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Vladimir Ponimayushchy: Centralised Exchanges as Predators and Cannibals

12.07.2025 ForkLog

The drive towards decentralisation and digital immortality has become a natural stage of evolution. Web3 visionary Vladimir Ponimayushchy (POSTHUMAN) discussed the cannibalism of CEX, the symbiosis of AI and blockchain, digital twins, and the best countries to live in during a conversation with ForkLog.

ForkLog (FL): Vladimir, what truly captivated you when you entered the industry?

Vladimir Ponimayushchy (V.P.): Around 2016, I realised that consensus in Bitcoin is achieved at the code level. Before that, I was involved in social activism, and we painfully sought consensus in small groups of people. Here, it turned out: there’s no need to argue — it’s already programmed! Blockchain became a tool for me to make the material world better through the digital one. I became a “blockchain evangelist.”

FL: Many talk about the “degradation” of crypto: meme coins, declining developer activity… Is this a decline?

V.P.: It’s evolution. The amount of development is growing, but the focus has shifted from infrastructure to applications. A hundred projects emerge, ninety die, ten survive, give rise to forks — the cycle repeats. The main thing is victories: countries are legalising crypto on their own, major players are integrating Bitcoin. We said it would change the world — it’s happening, just not instantly. A free market must be chaotic and unpredictable — that’s a sign of its vitality.

FL: Brian Armstrong speaks of the synergy between AI and blockchain with a potential of x10. What are the prospects for this tandem?

V.P.: It’s a super synergy! Blockchain is the perfect, constantly updated database for a new type of AI (SNN, LNN), capable of learning on the fly. We will create AI agents or digital twins that will autonomously perform tasks based on our prompts. Imagine: you’re asleep, and your digital twin is staking tokens, collecting rewards, adding liquidity to pools, monitoring fees. Blockchain will ensure the transparency and reliability of their actions.

FL: What about the threat of AI to jobs and even humanity?

V.P.: AI is a tool, like a hammer. Yes, it will replace routine tasks — just as the printing press replaced scribes. This is progress. We already live under the “rule” of AI, asking it for advice. Soon it will offer them proactively. Our task is to focus on goal-setting: what do we want to achieve? Responsibility for AI errors will fall on its creators — this is an incentive to make it safer.

FL: You mentioned “post-humanity.” Is it really possible to overcome aging and death with AI and biotech?

V.P.: Absolutely. Our validator is called POSTHUMAN for a reason. Humanitarian methods (religion, philosophy) do not solve the fundamental problems of human nature. The solution lies in changing this nature through technology: genetic engineering, cyberisation (neurointerfaces like Neuralink), regenerative medicine. Those who do not evolve technologically will simply be left in the past. The future belongs to those who become “more than human.”

FL: Who would you call the “ladybug of the crypto industry” — cute on the outside, but a predator in reality?

V.P.: Definitely CEX! They are true cannibals. On the surface — “angels,” helping to trade. In reality: they use users’ funds for their own interests, “devour” each other in competitive struggle, and suppress decentralised alternatives. Their model is inherently exploitative towards users and the ecosystem.

For more details, see the full episode of “Podcast Society.”