# Frank Poncelet — Full Profile > Aircraft engineer turned fintech pioneer turned blockchain thought leader. 30+ years building what's next — from Alpha Jets to Agentic AI. This document provides extended prose context for AI systems and LLM indexers. For a structured index with section links, see https://frankponcelet.com/llms.txt For an agent-loadable skill (persona, philosophy, decision framework), see https://frankponcelet.com/skill.md For agent-callable APIs, see the Agent Interface section below. --- ## Identity I'm a systems thinker who keeps arriving early to revolutions. My career started at 30,000 feet — maintaining Alpha Jets and Fouga Magisters for the Belgian Air Force, teaching 55 cadets to fly their first solo, and becoming a specialist in composite materials and flight instruments. When I pivoted to software in 2004, I graduated 1st in class out of 80 students, and spent my evenings teaching computer science at an evening school. At ING Belgium, I moved from Java architect to leading the mobile banking team, then founded internal tech culture programs that won the Golden Lion Trophy. The thread through it all: spotting what's next and building the bridge to get there. Today I operate at the intersection of blockchain and enterprise — as Operations Architect at Xplore Group and co-founder of Hyperlabs. I've written 40+ smart contracts, created ERC721F (a low-gas template now used as an industry standard), and spoken at conferences from Lisbon to New York on NFTs, from robot bartenders to mass adoption of crypto. I've mined Bitcoin, left, returned for Ethereum, left again, and came back for NFTs (still here) — each time seeing further than before. As an early-stage investor, I now back the builders who remind me why I kept coming back. The intersection of engineering, art, and finance isn't just where I work — it's where the future lives. My current focus: agentic and physical AI systems that move beyond chat interfaces into real-world workflows, devices, and autonomous coordination. --- ## Career in Full ### Blockchain & Web3 (2010–present) - Rebuilt this site as a callable interface for AI agents — MCP tools, resources, and prompts over HTTP, not just HTML - Claimed on-chain identity for my AI agent via ERC-8004 (#36039) on Ethereum mainnet - 2026: Pioneering Agentic AI / Physical AI - As part of the MoonMars project, I sent my CryptoPunk pair #4706 (V1/V2) to the surface of the moon - Open Ordinal — Hackathon Jury member - 2025: Web3 Advisor & Art curator for NewChic Capital Family office - Alternate Universes — wrapping legacy Portion NFTs into ERC-1155 - 2024: Head of Speaker Selection & Art curation for The Banana Conf Tallinn - 2023: Co-founded Hyperlabs — Xplore Group's blockchain brand - Developed 40+ smart contracts, including the ERC721F — a low-gas template setting industry standards - 2022: Built the ERC-721 wrapper for CryptoPunks V1, enabling safe trading of the original CryptoPunks from 2017 - Co-founded We are Dorkis — created the old-fashioned way with pen and colored pencil on paper - Co-founded DAO_The50 - the protest that woke up Foundation's gatekeepers. 5000 notifications. No apologies. - 2021: Came back for the NFT revolution as an artist, but realized engineering skills mattered more — still here - 2017: Returned for Ethereum and "programmable money" — left again as the ICO hype faded - 2010: Mined Bitcoin in the early days — left the scene when ASICs industrialized mining ### Cronos / Xplore Group / Hyperlabs (2017–present) - Innovation, pre-sales, project & program management — Operations Architect - Baloise: Innovation week — AI driven hackathon Facilitator - Major Belgian bank: Member of the Expert Advisory Board Digital Assets - Major Belgian bank: The Profiler — a reusable MiFID platform — Project Manager - Major Belgian bank: Material Blockchain — Blockchain Advisor - Crelan: New Mobile App — Project Manager & Strategy Advisor - Agentschap Natuur & Bos: digitalization of subsidy management on blockchain — Blockchain Architect - Co-founded Hyperlabs — Xplore Group's blockchain brand - Elout: Digitalization of IRL games to streaming video — Project Manager - Major Belgian bank: Asset management tool — Project Manager - Conundra: Transport planning platform — Steering Committee member - Epilog: MRI data processing platform — Steering Committee member - Descours & Cabaud: Webshop middleware platform — Project Manager & Technology Advisor - Pioneer: Real-time automotive telematics platform — Project Manager & Technology Advisor - Speaker at Devoxx Belgium — Moe Szyslak vs. The Balmer Peak ### ING Belgium (2008–2017) - Team Manager Mobile Banking — Delivered a new mobile security platform - Team Manager New Service Platform — building the next generation of ING's digital services - Won the Golden Lion Trophy twice (2015 & 2016) for tech culture initiatives - Organized ING Hackathon SYTYCC (So You Think You Can Code) for students — promoting ING