CRYPTO 101 Ep. 694: Exploring Concordium – The Future of Blockchain Identity

Hosts: Bryce Paul & Brendan Viehman
Guest: Boris (Triple B), CEO of Concordium
Date: December 20, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Bryce and Brendan welcome Boris (aka Triple B), CEO of Concordium, to dissect how Concordium is paving the way for blockchain-based, privacy-preserving identity solutions. The discussion traverses the evolution of blockchain adoption, the persistent challenges of user onboarding, privacy versus compliance, and how Concordium’s unique architecture and roadmap address some of the ecosystem's most pressing concerns—especially around real-world integration, secure digital identity, and protocol-level innovations. The episode leverages Boris’s deep experience across traditional finance and crypto infrastructure to illuminate where blockchain is headed as 2026 approaches.

Key Themes & Insights

Boris’s Journey from Traditional Finance to Crypto

• [02:17] Boris began in traditional finance—hedge funds, brokerage, M&A—before entering crypto in 2017, drawn in by the Satoshi White Paper’s vision of “global electronic peer-to-peer cash.”

• Quote:
  “What really kind of sparked my interest...was the very first line of the Satoshi White Paper. Global electronic peer-to-peer cash. Having been in finance, that’s quite specific…turns out it’s an absolute…clusterfuck.”
  — Boris [03:02]

• Boris co-founded Copper, a major crypto custodian. Early interest in the infrastructure side of crypto led him to Concordium, which his tech team admired for its robust codebase and cryptographic strength.

State of the Crypto Market & Adoption Challenges

• Volatility Is Normal ([09:07])
  Bryce and Boris reflect on endless crypto cycles: 2018’s “party’s over,” the DeFi summer of 2021, and the infrastructure failures of 2022 (FTX, Celsius).

  • Quote: “This kind of stuff, it doesn’t phase you, it doesn’t phase me…this is all very normal and natural for any space that is new.”
    — Bryce [09:08]

• Adoption Stagnation
  Average monthly DApp users have stagnated for 3–4 years; real-world adoption lags.

  • Quote: “As an industry, we have done extremely poorly… the idea of it being adopted… what do you actually do in order to get users on?”
    — Boris [12:18]

• Barriers for Mainstream Users ([13:55])
  Tooling and UX (mnemonics, seed phrases, complex wallet flows) deter the average person; older generations took a month to adopt Apple Pay, much less manage private keys.

  • Quote: “Blockchain is here to be used, not understood. Everybody tries to understand it…don’t understand it, just use it… but that is down to the industry to build things for that to happen.”
    — Boris [15:23]

Concordium’s Approach and Differentiators

1. Privacy-Preserving, Regulator-Friendly Identity ([16:55],[19:18])

• Identity as a Core Pillar:
  Concordium enables users to verify identity once, then interact privately using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). No personal documents or data are broadcast to third parties or stored on-chain.

  • Quote: “You have the ability to identify yourself once you enter the ecosystem…but you do it once and from that point onwards you are interacting in the ecosystem in a complete privacy preserving way using zero knowledge proofs.”
    — Boris [17:12]

• Balancing Privacy & Compliance:
  The cypherpunk ideal meets reality—privacy isn’t anonymity; regulators still require some controls. Use cases like age-gated content, gambling, and gaming benefit from this approach.

  • Quote:
    “There’s a difference between privacy and anonymity… the regulator, and you need to kind of strike that balance. Adoption doesn’t happen if I continuously have to onboard just like the way that I’m onboarding right now.”
    — Boris [26:23]

2. Protocol-Level Tokens (PLTs) & Smart Money ([19:19],[39:55])

• Protocol-Level Issuance:
  Smart contracts should not be custodians; instead, token issuance and core functions move to the protocol level, reducing smart contract risk and enabling automated compliance (e.g., for stablecoins, security tokens, yield-bearing assets).

  • Use Case: Rental Agreements
    Deposits can sit in yield-generating assets, returned automatically if all conditions met—a massive efficiency over traditional escrow.

  • Quote:
    “You can program into it whatever you want right into the issuance… bind this together with identity… you can solve for things out of the gate—travel rule done, age verifying payments done, geofencing done.”
    — Boris [20:20]

3. Real-World Integration & User Onboarding ([23:41],[43:20])

• Onboarding Without Crypto Jargon

  • New users use an ID app (no mention of crypto, no seed phrases), go through a third-party identity verification, and have a cryptographically hashed identity bound to their device.
  • Used in diverse sectors: adult content, gaming, gambling, and compliance-heavy social media.

