Redefining Digital Trust: How Matej Michalko Is Building a Creator-First Blockchain Future




If you have followed the rise of blockchain beyond Bitcoin, the name Matej Michalko keeps appearing. The Slovak engineer-turned-entrepreneur founded DECENT in 2015 with one radical promise: give digital content back to the people who make it. A decade later that promise lives inside DCore, the open-source backbone now driving marketplaces, game platforms and even aerospace supply chains.

From conference halls to code commits

Long before venture capital caught on, Matej was a fixture at grassroots meet-ups. He organised China’s first international Bitcoin Conference in 2014 and co-created the BitcoinExpo series across Europe, discovering first-hand that ideas spread fastest when gatekeepers disappear. 
That conviction helped DECENT attract 5 881 BTC during its 2016 ICO—about four million dollars at the time—fueling offices in Bratislava, Shanghai and New York and a main-net launch on 30 June 2017. 

What sets DCore apart?

  • Instant revenue splits – smart contracts distribute royalties in under five seconds, a game-changer for studios and indie creators alike. 

  • Large-file support via IPFS – media travels off-chain yet stays cryptographically linked, cutting hosting costs without sacrificing integrity.

  • Public or private deployment – the same toolkit runs as an open network for transparency or as a permissioned ledger when regulation demands control. 

Milestones on Matej’s watch

  1. DECENT GO marketplace proved writers could keep up to 75 % more of their earnings than on Amazon’s Kindle store. 

  2. Mobile and web wallets opened token payments to emerging, mobile-first markets. 

  3. ALAX partnership connected DCore to 100 million gamers through Dragonfly’s distribution network. 

  4. 3IPK pilots track everything from jet-engine parts to premium chocolate, guaranteeing origin and certification on-chain. 

  5. Fiction Riot deal delivers same-day royalties to film crews—something Hollywood still takes months to achieve. 

How DCore shows up in everyday life

  • Podcast tipping: PodFi lets listeners stream micro-tips measured in seconds listened, rewarding hosts the moment an episode ends.

  • Event ticketing: promoters issue fraud-proof QR codes that self-destruct after entry, killing the scalper market overnight.

  • Academic publishing: universities in Asia store lecture recordings on-chain so students can verify authorship years later.

These quietly shipped solutions underline Matej’s thesis that the best blockchain is the one people use without realising.

Why industries are taking notice

For creators, the appeal is obvious: transparent payouts and zero hidden fees. For enterprises, the hook is an immutable audit trail without ripping out existing stacks. Thales Alenia Space, for instance, hardened its DevOps pipeline with 3IPK’s Aegis module, using DCore to confirm every software dependency. 

A voice beyond crypto

Matej Michalko now splits his calendar between product reviews and podiums. In 2025 alone he will keynote Spring ITAPA in Bratislava and the Geneva Blockchain Congress, sharing stages with regulators, health-tech pioneers and climate-data scientists. His recurring mantra—“decentralization is a design principle, not a product category”—lands well with audiences far outside the crypto bubble. 

The road ahead

Calling the next phase DECENT’s “middleware decade,” Matej is pushing SDKs that hide blockchain jargon behind familiar APIs. The goal: creators shouldn’t need to study cryptography to secure their income streams, and Fortune 500 firms shouldn’t need army-sized consultant teams to vouch for data authenticity.

“Our job,” he likes to quip, “is to make trust disappear into the background the way TCP/IP did for the web.”

Takeaways for innovators



  • Cut the middle layer – every intermediary removed returns margin to the maker.

  • Think cross-industry – if a ledger can secure a short film, it can secure a jet-engine part.

  • Prioritise user experience – wallets, not white papers, turn sceptics into users.

  • Stay community-driven – the next big idea often emerges at the conference coffee cart.

  • Design for compliance – the real winners will match decentralisation with existing regulation.

Matej Michalko’s journey is far from over, yet it already offers a blueprint for a fairer digital economy: pair rigorous engineering with a creator-centric ethos and let openness do the rest. In a world still wrestling with who controls information, that vision feels not just decent—but indispensable.

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