It’s the end of an era. Samson Mow, Blockstream’s Chief Strategy Officer, left the company earlier today. The separation was amicable. “It’s been a grand adventure working with Adam Back for the last 5 years and together we’ve accomplished a great deal from sidechains, to mining, to satellites. So what’s next? I plan to focus on nation-state Bitcoin adoption!” Mow announced.
The legendary Adam Back, original cypherpunk and Blockstream’s CEO, replied to him: “Nation state bitcoin adoption on the rise, and they benefit from expert tactical advice. Mow is the guy to make it happen!” When El Salvador announced the creation of the Volcano Bonds, Samson Mow served as the face of Blockstream. At the time, Bitcoinist explained:
“The tokenized bonds will be denominated in U.S. dollars and issued via the Liquid Network, as announced by Chief Strategy Officer of Blockstream, Samson Mow. According to Mow, development for the bonds have been months in the making after they were first proposed to the president following talks about El Salvador’s plans to adopt BTC as a legal tender.”
Apparently, the bitcoin nation-state adoption business was too good to pass. “With everything happening at light speed in El Salvador, and more and more countries interested in adopting Bitcoin, I found my time each day just no longer enough anymore,” Samson Mow tweeted in his goodbye thread.
Blockstream will continue to be a critical part of #Bitcoin infrastructure development & Layer 2 scaling tech like @Liquid_BTC & Lightning. I’m grateful to have had a hand in bringing so many products/services to market, and though I’m leaving, I’ll still be a #BlockstreamSpy. 🕵🏻♂️
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 1, 2022
“With Blockstream in a very good place and well capitalized after a successful B round, it was the right time to move on. It also feels like now is a pivotal point in Bitcoin’s evolution – we’re on the verge of mass adoption, and I think that I can make it happen faster,” Mow added.
Othe Samson Mow Projects
Besides the ambitious goal of helping entire nations adopt bitcoin, Samson Mow has projects in space. And we’re not talking about the Blockstream satellite. His gaming company Pixelmatic is about to release the beta version of Infinite Fleet, “an epic sci-fi massively multiplayer online (MMO) strategy game.”
With everything happening at light speed in El Salvador, and more and more countries interested in adopting #Bitcoin, I found my time each day just no longer enough anymore. Also, as @InfiniteFleet nears Beta, more of my attention is being demanded by the @Pixelmatic team.
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 1, 2022
What’s special about Infinite Fleet? It uses “a Bitcoin sidechain game currency.” Of course, “INF tokens are issued on the Liquid Network, a secondary layer or “sidechain” of the Bitcoin blockchain – the longest-standing and most robust blockchain network. The Liquid Network allows BTC to be pegged in and out from the base layer, while allowing for faster transaction times and confidential transactions, making it more suitable for high frequency transactions of assets.”
Blockstream runs The Liquid Network. Adam Back invested heavily in Infinite Fleet’s first private token raise, so both characters are still in business together. As a side note, “The game has been developed by a team of game designers who have worked on franchises such as Age of Empires, Homeworld, Company of Heroes and Dawn of War,” Coindesk informs.
BTC price chart for 03/01/2022 on Gemini | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
The Twitterati React To Mow’s Departure
Everybody and their mothers commented under Samson Mow’s goodbye thread. Mexican senator Indira Kempis, who’s actively pushing to make bitcoin legal tender in her country, replied with a heart, a rocket, and a Mexican flag. Samson Mow answered in Spanish, “There’s much work to do!” Does that mean what we think it means?
Besides her, What Bitcoin Did’s host Peter McCormack wrote, “A legend moves on to bigger things. Thanks for everything you have done Samson Mow.” Another podcaster and journalist, Stacy Herbert, replied, “Congratulations, Samson. So excited to see what you achieve for global hyperbitcoinization” For his part, Swan Bitcoin’s Cory Swan said, “Congratulations on a great run at Blockstream, and best of luck on your new ventures!”
Samson first made his mark defending bitcoin devs during the Block Size Wars. He’s remained a huge force for good ever since. Onwards! https://t.co/fM2NUYLh7w
— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) March 1, 2022
Salvadoran community leader Roman Martínez reacted with a, “You are the man Samson Mow.” Security expert Jameson Lopp went bizarre and said, “You can claim to leave Blockstream but you can never cease being a lizard person.”
Last but not least, bitcoin advocate Tuur Demeester gave us a history lesson, “Samson first made his mark defending bitcoin devs during the Block Size Wars. He’s remained a huge force for good ever since. Onwards!”
Keep your eye on Bitcoinist for the latest information on Samson Mow and nation-state bitcoin adoption.
Featured Image: Samson Mow from the Excellion website | Charts by TradingView