Hugo Philion, CEO of Flare Network (Interview)

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Hugo Philion, CEO of Flare Network (Interview)


Flare Network stands out as one of the popular first-layer blockchains that focuses on the integration of external data into blockchain systems. First of all, Flare is an EVM-compatible L1 network. Its focus on interoperability and data integration has made it a prominent name in the crypto world.

Moving from a finance background to the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies, CEO Hugo Philion has been instrumental in driving Flare Network’s direction to tackle some of the industry’s key challenges. In the interview below, Philion shares his views on blockchain and data, shedding light on Flare Network’s efforts to move the industry forward.

His departure from the financial industry stemmed from his desire for more meaningful involvement in his professional life. In an exclusive interview with CryptoPotato He explains his motivation at the annual ETH Denver conference:

“I thought I wasn’t doing anything interesting or worthwhile in life.”

This thought led him to blockchain technology and led to his decision to return to academia and explore machine learning, where he met his future Flare Network co-founders.


Incorporating External Data into Blockchain Systems


Flare Network’s primary goal is to solve the complex problem of incorporating external data into blockchain systems. Philion explains the complexity of this task:

“There is little point in using blockchain if you are using a central party to manage the data, you could also use a database. If you’re doing that kind of thing, the only real reason blockchains exist is as a way for people to access the network,” Philion states.

“You don’t get the value of decentralization. So we thought, okay, what’s the perfect mechanism to achieve immutability, avoid censorship, and mitigate those kinds of risks, or what’s the best mechanism for decentralization? And of course a blockchain is the best way to do this. So we thought, ‘How do we create a blockchain that verifies data?'” concludes the problem Flare is trying to solve.

“Our raison d’être is data, and there’s no one else really making a layer for data. And then if you add in our transport protocols, it’s not just data, but it’s also pretty nice interoperability because we can build bridges and do public message passing, and we can also provide our data as a conveniently decentralized Oracle service. Oracle service to any network. So we don’t see ourselves as L1. “We see ourselves as part of different blockchains.”

“Accessing data on a blockchain from external sources is a very difficult thing,” he adds. and discusses the limitations of traditional oracles and Flare’s mission to decentralize the data verification process, emphasizing that “traditional oracles are highly centralized” to highlight the change Flare advocates for in the blockchain ecosystem.

Flare recently published a detailed review of the Flare Time Series migration to Oracle V2. This enables 1000 prices with 90-second link updates and single-block on-demand stream updates. You can find more information about this here.

Philion goes into detail about Flare’s approach, specifically highlighting the Flare Time Series Oracle. “Flare Time Series Oracle… provides 15 crypto prices and is updated every three minutes,” explains its functionality, demonstrating the network’s real-time data update ability and scalability potential.

Expanding Horizons: Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain


Philion also touches on the convergence of artificial intelligence and blockchain, an area he thinks is full of potential. He expresses his excitement for this integration as follows:

“Artificial intelligence will be one of the areas where blockchain really improves on what currently exists.”

This reveals a vision of blockchain that transcends traditional boundaries and increases the reliability and applicability of artificial intelligence.

He also noted that this intersection could lead to more accurate, safer artificial intelligence models. Philion’s perspective is that decentralized technologies can provide a new paradigm for AI development, where blockchain can contribute to the creation of unbiased, verifiable AI systems:

“And to me, that’s probably the most exciting thing in space for the next five to 10 years. If this is successful and we can have enough scalability to be able to deliver answers from AI models to people who need those answers, and we can do it fast enough with low latency, that would be a very useful product, then “You’ve got something that’s actually a solution to a real problem.” “

‘We hold a large amount of Bitcoin’


Philion offers insight into the broader blockchain landscape, particularly in the context of Bitcoin’s recent resurgence in value.

He provides a thoughtful commentary on market dynamics, noting Flare Network’s strategic stance regarding Bitcoin. “As an institution, we own a lot of Bitcoin,” he says, reflecting on strategic decisions made in the context of market trends.

“When the US banks went bankrupt, when Silicon Valley Bank went bankrupt and all these banks went bankrupt, there was a period when we basically had no banks. Finally we thought, okay, we have stablecoins and we want to diversify a little bit. So what should we keep? Bitcoin. It definitely paid off for us.”

Additionally, Flare is also looking at the Bitcoin L2 market to provide its data.

“Bitcoin is an ecosystem that will truly appreciate Flare’s decentralized data.” – Philo results.

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