry South as an independent, admitted she had launched the membership portal without her co-leader’s sign-off, but claimed she did so because she had been “sidelined” by a “sexist boys club”.

Her actions led to Mr Corbyn issuing his own statement, in which he urged members of the party – which has been given the interim name of Your Party – to ignore an “unauthorised” email urging them to become paid members and that legal advice was being taken.

In a fresh statement issued on Sunday evening, Ms Sultana acknowledged her supporters had been left feeling “demoralised” by the saga.

“For the sake of the party, and as an act of good faith, I will not be pursuing legal proceedings despite the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against me,” she said.

“I know many people are feeling demoralised – I share that feeling. We find ourselves in a regrettable situation, but my motivation has always been to ensure the collective strength of our movement, put members first and build the genuinely democratic conference and socialist party we so urgently need.”

She added: “I am determined to reconcile and move forward. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with Jeremy, for whom, like all socialists of my generation, I have nothing but respect.”

Your Party got off to a shaky start when it was announced by Ms Sultana in early July, in a move that appeared to blindside Mr Corbyn.

The pair confirmed the launch a few weeks later, sharing a link to a website called Yourparty.co.uk.

It was later clarified that that was an interim name and that party members would decide a formal name at its inaugural conference in the autumn.

It is understood there are still expectations the conference will go ahead, despite the public fallout last week.

Read more:
Inside Jeremy Corbyn’s new party and the battle for leadership
What is happening at Your Party?

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What is happening at Your Party?

Despite her current attempts to repair the row, Your Party reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office last week after the “false membership” system was “unilaterally launched” by Ms Sultana – which it said was its duty under the law.

Questions remain over the handling of the data, which, as outlined in Your Party’s privacy notice, is owned by the Peace and Justice Project, spearheaded by the former Labour leader and independent activist Pamela Fitzpatrick, who are listed as the directors on Companies House.

The Coventry MP said in a statement after the row broke out that “at no point was members’ data misused or put at risk” and that the portal was “properly launched in accordance with the party’s roadmap”.

The ICO watchdog, which upholds information rights in the public interest, can issue fines up to £17.5m or 4% of global turnover, or pass fraud and negligence cases to police.

A spokesperson for the ICO told Sky News on Friday: “We can confirm we have received a report and are assessing the information provided.”

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First Chinese CNH stablecoin debuts as global race heats up

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First Chinese CNH stablecoin debuts as global race heats up

First Chinese CNH stablecoin debuts as global race heats up

Governments around the world are exploring and launching stablecoins to remain competitive against dollar-pegged digital fiat tokens.

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Sir Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a criminal and calls for his arrest for ‘allowing online harm to children’

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Sir Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a criminal and calls for his arrest for 'allowing online harm to children'

Sir Ed Davey has branded Elon Musk a criminal and called for him to be prosecuted for “allowing online harm to children” on his social media platform X.

The Lib Dem leader told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, is “inciting violence” and his social media platform is actively failing to protect children.

Sir Ed, speaking from the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, said Mr Musk could be prosecuted under the Online Safety Act, under which social media companies have a legal duty to protect children from harmful content and their directors are liable for criminal prosecution for breaching it.

Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters

Asked if he is calling Mr Musk a criminal, Sir Ed did not miss a beat as he said: “Yes.

“Not just because of the awful things he’s done in inciting violence, and, for example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown.

“They were bad enough. But on his platform, they’re examples of adverse, pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, of child sex abuse acts and I think he should be held to account for them, him personally and his business.

“Ofcom now has the powers under the Online Safety Act.”

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Sir Ed Davey enters conference with marching band

Mr Musk was accused of inciting violence during a march organised by Tommy Robinson in London last week.

He told the protest via video link: “This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives. They don’t want that, they’re quiet, they just go about their business.

“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here.

“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”

Sir Ed Davey said Elon Musk should be arrested
Image:
Sir Ed Davey said Elon Musk should be arrested

Sir Ed said it is “shocking” that Mr Musk removed some of X’s child safety teams when he took over Twitter in 2022 and accused him of just being “interested in his bank account”.

“I’m interested in the safety of our children, and it is quite wrong that his business puts on these adverts,” said the Lib Dem leader.

“It’s disgusting and I hope everybody will agree with me and the Liberal Democrats that we should take really strong action against him.”

After Mr Musk acquired Twitter, many of its child safety staff were laid off or resigned, and the platform’s trust and safety council was disbanded.

Child protection experts have accused Mr Musk of leading a “race to the bottom on safety”.

Elon Musk with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
Image:
Elon Musk with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Pic: AP

Ofcom, the UK’s independent media regulator, which has the power to prosecute directors of social media platforms under the Online Safety Act, has launched an investigation into X’s handling of child sexual abuse content.

This is not the first time Sir Ed has hit out at the world’s richest man, as he called for the US ambassador to be summoned in February “to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown”.

Mr Musk reacted by calling Sir Ed a “snivelling cretin”.

Sir Ed is expected to reiterate his call for Mr Musk’s arrest at his conference speech on Tuesday.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

He will accuse Mr Musk of being motivated by “his own ego, power and wealth, rather than the rights and freedoms of the British people”.

The Lib Dems will also table a parliamentary motion summoning Mr Musk to the House of Commons “to be reprimanded for his actions”.

Sky News has approached X and Elon Musk for comment, but as of publication has received no response.

X maintains it has “zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material” and claims tackling those who exploit children is a “top priority”.

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