• Quote: “If you want to have adoption, the adoption doesn’t happen if I continuously have to onboard just like the way that I’m onboarding right now…we take it from a level of like getting a user base into an ecosystem and allowing them to, in privacy preserving way, without them knowing that they’re on a Web3 ecosystem now.”
  — Boris [25:51]

Sector-Specific Use Cases and Partnerships

• Adult Content, Gambling, Gaming, Social Media: ([44:17],[47:16])
  These 'high-risk verticals' both need compliance and have large user bases—ideal matches for Concordium’s identity approach.

  • Quote:
    “I just had a meeting today with a gaming company. So in game purchases, they want to do this on Concordium simply because of the capabilities that we have. Right. Building that in. And also like the age gating is quite big there…you maybe shouldn’t be 13 with Daddy’s credit card.”
    — Boris [45:47]

• Cost Savings for Businesses:
  With global privacy legislation tightening (ex: $24M AUD fines in Australia for social media violations), the value proposition for built-in compliance is substantial.

  • Quote:
    “How much is it worth to remove 99+% of that risk? And they’re going to say… it’s probably worth us at least 23, $24 million because that’s how much we’re paying right now.”
    — Brendan [48:15]

Concordium’s Ecosystem & Next Steps

• Milestones of 2025: ([51:26])

  • Full internal restructuring and new management.
  • Launch of PLTs (protocol-level tokens).
  • Partnerships with wallets and payment service providers (e.g., Bitcoin.com, Ledger, PSPs representing millions of users).
  • Focus on privacy-preserving, frictionless KYC—“scan a QR, account opens in a second.”

• Vision for 2026+ ([54:24])

  • To be “the privacy-preserving verification layer for the traditional world as well as the crypto world”—enabling cross-chain compliance, seamless identity, and smart money use.
  • Partnership with X402 Foundation and Coinbase for “agentic payments.”

The Philosophy: Privacy, Not Anonymity ([56:24])

• Navigating Regulation:
  Adoption won’t occur with pure anonymity (regulators will push back) or with maximum transparency (users, especially businesses, want privacy). Concordium strikes a pragmatic, compliance-friendly balance.

  • Quote:
    “As much as also like zcash to a certain extent. But there is a difference between anonymity and privacy. Yes, there is a massive difference. The difference is completely shielded transactions. Nobody knows anything. The regulator will never… If you want to have real world adoption, you need to strike that balance…”
    — Boris [56:24]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “It turns out it’s an absolute… clusterfuck.” — Boris on modern financial infrastructure [03:12]
• “Blockchain is here to be used, not understood.” — Boris [15:23]
• “There’s a difference between privacy and anonymity…you need to kind of strike that balance.” — Boris [26:23]
• “If you want to have adoption, [it] doesn’t happen if I continuously have to onboard just like the way that I’m onboarding right now.” — Boris [25:51]
• “Protocol-level issuance…you can solve for things out of the gate—travel rule done, age verifying payments done, geofencing done.” — Boris [20:20]
• “You maybe shouldn’t be 13 with Daddy’s credit card.” — Boris, gaming compliance use case [45:47]
• “If you want to have real world adoption, you need to strike that balance…privacy and compliance.” — Boris [57:20]

Key Segments & Timestamps

• [02:17] – Boris’s background and entry into crypto
• [09:07] – Reflections on market volatility and normalization of cycles
• [12:18] – The flatlining of actual user adoption (DApp & real-world use)
• [16:55] – Introduction to Concordium’s identity + privacy approach
• [19:18] – How protocol-level tokens and identity preserve privacy & fulfill regulatory requirements
• [23:41] – Onboarding users without “crypto” terminology
• [39:55] – The vision for peer-to-peer programmable money and rental agreement use case
• [44:17] – Targeting high-risk, high-activity sectors (adult/gambling/gaming/social)
• [51:26] – 2025’s milestones and what’s next
• [54:24] – Boris’s vision for Concordium in a year
• [56:24] – Clarifying privacy versus anonymity—what makes real-world adoption work

Conclusion

This episode demystifies the next era of blockchain identity—highlighting Concordium’s balance of privacy and compliance, real-world user onboarding without technical complexity, and critical technical innovations at the protocol level. As the lines between crypto and the traditional world blur, Concordium positions itself as a foundational layer for trust, compliance, and usability—tailored not just for today’s crypto natives, but for a much broader, global population.

Follow Concordium:
Telegram, X (Twitter): @Concordium
Website: concordium.com
Socials for daily updates

Summary by [Your Assistant], December 2025