Zilliqa Welcomes Blockchain Visionary Dr. Ben Livshits as New CEO

Most recently, Dr. Livshits drove the research and commercialisation of cutting-edge, privacy-preserving technologies at Brave, bringing blockchain to almost 40 million users

We’re elated to announce the appointment of software tech industry leader Dr. Ben Livshits as Chief Executive Officer. Throughout his career, Dr. Livshits has spent over two decades at some of the world’s most pioneering tech companies that have shaped the internet as we know it today — from Microsoft to Netscape. During this time, he has established a track record in building and leading teams that have delivered applications and infrastructure designed for commercial deployment and mass adoption. Many of these outcomes were based on cutting-edge research successfully deployed to lead to novel industrial outcomes.

In his role as CEO, Dr. Livshits will be driving Zilliqa’s global strategy, growing its footprint within the crypto space as well as increasing the market penetration from East to West, as new markets across the world establish themselves as crypto-friendly economies. He plans to establish initiatives that expand the capabilities of blockchains to new areas of finance, such as the burgeoning DeFi sector, digital content creation and distribution, and new ways to connect our protocol to real-world applications such as high-value NFTs.

Here’s what he had to say about his appointment:

“From addressing one of the industry’s most prolific existential challenges of scalability to the tangible impact it’s made in nurturing new talent, Zilliqa has played a vital role in shaping Asia’s blockchain industry. I’m thrilled to be joining the team during this pivotal time in its growth journey to realise its ambition as a leading blockchain of choice on a global scale.”

Prior to joining Zilliqa, Dr. Livshits served as Chief Scientist at Brave — the company behind the Brave browser, renowned for placing user data protections and security at the heart of its infrastructure. He built and led the company’s research division from the ground up, leading a multidisciplinary team across the globe to help create the world’s first practical privacy-preserving ad targeting and delivery system as well as a number of other technologies based on cryptography and machine learning. During his time at Brave, the company has dramatically increased its user base, becoming one of the largest projects in crypto by the number of users. At present, Brave serves almost 40 million users and over 1 million content creators in its ecosystem.

As part of his role, Dr. Livshits will push Zilliqa’s growing endeavours to the next stage by establishing a more data-driven ethos at Zilliqa, combined with a strategic talent acquisition drive from Q4 2021 onwards. With the aim of reinvigorating marketing and monetisation methods across retail, gaming, sports, and art, he will enable Zilliqa to sustainably make bold investments into creator economy-based projects. His leadership and profile within the industry is sure to strengthen Zilliqa’s commercialisation strategy as a leading layer-1 blockchain distinguished for its usability, massive user adoption, high-volume transactions, and ability to appeal to groundbreaking projects across all verticals.

Dr. Livshits’ published academic research and work have played a significant role in driving the privacy mechanics in some of the world’s foremost internet companies, including Intel, Netscape Communications, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. A holder of a PhD in computer science from Stanford University, he published over 100 papers in areas of programming languages, compilers, computer security, and web applications, developing software infrastructure that was eventually transferred to many commercial Microsoft products. With his academic specialisations in blockchain technology, security, and privacy, he has taught at the MIT, University of Washington, and Imperial College London.

Much like the rest of the blockchain ecosystem, Zilliqa has come a long way since its earliest days. We’re so excited to work with him and know he will be a tremendous leader as we enter our new chapter. With his experience in startups, large corporations, and academia, Dr. Livshits’ leadership will enable Zilliqa to accelerate adoption of Zilliqa as the platform of choice across the globe.

In 2021, we’ve embarked on high-profile enterprise partnerships in the creator economy, including blockchain-powered social networks and non-fungible tokens. The move is part of the strategic direction to raise our profile globally as we pivot towards providing more in-house content production support to enterprise and brand partners. As a testament to its commitment to this new brand direction, the company has made several strategic hires including a creative director and 3D designers.