Introduction
Ryan X. Charles is an engineer, scientist, and entrepreneur with experience in
web development and full stack software engineering, blockchain, AI, physics,
and mathematics.
These days, I am mostly focused on the intersection of blockchain and AI, and I
build primarily for the web. I created a collaborative AI-generated encyclopedia
called Hallucipedia and a blockchain called
EarthBucks. I also built and operate
Identellica, a pseudonymous identity verification
service.
I was born in 1984 in St. Charles, MO, and grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis.
I have lived in Missouri, Illinois, Georgia, California, and Texas, and I have
visited 17 countries. For more about my background, see
the about page.
Education
- University of Missouri-Columbia (2002 - 2007): Double major: Bachelor of
Science in Physics and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.
- Washington University in St. Louis (2007 - 2013): Graduate student in
physics PhD program. Researched cosmology and high energy astrophysics, worked
on data analysis and simulation software (C, C++, Python) and physical work on
telescopes and computer hardware. Completed three years of coursework in
physics, mathematics, computer science, and computer engineering, including
designing an 8-bit microprocessor.
Skills
I learned how to program at age 10, and I have been programming ever since. I am
a highly technical and mathematically inclined engineer who also has experience
managing small teams and designing products. I have never stopped learning, and,
in fact, I learn more in the age of AI.
Technical Skills
- Programming Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Rust, Python, C, C++, bash,
zsh, nushell, HTML/CSS, PHP, BASIC, FORTH, WGSL (WebGPU Shader Language), SQL.
- Web Technologies: React, Node.js, Express, tRPC, React Router, Tailwind,
Next.js, bun.sh, Deno, Docker, AWS, PlanetScale, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB,
Cassandra/AWS Keyspaces, AWS S3, AWS ECS.
- Blockchain: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, eCash,
EarthBucks.
- Cryptography: Hash functions (SHA256, Blake3, RIPEMD160, HMAC), Elliptic
curves (SECP256k1, ECDSA), Merkle trees, Encryption (AES/CBC). Many of these I
have implemented myself in TypeScript, JavaScript, or Rust for cryptocurrency
wallets, blockchains, authentication, and encrypted messaging.
- CLI Tools: bash, zsh, nushell, git, ssh, grep/ripgrep, vim/neovim, tmux,
wezterm. Extensive familiarity with Linux on desktop and servers and using the
command line in macOS.
- Mathematics and Physics: I often revisit my knowledge of core mathematics,
including calculus, linear algebra, and group theory, which is relevant to
cryptography and AI.
- AI models: I have integrated state-of-the-art AI models for text, images,
and search from OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek.
Some of my open-source work is available on GitHub and NPM, including (from
recent to older):
Leadership Experience
I am experienced at managing small teams. At its peak, my company Yours Inc. had
4 full-time employees and 5 full-time contractors. When I worked at Fabriik, I
managed a team of about five people. During my time as leader, I never stopped
spending at least some of my time programming.
Workstation
I’ve been using an Apple MacBook Pro as my primary work computer since 2013.
Prior to that, I have many years of experience using both Linux, which I used
during graduate school, and Windows, which I used in my younger years and
college. I am very experienced with the command line on Linux and macOS, and I
use nushell as my primary shell.
Work Experience
Younger Years (2000 - 2005)
I did freelance web development in the early 2000s using PHP, MySQL, HTML, and
CSS. I found clients both on the internet and in the real world in St. Louis and
Columbia, MO. I cared deeply about web standards and accessibility.
I also designed logos and graphics using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, which
are tools that I still use to this day.
I was one of the first people to use a 3D CAD program to create 3D user
interfaces as early as 2001 or so. I used Maya and 3ds Max.
Graduate School (2007 - 2013)
Around 2005, I decided to shift gears and become a physicist. I changed my major
to physics and mathematics and graduated from Mizzou in 2007. I joined Wash U
for the physics graduate program and worked for Prof. Jim Buckley, whom I
immensely respected and still do to this day, for being a remarkable polymath
and very kind person.
- Worked with an international team of scientists in the US and Europe on data
analysis software and simulation software. Work included C++ data analysis
with root. Worked with
CORSIKA simulation software.
- Built some ground-up N-Body gravity simulation software in C.
- Developed and debugged telescope drivers and control software in C. Worked
with the Linux kernel, numerous pipes, and command-line tools.
- Built data analysis software in Python 2.7 with numpy and
scipy. Python work primarily involved Bayesian analysis
of VERITAS gamma ray and cosmic ray data.
