Antoni Zolciak is one of the co-founders of Aleph Zero, a public blockchain that uses a custom algorithm leveraging Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology to create an efficient and decentralized system. ^[1]

Education

Zolciak graduated from the University of the National Education Commission, Krakow, with degrees in Journalism and International Relations and Affairs in 2011. He later studied “Strategy and Client Management” at the Future London Academy, “Circular Economy and the Markets of Tomorrow” at Aalto University, and “Leading Professional Service Firms” at Harvard Business School in 2020 and 2021. ^[2]

Career

In Krakow, Zolciak was an editor and social media specialist for SwiatObrazu, a reviews editor for techManiaK, and an editor for Digital Camera Polska until May 2016. In February 2016, he was a contributing editor for Brand24, writing articles about social media, internet monitoring, and social listening until September 2016. He was also a copywriter and content writer for RR Donnelley, a global marketing, packaging, print, and supply chain solutions provider. ^[3]

From June 2015 to March 2017, Zolciak was a content designer for CLICO, an automotive journalist and editor for AutoCentrum, and a communications specialist for both ABB and Admind Branding & Communications. He then became content product manager for Codewise, a provider of AI-powered online ad measurement and management solutions, and left to join In’saneLab as VP of Marketing until December 2018. ^[3]

Zolciak co-founded Aleph Zero in April 2018 with Matthew Niemerg, Adam Gagol, and Michal Swietek. In April 2019, he co-founded Cardinal Cryptography, a blockchain-first venture studio providing end-to-end solutions. He joined the Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association and the American Marketing Association as a member. In March 2024, he became a mentor of Web3 as part of a collaboration with Techstars, an active pre-seed investor. ^[3]

Interviews/Panels

Private Project Sustainability

At the 2023 Web3 Privacy Summit, Zolciak discussed the challenges and considerations in sustaining financial viability for privacy solutions within the evolving landscape of Web3 with Panther Protocol’s CEO Oliver Gale. He highlighted the economic rationale for privacy systems, comparing their adoption to other tech services, where benefits must outweigh entry costs. Zolciak also touched on the need for these solutions to balance user privacy with regulatory compliance to attract venture capital and enterprise clients. Emphasizing the importance of a well-integrated team, he discussed how technical and non-technical members must collaborate effectively to achieve market fit and cater to diverse global markets. ^[4]

Mainstream DeFi

At EthCC Paris 2023, Web3TV interviewed Zolciak about Aleph Zero’s infrastructure and the future of blockchain: ^[5]

“At the moment, the L1 market has many different players and opportunities. We believe the differentiator will come from the app layer because users don't really know technically about what L1 is being used; they just care about what they see on their phone or laptop. Even after all these years, the industry still somewhat struggles with UX, product design, and the elements that make users want to dive in, understand the product, and use it. Improving these aspects, even if not revolutionizing them, would make us very happy. On the core L1 level, we focus on speed and privacy. On the app level, we aim to ensure that all incubated startups or guarantees of the foundation receive as much support on the core tech level as they do in product design and UX.”

He then discussed prioritizing privacy and security for users: ^[5]

“If you listen to the general narratives over the last year, there's a lot of talk about privacy and an entire SDK movement, which is fantastic. However, much of this is still not live, and there are problems with compliance and regulatory challenges, as seen with Tornado Cash. When we consider the direction of traffic and ask entities to put assets on chain with no privacy, it's not something they will be happy to do.”

When asked how he got into blockchain, Zolciak responded: ^[5]

“I think it was 2016 at my friend's birthday party. That friend is now a co-founder of a0 and is responsible for the design of our consensus protocol, along with three other teammates who are still with us. The idea was first to add the business bits to the technology. Our first office was my apartment, and we took it from there. To expand beyond the current audience at the conference and address issues like security and privacy concerns, as well as the perception that the industry is full of scams and rug pulls, we need to change people's misperceptions that it's all dead or untrustworthy.”

He also shared his thoughts on expanding blockchain to non-crypto users: ^[5]

“I think the majority of the negative press that crypto is getting comes from dishonest centralized/CeFi actors. I'm not saying all CeFi is bad, absolutely not, but this is what makes the headlines. So, if we hear of FTX, Celsius, and similar cases, people associate that one-to-one with the entire crypto space. They don't necessarily understand what DeFi is. We talk about DeFi being superior, but we don't really have a product for retail because the UX is not there. People ask, "Where's my username and password?"—that's the main argument of normal people outside of the space. The first thing we need to solve is making DeFi actually mainstream. We can get there via the app layer starting from here. I think it's happening; there are products that are doing it amazingly well, but there's just not enough adoption for now. So, this is the first thing.”

“The second is that while speculation has its ups and downs and can be a useful tool, we need to grow past this. We should focus on revenue, on users, and start openly talking about this.”

Privacy in Public Blockchains

At the Tech of Tomorrow Conference (ToT) 2023, Zolciak discussed Aleph Zero, a public, open-source, permissionless layer one blockchain that seeks to combine privacy and public features. They aim to address the divide between transparent public blockchains and privacy-centric permissioned ones through programmable privacy. Zolciak highlighted the network's emphasis on speed, scalability, Rust-based smart contracts, initiatives like an ecosystem funding program, and pilot projects such as an EV payment system and a European digital exchange. Additionally, he touched on plans for interoperability with other blockchains and the development of privacy-enhanced decentralized autonomous organizations and cybersecurity solutions. ^[6]