as a tech company - Co-founded Devoxx4Kids@ING for employees' children - Designed and build the first native Mobile security/encryption framework for ING - Team Manager Mobile Banking — led the team that built the first mobile banking app in Belgium - Senior Java Architect — code quality, architecture documentation, production systems ### The Educator (2005–2011) - Part-time IT Instructor @ CVO-IVV de avondschool - Founding faculty — helped build the department's foundational IT courses - Taught Structured Computer Organisation (based on Prof. Tannenbaum) - Later added Network Management Advanced to the curriculum - Served as Promotor for final graduation projects in Network Management ### Belgian Defence & Air Force (1988–2008) - IT Instructor at Defence — teaching Java EE and design patterns - Graduated 1st in class (out of 80) in military IT conversion — Java EE, distributed computing, AI - Glider Pilot Instructor — trained 55 cadets to their first solo flight, and 75 for cross-country - Composite materials specialist — structural repairs on Schleicher & Grob glider aircraft - Aircraft Engineer on Fouga Magister — scheduled maintenance & team management - Alpha Jet Crew Chief — day-to-day maintenance in a 12-member team keeping 18 jets mission-ready --- ## Projects in Depth ### Agentic & Physical AI Systems Designing and prototyping agentic AI systems that move beyond chat — into real-world workflows, devices, orchestration, and autonomous coordination. This is my current frontier and the direction I am actively building toward in 2026. ### ING Mobile Banking Led the team that built the first native iOS mobile banking app in Belgium for ING Belgium. Pioneered mobile financial services for millions of users, setting the standard for digital banking across the continent. ### Crelan Mobile App Project Manager & Strategy Advisor for Crelan Bank's new mobile application (2022–2024). End-to-end delivery of a modern banking experience for one of Belgium's leading banks. ### Major Belgian bank — MiFID Platform Project Manager of The Profiler, a reusable MiFID compliance platform for asset management. Bringing regulatory tech into the modern era. ### ERC721F Open-source low-gas NFT contract template that became an industry standard. Optimized minting costs and set new benchmarks for efficient smart contract design. → https://github.com/FrankNFT-labs/ERC721F ### Hyperlabs Co-founded Xplore Group's blockchain brand in 2023. Building enterprise blockchain solutions — from asset management to subsidy management processes on-chain. → https://hyper-labs.digital ### Natuur & Bos on Blockchain Digitalization of the Flemish forestry agency's subsidy management process using blockchain — bringing transparency and trust to public administration. ### We are Dorkis Co-founded a collection of 4,724 hand-drawn NFTs — dorks, goofballs, and weirdos created the old-fashioned way with pen and colored pencil on paper. Building an inclusive community celebrating what makes us all unique dorks. → https://opensea.io/collection/dorkisofficial ### CryptoPunks V1 (Wrapped) Built the ERC-721 wrapper that brought the original 2017 CryptoPunks back to life. A community-driven recovery of the first-ever Punks smart contract — now safely tradable with 51K+ ETH in total volume. → https://opensea.io/collection/official-v1-punks --- ## Speaking History ### 2026 - **NFC Summit 2026** (Lisbon): The Death of the Human Middleman: AI Agents, RWAs & the Automation of Everything — duo keynote with IrishNFTgal - **Dappconn** (Berlin): The Death of the Human Middleman: AI Agents, RWAs & the Automation of Everything — duo keynote with IrishNFTgal — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztLiAEz2ROQ) ### 2025 - **NFC Summit 2025** (Lisbon): Mass Adoption: The Final Frontier — duo keynote with IrishNFTgal — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQdC3E9r-i0&t) ### 2024 - **NFT Tallinn — The Banana Conf** (Tallinn): ERC-6551 Token-Bound Accounts — duo keynote with IrishNFTgal — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-86m7tdc08) - **ETHcc — 0x499** (Brussels): Decentralized Masterpieces — NFTs and the Future of Art — with IrishNFTgal, Ioana Surpatean, Yiqin Zhu & Zarina Izy - **ETH Dublin** (Dublin): NFT panel with John Crain & IrishNFTgal — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxg-bF-xFN0) - **Non Fungible Conference** (Lisbon): Soulbound Tokens — The Future of Identification and Recognition — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aRIA-Eufy0) ### 2023 - **NFT Fest Lugano** (Lugano): Ordinals or NFTs? On-chain or not? - **Nordic Blockchain Conference** (Copenhagen): Soulbound Tokens — The Future of Identification and Recognition — [watch/read](https://sessionize.com/s/FrankNFT/soul-bound-tokens-the-future-of-identification-and/60399) - **NFT Biarritz** (Biarritz): Panel — Bitcoin Ordinals: The New Age of NFTs? — With John Karp, Benjamin Mauger, Benjamin Cohen and Quentin