- Did many rounds of observations on the VERITAS telescope array in Arizona.
Also worked as “czar,” meaning the leader of the observers during one of the
observation shifts.
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency (2011 - 2021)
In 2011, I discovered Bitcoin and became obsessed with the possibilities of
decentralized electronic cash. Eventually, my obsession led me to leave graduate
school without finishing my PhD to focus on Bitcoin full-time. I joined BitPay,
and later worked at reddit and BitGo, and then ended up starting my own company,
raising money, and getting acquired.
- BitPay (2013 - 2014): Worked in both the Atlanta office and San Francisco
office on the core BitPay software (Bitcoin payment processor), and also did
much of the initial work on Bitcore, a
set of open-source tools for working with Bitcoin. I was the first person at
BitPay to accept my full salary in Bitcoin.
- reddit (2014 - 2015): Joined the reddit team in San Francisco and worked
on a project called “Reddit Notes,” which was intended to be a cryptocurrency
wallet for reddit users. I was the first officially titled “cryptocurrency
engineer” at reddit, and probably in the world. I only worked at reddit for 4
months, but it was a very high-energy time and totally unforgettable.
Unfortunately, when the CEO resigned, the executive interest in cryptocurrency
evaporated, and I was eventually laid off. During that time, I created
fullnode, what would have been
the reddit cryptocurrency wallet.
- BitGo (2015): After leaving reddit, I joined BitGo in Palo Alto, CA as a
software engineer. BitGo is a Bitcoin security and wallet company whose
primary wallet was and still is a 2-of-3 multisig wallet. I worked on the
full-stack BitGo wallet software in Node.js/Mongo.
- Yours/Money Button (2015 - 2020): I started my own company called
Yours.org (now owned by unrelated entities), which was a decentralized social
network that used micropayments to reward content creators. I raised two
rounds of funding, including a $1.5 million round led by Bitmain. I was
involved in the Bitcoin block size wars of 2017 and publicly switched the
company’s technology from Bitcoin to Litecoin that year due to high fees.
After the launch of Bitcoin Cash, I switched the underlying technology again,
this time to Bitcoin Cash. Yours.org was the first application to use Bitcoin
Cash in 2017. After running the project on Bitcoin Cash for a few months, it
became clear there was a need for a developer tool to facilitate micropayments
on Bitcoin Cash. I pivoted Yours.org to create Money Button, a “simple payment
system”—essentially an entire wallet embedded in a button—making it easy for
developers to integrate payments into their apps. Money Button achieved
greater success than Yours.org and was acquired by The Bayesian Group in 2020.
- The Bayesian Group/Fabriik (2020 - 2021): I worked at Fabriik as an
Engineering Manager of four to five engineers. I was responsible for the Money
Button product and what would become the token team. I led the initiative to
create a new token product to enable users to create tokens using blockchain
technology.
Solopreneur (2021 - Present)
In early 2021, I resigned from Fabriik (previously known as “The Bayesian
Group”), the company that acquired Yours Inc. I worked on some side projects and
eventually resumed work on some serious entrepreneurial projects, including
EarthBucks, Identellica, and Hallucipedia.
- Side Projects (2021 - 2023): I built several Bitcoin-related side
projects, including most significantly HeartMail, which was going to be a
cryptocurrency email product, but which did not clearly have enough traction
to continue to focus on. I also built an AI social network called
Artintellica, which had users and revenue, and some of the work from that
project is included in what is now Hallucipedia.
- EarthBucks (2024 - Present): I created a new blockchain called
EarthBucks to facilitate small, casual transactions
in the range of 1 US cent to 5 US dollars. I am the founder and CEO of
EarthBucks. EarthBucks is operating, and I earn revenue by selling EBX.
- Identellica (2024 - Present): I created
Identellica, a pseudonymous identity verification
service. I am the founder and CEO of Identellica. Identellica is operating,
and I earn revenue by selling identifications.
- Hallucipedia (2025 - Present): I created
Hallucipedia, a collaborative AI-generated
encyclopedia. I am the founder and CEO of Hallucipedia. Hallucipedia is
operating, and I earn revenue by selling subscriptions.
Each of my current products has a blog, so you can learn more about these
products at these locations:
My new products use my 2025 tech stack, which
is: Node.js, TypeScript, Docker, fly.io, PlanetScale, AWS, React 19, React
Router 7, tRPC 11, Tailwind 4, Drizzle ORM, Rust/WASM, WebGPU, AI models
including OpenAI and Grok.
Contact
Please email me at website@ryanxcharles.com.