JD Durkin: Oz Ozturk, global chief solutions officer at Blockstream. They build the tech that allows Bitcoin to function within the broader financial system. Grateful for your time today. Good to see you.
Oz Ozturk: Thanks.
JD Durkin: For anyone a bit unfamiliar with Blockstream, talk to us first and foremost about what it’s all about, and some of your priorities currently this year.
Oz Ozturk: My priorities. We’re a blockchain technology company. We’re expanding in Europe, and we’re building institutional rails.
JD Durkin: What are the big banks, the world of TradFi, asking for more and more in this age of Bitcoin adoption?
Oz Ozturk: Good question. Security, regulatory compliance and utility.
JD Durkin: Okay, that’s amazing. Blockstream expanding in Switzerland, if I’m not mistaken. Walk me through, what does that look like, and why is right now the right time to be bringing the Bitcoin conversation deeper into the world of TradFi? Why Switzerland?
Oz Ozturk: I think there’s a high density of opportunity there. It’s a bit of a gold standard when it comes to a number of different factors, and we see it as a great springboard into a European expansion and global expansion.
JD Durkin: What do they want?
Oz Ozturk: I think we’re seeing a big, how should I say, convergence, with institutions adopting enterprise-grade tech. And they want something that’s secure, scalable and just functional.
JD Durkin: What is still holding institutional adoption back? What are the biggest headwinds you think, not just you in your role right now, but the broader industry is still facing?
Oz Ozturk: Look, I think there are some mundane challenges. How do you integrate into legacy systems that have been there for 30 years? Yeah, you park that one. You still get questions around, what is the risk around digital assets? How do we lend against it? So you’re talking to different stakeholders in the business, and that’s quite a complex task. And then finally, I’m still explaining to institutions how the engineering works.
JD Durkin: Let me get your take on the Blockstream Liquid Network. What is that all about? And talk to me about a few of the real-world use cases for banks as well as for their customers.
Oz Ozturk: I wasn’t expecting that question, but I’ll give it a shot. It’s a layer 2 technology. It’s a settlement layer, and it allows utility. Basically, it’s the transference of assets across the globe in a very efficient and quick way.
JD Durkin: [unclear: “That’s what”] most excites you about where you’re positioned right now at the company, on the backdrop of all the exciting change, but also some of the opportunities that are still ahead?
Oz Ozturk: Yeah. Look, I think they say [unclear: “never waste an opportunity”]. We’ve got the AI threat. We’ve got security threats associated with that. And then we’ve got institutions who want to scale. And I think as Blockstream, we’ve got some of the best engineers in the world, we’ve got some of the best technology. If you bring that together and you actually make it, how should I say, valuable to an institution, that’s exciting to me and my team.
JD Durkin: That’s awesome. Well, this interview was very valuable to the show. Please come back. We’ll have to do it again sometime. Really grateful for your time. Oz Ozturk, global chief solutions officer at Blockstream. It’s an awesome title, by the way.
Oz Ozturk: Thank you.
JD Durkin: Thank you for being here.
