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Vincent McPhillip
Vincent McPhillip is a social scientist and entrepreneur specializing in integrating artificial intelligence and blockchain. He co-founded Pi Network, a user-friendly blockchain platform, and Knomad, an AI-powered flash teams platform. [2]
Education
McPhilip graduated from Yale University, majoring in Political Science, in 2010. He then attended Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, receiving his M.B.A. in 2018. [3]
Career
McPhillip founded Catalyst Apparel in 2007, a student-designed college apparel company, and later worked as a summer analyst in Morgan Stanley’s media and communications group in 2009. In 2010, he became an international analyst at Trivèlla Investimentos, focusing on Brazilian business practices and economic development. From 2012 to 2015, he was a South End Community Health Center board member and founded WellWyn, a collective of wellness providers offering subscription-based services. He worked as a senior associate consultant at the Bridgespan Group from 2014 to 2016, contributing to projects in education and health. In 2017, he co-founded the Stanford Blockchain Collective, a multidisciplinary blockchain group. He co-founded and served as head of community at Pi Network from 2018 to 2020, followed by founding Knomad in 2021, a collective intelligence platform he led until 2024. In late 2024, he became an author at Shocksense. [2] [4]
Pi Network
Pi Network was launched on March 14, 2019, by Kokkalis, Fan, and McPhillip to create a more accessible, mobile-first cryptocurrency. Inspired by Bitcoin, the project aimed to remove third-party intermediaries in financial transactions while addressing barriers limiting mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. Instead of using Bitcoin’s energy-intensive mining process, Pi Network developed a consensus mechanism based on social security circles, allowing users to validate transactions through a mobile application with minimal resource consumption. The idea was shaped by the founders’ experiences at Stanford, including Kokkalis’ course on decentralized applications and discussions with other faculty members. Their research focused on making blockchain technology more user-friendly and exploring applications beyond finance, including healthcare and identity management. The team emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration in distributed systems, cryptography, and social sciences to refine Pi Network’s development. [1]
Leaving Pi Network
In 2020, McPhillip sued Kokkalis and Fan, alleging they unfairly removed him from the company and mismanaged financial resources. He claimed their personal conflicts created a disruptive work environment, forcing him to focus on resolving disputes rather than leading the business. McPhillip accused them of attempting to dilute his ownership by issuing undervalued shares. He argued that his temporary departure in April 2020 was misinterpreted as abandonment, leading to the loss of access to company assets. Kokkalis and Fan defended their actions, citing policy violations. The dispute was settled in July 2023 with undisclosed terms. [5]
Interviews
Mobile Mining
McPhillip discussed the Pi Network with the Cracking Cryptocurrency YouTube channel at SFBW'19, explaining its goal to make cryptocurrency accessible to everyone. He shared his journey from founding the Stanford Blockchain Collective to creating Pi, emphasizing the need for a more user-friendly cryptocurrency. Pi was designed as a layer-one blockchain that allows mobile phone users to mine coins without the complex setup required for Bitcoin. Pi enables users to mine by establishing trust networks via their mobile devices by using a unique consensus algorithm based on Stellar's federated Byzantine agreement. The network aims for mass adoption, with over a million users joining since its 2019 launch. McPhillip highlighted the importance of providing real utility for everyday people to drive the next wave of cryptocurrency adoption. [6]
About Pi Network
In an interview with Crypto Insights Journal, McPhillip discussed his background and path into cryptocurrency, emphasizing his interest in designing systems that reward collective contributions. He co-founded the Stanford Blockchain Collective to make blockchain education more accessible and later collaborated with two Stanford PhDs to create Pi Network. The project aimed to make cryptocurrency mining more accessible by enabling users to mine via mobile phones using a low-energy consensus algorithm based on federated Byzantine agreements. McPhillip highlighted how Pi sought to address barriers to entry in crypto by eliminating the need for expensive hardware and technical knowledge. He also discussed the importance of inclusivity in blockchain education and how the Stanford Blockchain Collective evolved into the Stanford Blockchain Club. [7]
Presentations
AI x Crypto
McPhillip's talk at ETHBoston 2023 explored the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, highlighting the tensions between the two technologies. He discussed how AI is highly centralized while blockchain emphasizes decentralization, and how these contrasting forces present opportunities for decentralized AI. McPhillip argued that blockchain could play a pivotal role in addressing AI's privacy, security, and governance issues, and he emphasized the potential of decentralized AI to unlock the "Deep Web" of personal and proprietary data. He also proposed using blockchain for fairer economic models and governance of AI development, while stressing the need for distributed systems to train large language models more equitably. McPhillip advocated for the crypto community to embrace decentralized AI as a transformative force for both industries. [8]
Vincent McPhillip
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