Chad Master

Chad Master appeared at Proof of Talk Paris 2026 as Co-Founder of OP_NET. The archived programme placed Master on a panel about Bitcoin payment infrastructure and programmable value, alongside Rena Shah and Ben Milne, with Pete Rizzo moderating. The appearance took place on 2 June at the Louvre Palace, on the Taostats Stage, from 11:35 to 12:10.

Master’s published work described a different approach to building applications around Bitcoin. In an article published under Master’s name on 5 February 2026, the OP_NET co-founder argued for developing functionality around Bitcoin’s base layer rather than moving activity to separate networks. Master’s argument centred on keeping activity connected to Bitcoin while adding the tools needed for applications such as trading and token issuance. The article set out the co-founder’s view of Bitcoin infrastructure ahead of the Paris summit.

In a 19 March 2026 interview with Decrypt, Master was identified as OP_NET’s co-founder and chief business officer. The interview accompanied the project’s mainnet launch and explained the proposed relationship between standard Bitcoin transactions and OP_NET’s execution environment. The reporting described nodes scanning Bitcoin blocks for contract-related data, executing associated logic and comparing resulting state. It also distinguished this architecture from bridges and wrapped representations of Bitcoin. The interview also identified BTC as the asset used to pay for transaction activity within that design.

The Paris panel, “Rebuilding Bitcoin’s Financial Stack: From Payment Rails to Programmable Value”, brought that development work into a discussion that also included Brale’s Ben Milne and Rena Shah, billed with Stacks Endowment. The panel brought together Bitcoin infrastructure, stablecoin services and financial journalism in a discussion of the tools needed to make Bitcoin usable beyond holding it. Master’s recorded participation was as a panellist; Rizzo’s was as moderator.