Bryan Bishop

Bryan Bishop is a Bitcoin Core developer who is CTO and Director at Avanti Bank & Trust where he he is helping to transform the banking industry with crypto. With a background in software engineering, Bishop previously worked at LedgerX (now FTX US Derivatives) from 2014-2018 before returning to a life of consulting in fintech. In his non-commercial work, he has volunteered as a contributor to the Bitcoin Core project. 

Bishop and Max Berry, a former lab scientist at a biotech company, are now starting a company focused on the production of designer babies and human germline genetic engineering. Bishop refers to himself as a transhumanist, believing that technology can improve humans in profound ways. In 2016, Bishop came up with a way to delay Bitcoin transactions before receiving them, known as “the Vault”.

He is also a public speaker and published scholar (Nucleic Acids Research, J. Comp. Inf. Sci. Eng.) and self-proclaimed “Do-It-Yourself biohacker”.

Bryan Bishop is a notable figure in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, having contributed to the development of Bitcoin Core and worked in various senior roles in the industry. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Avanti, a crypto bank based in Wyoming that was approved by the state in 2020.

Before joining Avanti, Bishop was a senior blockchain engineer and custody architect at LedgerX, the first Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated options exchange and clearinghouse for digital assets. During his time there, he created Bitcoin Vaults, a pre-signed anti-theft recovery and drawback mechanism for Bitcoin.

Bishop's contributions to the development of Bitcoin Core, the most popular Bitcoin full node software, have been significant. He has been involved with the project since 2010 and has made numerous contributions to its codebase. He is also known for his work on the Lightning Network, a layer-two scaling solution for Bitcoin that enables faster and cheaper transactions.

In addition to his work in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, Bishop is a computer security researcher and has worked for organisations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Tor Project. He has also been a speaker at various conferences, including DEF CON and the MIT Bitcoin Expo.

Bishop's expertise and contributions to the development of blockchain technology have earned him a reputation as a leading figure in the industry. His work on Bitcoin Vaults and the Lightning Network, as well as his role as CTO of Avanti, demonstrate his commitment to advancing the adoption and implementation of blockchain technology for secure, decentralised transactions.

Published Work

"MetaBase—the wiki-database of biological databases"
In this published work, Bryan Bishop and a collaborative team addressed the increasing data generated in biology and the numerous publicly available databases analyzing and summarizing this information. They introduced MetaBase (MB), a community-curated database comprising over 2000 commonly used biological databases. Each entry in MetaBase is structured using templates and can include user comments and annotations. The database allows searching, listing, browsing, and querying of its content. Utilizing MediaWiki technology, similar to Wikipedia, MetaBase allows users to contribute at multiple levels. The initial release of MetaBase was derived from the content of the 2007 Nucleic Acids Research (NAR) Database Issue, with additional databases added manually from the literature and contributions from users. The project emphasises a community-driven approach, with 19 significant contributors listed as authors, highlighting its collaborative nature.

"Impacting Designer Creativity Through IT-Enabled Concept Generation"
In this work, Bryan Bishop and his team aimed to address the lack of rigorous information-technology-enabled tools and scientific understanding of designer creativity in the context of innovation. They presented the VISUALIZEIT project, which sought to identify a scientific basis and develop cyberinfrastructure to facilitate, evaluate, and disseminate information-technology-enabled innovation methodologies to enhance designer creativity. The research paper outlined a method of synthesizing concept representations through computational concept generation, clustering design concepts, creating a repository of archived design knowledge, and implementing an information integration and representation interface. Initial results were presented, showcasing the implementation of VISUALIZEIT using two groups of students.

These publications demonstrate Bryan Bishop's diverse expertise and his contributions to advancing knowledge and tools in the fields of biology and information technology-enabled innovation methodologies.

Bryan Bishop envisions a world where cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions empower individuals and organisations to thrive in an interconnected and rapidly evolving landscape. He seeks to push the boundaries of software engineering, blockchain technology, and financial systems, ensuring enhanced security, efficiency, and accessibility for digital assets and transactions. With a focus on fostering collaboration and community-driven initiatives, Bryan aims to create platforms that enable knowledge-sharing and data-driven insights, advancing scientific research and technological progress.

Moreover, Bryan's vision extends to harnessing the potential of emerging technologies, such as DNA data storage, to revolutionise data preservation and management. He envisions a future where data can be securely stored in nucleic acids, offering unparalleled scalability and longevity for storing vast amounts of information. Through his entrepreneurial ventures and patent innovations, Bryan Bishop aspires to leave a lasting impact on the world, driving forward the forefront of technological advancements and making a positive difference in society.