By: citybiz
August 4, 2025
Q&A with Andrew Slack, Head of Product at Randamu
Andrew Slack is the Head of Product at Randamu, a provider of decentralized cryptographic infrastructure for Web3 developers, protocols, and blockchains, focusing on areas like publicly verifiable randomness, time-locked encryption and cross-chain coordination. In his role, Andrew contributes to shaping the future of programmable trust through initiatives such as the Threshold Cryptography Bootcamp. Andrew holds both an MA In Innovation Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and an MSc in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London. https://www.randa.mu
Who is Randamu, and how did the company come to create the dcipher network?
Randamu is a Web3 infrastructure company based in the U.S., that develops secure, decentralized cryptographic tools. As maintainers of the drand, a publicly verifiable randomness network, Randamu recognized a broader need for developers and institutions to have a general-purpose trust layer for cross-chain coordination and secure automation. Utilizing the same core technology as drand, the team created dcipher, a permissionless threshold network that performs cryptographic operations (signing, encryption, re-encryption, randomness) with no single operator in control. While Randamu is the team behind dcipher, its governance has been handed to the independent Swiss based Threshold Association to ensure neutrality and global participation.
For someone unfamiliar with blockchain or cryptography, what is dcipher and what does it actually do?
Think of dcipher as a decentralized co-signer and notary made up of many independent nodes that work together to securely perform sensitive actions like unlocking a file, verifying a transaction, or generating a random number. These actions are executed only when a threshold of nodes agrees, without any single party being in control and no node ever holds the full cryptographic key. This makes dcipher ideal for situations where trust needs to be distributed, like in voting, payments, or identity verification across digital systems.
How is dcipher different from other technologies that promise secure or automated digital interactions?
Many existing systems that claim to be secure or decentralized still rely on a trusted intermediary, like an oracle, a server, or a key manager, to make decisions or gatekeep access. dcipher removes that middle layer. It replaces trust in institutions with mathematical guarantees, enforced by cryptography and decentralized consensus.
Beyond cryptographic signing or randomness generation, dcipher also exposes programmable policy (e.g., rate limits, time locks, multi-party approvals) and conditional logic for re-encryption. All governed by a decentralized network of validators with verifiable audit trails that apps and regulators can check.
How does dcipher enable programmable coordination in value transfer scenarios, such as automated payments or escrow releases?
dcipher allows developers to define cryptographic conditions under which certain actions, like releasing funds or signing a transaction can take place. For example, you can encrypt payment instructions that only decrypt once a buyer confirms the receipt of goods. Or you can set up a decentralized escrow system where funds are released only when a set of conditions, such as a time window or multi-party approvals, are satisfied. Because the logic is enforced by threshold cryptography, there is no centralized operator that can tamper with it or override it.
What role could dcipher play in decentralized payment settlement across chains or between institutional participants?
dcipher could serve as a neutral cryptographic go between for different blockchains or financial networks. Its threshold committees can sign or validate actions on behalf of multiple parties, enabling things like conditional remittances, DvP (Delivery versus Payment), atomic settlement, or multi-party payment flows. For institutions, this reduces dependency on central clearinghouses, single custodians, or bridges and enables new models of programmable finance, where settlements or conditional transfers are handled automatically and securely across ecosystems. Importantly, it also yields machine-verifiable receipts of policy compliance for any automated actions.
What’s next for dcipher, technically and strategically?
Technically, dcipher recently added Polygon support and is onboarding additional chains rapidly. On top of the underlying network the team is already building out products for token swaps and creator subscription services, utilizing core capabilities to unlock more efficient and resilient services for Web3 builders.
Strategically, the upcoming launch of the dcipher token and the rollout of incentive programs for developers and integrators will help grow the ecosystem. Randamu and the Threshold Association are also focusing on adoption, with developer outreach programs. Positioning dcipher as the decentralized trust layer for next-generation finance, identity, and AI governance systems.
With new legislation recently emerging in Congress, what infrastructure trends should we be watching most closely in the blockchain space?
Beyond the immediate legislative news, the most significant development we foresee is a new wave of innovation in crypto’s underlying infrastructure. One area to watch is cross-chain and settlement infrastructure, protocols that can securely connect disparate chains, Web3 applications, and bridge into traditional financial systems.
This isn’t just about moving tokens from one blockchain to another; real-world flows demand more complex logic coordination. This is about enabling programmable coordination at the protocol level allowing payments or contract executions to happen securely across systems without relying on a broker. Technologies like threshold cryptography will underpin many of these advances that distribute signing authority across a decentralized network. These advancements are already powering the next generation of decentralized custody tools and multi-party computing systems. As laws mature, so will the demand for secure, censorship-resistant infrastructure.
How will threshold cryptography shape the future of programmable money and cross-chain finance in a regulated environment?
Threshold cryptography enables programmable, trust-minimized settlement engines. The value of this architecture is that it allows users to avoid relying on a centralized authority or individual to protect and move their assets. Threshold cryptography lets organizations embed controls into the key itself: multiple independent parties (or regulated entities) must jointly authorize actions, keys can be rotated via proactive resharing, and policies (limits, jurisdictions, red flags) are enforced before a signature ever exists. Spreading control across multiple participants, allows for trust-minimized automation, which is needed for tokenized assets, programmable payments and regulated digital currencies.
Expect threshold cryptography-based coordination to gain traction, from enabling atomic swaps across chains to instituting decentralized custody solutions for institutions. Look for announcements of concepts such as “programmable dollars” that use threshold signatures to enforce spending limits and automate complex treasury balancing, all governed by a network of nodes jointly authorizing actions using threshold signatures. This is a regulatory advantage as it creates systems where no one party can misbehave, censor, or fail. It reduces risk for institutions and enables machine-speed finance under clear legal oversight.
The next bull market may be led not by memes but by machines settling dollars at speed, with the cryptographic assurance to make sure you can sleep easy at night.
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