Hi everyone,
I’m Lukas Bures, Ph.D., and I’m running for the Special Council. I’ve been with Horizen since the ZenCash days, mining, building, and advocating - and I’m ready to serve at the governance level.
How long have you been a community member?
I’ve been here since the very beginning in 2017 - even before the ZEN chain launched. I remember the earliest engineering days (including Joshua’s work) and actively supported the project through those critical first phases, from mining to coding and helping the community keep momentum.
What is your background?
I hold a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and have 15+ years of experience building distributed/data/AI/SAAS systems and production software. My work spans mainly between AI and DeFi. For Horizen specifically, I:
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Authored the 2017 send-zen script to enable access to community funds during a critical moment. Committed my first contribution on July 24, 2017.
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Assembled the team and created the Arizen light wallet from scratch, which became a key tool for early Horizen users with more than 100,000 downloads.
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Was also the author of Eleos, one of the first Horizen wallets, which laid the groundwork for user-friendly access to the ecosystem.
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Community Advocacy: Promoted ZEN at many crypto conferences, spoke with new community members, and distributed merchandise across Europe. I also met with Robert Viglione at events and even received physical ZEN coins for distribution directly from Rolf Versluis - reminders of those early community-building days.
What is your experience in life?
I’ve led and collaborated with distributed engineering teams - including managing teams of over 40 people - built projects from idea to production, and stayed close to open-source communities throughout my career. I believe in pragmatism, transparency, and security-first thinking - values that I’ve carried from research to real-world systems, and which I will also bring to governance.
What is your experience in the cryptocurrency space?
I’ve been deeply involved in the cryptocurrency space since 2017, both as a builder and an active participant in the wider ecosystems. My experience covers:
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Early Mining & Security: Supported networks by mining in their early stages (including ZEN) to contribute to decentralization and stability.
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Wallets & Tools: Helped create some of the first user wallets and community tools that made projects more accessible.
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Tokenomics & Research: Studied and analyzed token models, governance systems, and economic incentives to evaluate the sustainability of projects.
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Active DeFi User: Engaged with decentralized exchanges, liquidity pools, staking platforms, and yield farming strategies.
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Trading & Automation: Built and experimented with trading bots, executed arbitrage strategies, and tested algorithmic approaches across centralized and decentralized markets.
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Market Exploration: Experienced in sniping new token launches, participating in ICOs/IDOs, and exploring the dynamics of memecoins.
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NFTs & Digital Collectibles: Participated in NFT launches, both as a user and through experimentation with NFT tooling and platforms.
What do you like about ZEN?
What I’ve always valued about ZEN is its resilience and ethos. From the very beginning, Horizen has stood for decentralization, security, and privacy - not just chasing hype cycles, but steadily building. I appreciate that the community and team have weathered multiple market phases while keeping focus on long-term vision.
I also like that Horizen has embraced evolution: starting as ZenCash, growing into Horizen, and now moving further. This ability to adapt without losing its core values is rare in the crypto space, and it’s why I’ve stayed committed to ZEN for so many years.
What could be done better?
The main struggle is the utilisation of the ZEN token. It needs stronger integration across the ecosystem - more products, services, and use cases that make ZEN an essential part of participation. Expanding token utility through deeper integrations will help ensure the technology is matched by real adoption.
What would be your priorities as a council member?
My priorities would be to:
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Strengthen ZEN token utility by pushing for more integrations and practical use cases across the ecosystem.
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Raise the technical bar for ZENIPs, ensuring proposals are secure, feasible, and deliver clear value.
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Support developer growth with better documentation, tooling, and onboarding, so more contributors can build on Horizen.
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Maintain transparency and accountability between funding, milestones, and delivered outcomes.
Thank you for reading and for your consideration. I’ve been here since the start: mining, coding, and advocating. I remain deeply committed to Horizen’s success. It would be an honor to help steward Horizen’s next chapter as a Special Council member.
Lukas Bures, Ph.D.