The Future Is Now: Matt Karasiewicz of Sentivate On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Web
Sentivate is a hybrid web that incorporates the best components of centralized and decentralized internet systems to form a comprehensive solution to address the fundamental flaws in current Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 protocols and platforms. By improving upon the best of both types of systems, we are able to create a hybrid web that can actually meet ever-growing user demands and offer a web experience that is more safe, secure, and scalable.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Karasiewicz, Co-Founder of Sentivate.
Matt Karasiewicz, Co-Founder of Sentivate, is an expert in finance and emerging technologies. He was previously involved with Arity Software, President of KMA Satellite Inc., and Managing Partner at Menrvah. By building Sentivate, Matt aims to support the creation of a new internet that addresses the current web’s scalability issues by drawing from the best of decentralized and centralized systems.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Around 2012, I started mining bitcoin while I was in an accounting program at university. This got me interested in financial markets, which led to me making a fundamental change in my life trajectory. I dropped accounting and dove head-first into finance. After graduation, I started working on improving cybersecurity for government networks, and I learned a lot about what the inherent flaws are in the internet today. These problems are what ultimately led me to co-found Sentivate, which seeks to address these issues of security and scalability currently plaguing the world wide web.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One ongoing challenge that our team has faced is navigating the gray areas of regulations applied to cryptocurrency projects. Cryptocurrency is still so nascent and continues to evolve, making it difficult for regulators to sort out how to approach decentralized platforms and protocols as opposed to legacy financial institutions. As innovators working on the cutting-edge of new technology, we must anticipate where regulators will be in two, three, and five years while retaining all the core values inherent to decentralization, such as security and privacy.
Can you tell us about the Cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
Sentivate is a hybrid web that incorporates the best components of centralized and decentralized internet systems to form a comprehensive solution to address the fundamental flaws in current Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 protocols and platforms. By improving upon the best of both types of systems, we are able to create a hybrid web that can actually meet ever-growing user demands and offer a web experience that is more safe, secure, and scalable.
How do you think this might change the world?
Humanity’s ever-increasing demands will never be met by the current state of the web, which has a bandwidth crisis, outdated protocols, broken DNS, lack of accountability, lack of identity, reactive security as well as outdated domain rules and web categorization. There are currently more than 4.5 billion internet users — a number that grows every day. More and more bandwidth is being sucked up, HTTP continues to experience scalability issues, and DNS is not trustworthy or scalable. Given the entire digital economy is transported over HTTP, any slowing down to HTTP or DNS means a drastically slower global economy. If these issues are not resolved, we risk a massive blow to the economy.
Sentivate solves the Web 2.0 issues that Web 3.0 systems have failed to address by incorporating the best of decentralized and centralized systems into one, comprehensive solution. The world needs an internet that can power the digital economy of the future. Sentivate is that new system.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
We already live in a “Black Mirror”-like universe with our current internet that is not safe, secure, or scalable. You’re never sure who you are interacting with or if your data is secure. Companies are not being held accountable for vulnerabilities in their systems that hackers can take advantage of to gain access to sensitive information. The protocols powering the world wide web were built so long ago that new protocols are constantly having to be developed on top of the old ones to keep up with growing user needs. This makes for a clunky and inefficient system that costs users and enterprises more than it should. The internet already needs a ground-floor renovation.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
Working in cybersecurity for government networks helped me to realize how convoluted our current system is and also begin to see how it could be improved. The understanding I gained through that experience is also why Sentivate is an all-encompassing solution rather than just one piece of the solution. It’s not enough to create new protocols alone, or a new browser, or better security. All these components rely on one another, which is why Sentivate includes new protocols to improve efficiency, new domain registry and web ID systems, a new browser for seamless user experience, and VIAT (Sentivate’s native cryptocurrency), which uses a strong consensus mechanism (dynamic Proof-of-Work) to deter 51% attacks and secure the network.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
I do not think it works to pressure people into adopting new technology. The new technology must be better but also easy for people to transition to without disrupting their current habits and familiar routines. This is why Sentivate allows users to use our Universal Web browser to visit hybrid blockchain-powered applications as well as all their favorite Web 2.0 platforms, so there is no need for people to give up their Facebook and Amazon accounts until something better comes along.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We are focused on serving our community of avid users with new DeFi benefits like social liquidity mining. We also are educating the public on the problems plaguing the current web, including the bandwidth crisis, security vulnerabilities and lack of accountability that could put the entire economy at risk if not addressed, so that they understand the need for a better system.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I attribute much of my work ethic and values to my mother. She taught me that you can’t get to where you need to be without making mistakes along the way. Intermittent failures build into successes because you can learn lessons from these experiences.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more people are working from home than ever before and stretching the bandwidth capacity of the current web system. The digital economy has become increasingly synonymous with the global economy, and as more and more people gain internet access, this system we rely so heavily on for work, commerce, social interaction, entertainment, etc., will be strained to the point of breaking. By bringing Sentivate to the masses, we aim to provide people with an internet system that can be counted on to continue to power jobs, trade, communication, and the economy in a safe, secure, and efficient way.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
In business, there are a few basic things that I learned can go a long way towards making your work easier:
- Know a good lawyer.
- Find a good accountant.
- Work with people who operate on the same wavelength as you (as much as you want opposing viewpoints, you don’t want every task to turn into a big conflict).
- Communication is everything.
- You can never do enough research.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Financialization is already underway and could be described as a kind of fourth industrial revolution. As DeFi matures, more people will be able to participate in the global economy and benefit from the types of financial services that many people have historically been disenfranchised from, including access to loans, investment opportunities, and decentralized asset custody that does not require having a bank account.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I love the phrase “fail forward,” because it basically means don’t be afraid to fail. This mantra has been incredibly important to me in launching new enterprises like Sentivate.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Sentivate is a hybrid alternet with a built-in currency that merges the best of decentralized components that legacy blockchain systems, like Ethereum, offer with the best of the centralized web. This combination enables Sentivate to scale to meet the needs of the modern economy while providing users with all the advantages that decentralized systems offer, creating a safe, secure, and scalable Web 3.0. Sentivate’s native cryptocurrency — VIAT — resolves current interoperability issues experienced by users of decentralized applications by eliminating the need to switch between hundreds of currencies to transact in different dapps. VIAT also prevents man-in-the-middle attacks. Additionally, Sentivate’s Universal Web Browser can be used to visit any website or application — whether supported by centralized or decentralized systems — allowing users ultimate flexibility and choice in their internet usage.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Feel free to visit our website: https://sentivate.com/
And follow us on our social channels:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sentivate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sentivate
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFoai5_Qc_Ai64jn5fN0Gsg
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Future Is Now: Matt Karasiewicz of Sentivate On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
