Lucas Martin Calderon
Lucas Martin Calderon
World-renowned expert in cybersecurity, blockchain and AI, currently bridging the gap between smart contract security and AI, bringing disruptive technologies to market that are reshaping industries.
World-renowned expert in cybersecurity, blockchain and AI, currently bridging the gap between smart contract security and AI, bringing disruptive technologies to market that are reshaping industries.
Founder @ Pentestify
Pioneering the blockchain security space with the first post-deployment smart contract vulnerability detection tool leveraging AI, zero knowledge proof and blockchain security expertise. Backed by top web3 security firms and used by tier 1 banks globally
Founder @ Zktoro
Managing a team of 7 in the development of a DeFi protocol that empowers crypto quant traders to create, share and execute investable strategies cross-chain – whilst preserving the privacy of the strategies and trades on-chain. Powered by SGX, FHE, ZKP and AI
Founder @ Web3sec.news
Founder of the largest web3 security newsletter and content platform. It combines cutting-edge research into market insights, hack forensics, technical courses… to empower auditors to stay ahead in the fast-paced and ever-evolving blockchain security landscape.
Whoami
Senior engineer and CTO in blockchain security, with expertise in AI, DeFi and zero-knowledge proofs. My background is firmly grounded in outstanding academic achievements as a PhD at UCL on blockchain security & AI, and professional achievements as a web3 serial entrepreneur, author, instructor and top 3% smart contract security auditor. Currently, I am pioneering smart contract security with AI at Pentestify and am a thought leader on the intersections of both technologies at global conferences such as Davos – World Economic Forum
I started programming in 2015 and dove straight into the world of blockchain, cybersecurity and AI who have remained the 3 pillars upon which my career has been built. From programming a Bitcoin environment and mining coins using my own automatic software trough to becoming an Ethereum contributor and DAO developer, I’ve gone from building websites for local businesses to securing and advising tier 1 banks and DeFi protocols, and teach advanced blockchain security and smart contract hacking to EC-council and SANS Institute students.
My journey began when I discovered Scratch and, with it, the infinite possibilities of programming. This set me on the path to computer engineering and after a few years of freelance work for several major consulting firms, I began my studies at the University of Exeter where I graduated summa cum laude in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science. While there, I also supported a PhD in research that enabled Exeter to successfully combine quantum computing and photonics to build an exponentially faster processor further plunging me into the world of deep-tech.
My passion for technology served as a means to self-fund my engineering degree at Exeter and then UCL, where I graduated with an MSc in blockchain security and where I became a PhD in DeFi security with AI. The thesis behind my PhD became the foundations of my second company Pentestify where we are currently pioneering the worlds of blockchain security and AI.
However big my academic successes, my professional achievements where never far behind and I have spent the last 7 years contributing to hundreds of projects like Ethereum or Rapid7, securing large tokenisations with $3B AUM and successfully launching 2 web3 companies: Pentestify and Zktoro who both sit at the intersections of my three core pillars: Blockchain, cybersecurity and AI and have a combined valuation of $15M.
My professional and academic achievements have been accompanied by a number of competitions and awards. In recent years, I have won several global hackathons such as Chainlink’s CCIP and ETH Global, received several awards for entrepreneurship, and received a number of invitations to the most influential events in the field to speak about the future of blockchain including Davos 2024.
Pentestify is at the centre of everything I’ve ever done, bringing together all the elements that drive me and is poised to have a real impact not only on the field of smart contract security, but also in the next evolution of the internet as a pillar to ensure its integrity, and this supports the mission I’ve made the watchword of my life.
My Mission
Throughout my journey, I hope to inspire and empower the people around me while carrying out a mission that has been close to my heart since the day I started programming: Making sure that the internet’s next evolution doesn’t repeat the same mistakes as web2, i.e. ignoring society’s major social, political, economic and technical challenges. Blockchain security is the 20% that makes 80% of all the real impact in the world because it touches on all these challenges and is the culmination of my never-ending pursuit of why these challenges exist.