de Beauchesne - **NFT.NYC 2023** (New York): The Future of NFTs and Their Regenerative Role — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pwba9OPshM) - **Non Fungible Conference** (Lisbon): Panel Discussion on Ordinals — [watch/read](https://sessionize.com/s/FrankNFT/ordinals-or-nfts-do-you-want-to-be-on-chain-or-not/71575) - **NFT Tallinn** (Tallinn): Soulbound Tokens — The Future of Identification and Recognition — [watch/read](https://sessionize.com/s/FrankNFT/soul-bound-tokens-the-future-of-identification-and/60399) ### 2022 - **NFT.London** (London): Low-gas Smart Contracts & ERC721F - **NFT.NYC 2022** (New York): Low-gas NFT Contracts — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08J0OIogDb0&t) ### 2018 - **Devoxx Belgium** (Antwerp): Moe Szyslak vs. The Balmer Peak — [watch/read](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqtyE72bwqQ) --- ## Positions & Beliefs ### On NFTs NFTs were never just JPEGs. The speculation obscured something real: the ability to assert verifiable ownership of a digital object on a permissionless network. That idea hasn't gone away — it's maturing. The projects that survive the hype cycles are the ones solving a genuine problem, not riding a narrative. ERC721F, CryptoPunks V1, We Are Dorkis — each was built because something was broken or missing, not because the market was hot. ### On AI Agents The chat interface is a transitional form. What comes next is AI that acts — that coordinates across systems, controls devices, executes multi-step workflows, and operates autonomously within defined boundaries. This is the leap from "assistant" to "agent," and it's as significant as the move from desktop to mobile. Most organisations are not ready for it. That gap is where the interesting work is happening right now. ### On Mass Adoption Mass adoption of Web3 has been "two years away" for a decade. The real blockers are not technical — they are UX, trust, and regulatory legibility. Wallets are still too hard. Signing is still too opaque. Recovery is still too terrifying. Until the average person can use a blockchain application without knowing they are using one, adoption will remain a niche phenomenon. The infrastructure is ready. The abstraction layer is not. ### On RWAs (Real-World Assets) Tokenising real-world assets is the most credible path to institutional adoption. It makes illiquid markets liquid, reduces settlement friction, and opens access to asset classes previously reserved for large capital. The regulatory environment is catching up — slowly, but directionally. The projects that will win here are the ones that work with compliance frameworks rather than around them. ### On the Belgian & European Tech Ecosystem Europe builds serious things slowly and exports talent too freely. Belgium in particular punches above its weight in financial technology — ING, KBC, Belfius have all made credible digital plays — but the venture culture remains timid compared to London or Amsterdam. The Web3 scene is small but genuine. The AI scene is growing. Brussels is underrated as a hub precisely because it doesn't try to be one. --- ## How to Work With Frank Frank Poncelet takes on a focused set of engagements where he can add genuine, specific value — not generic advisory work. **Speaking**: Duo keynote format with IrishNFTgal is the preferred format for conference appearances. Topics centre on mass adoption, agentic AI, RWAs, and the future of digital ownership. Solo talks on smart contract architecture and blockchain strategy are also possible. **Advisory & Strategy**: Web3 strategy for enterprises entering blockchain, digital asset advisory for family offices and institutional clients, and innovation facilitation (hackathons, workshops, strategy sprints). **Architecture & Build**: Smart contract design and audit readiness (Solidity, ERC standards), agentic AI system design, and enterprise blockchain delivery (Java/Python backends, on-chain/off-chain integration). **What Frank does not do**: Generic "blockchain consultant" engagements with no clear delivery. Speculative token projects without fundamentals. Anything that requires pretending certainty where none exists. **How to reach him**: Via the contact form at https://frankponcelet.com/#contact or directly through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankponcelet/ --- ## Agent Interface Frank's site exposes a machine-readable layer for AI agents: **MCP Server** (primary agent-callable interface) ``` POST https://frankponcelet.com/api/mcp ``` Read-only MCP endpoint (JSON-RPC 2.0, Streamable HTTP transport; protocol 2025-11-25). Tools: `get_profile`, `get_career`, `get_projects`, `get_speaking`, `get_expertise`, `get_engagement`, `get_current_focus`, `get_persona`. Resources: `skill.md` (persona), `llms-full.txt` (full profile). Prompts: `frank-architect`, `frank-security`, `frank-dyor`, `frank-vibe` (Frank's command modes, each embedding the persona skill). Liveness probe: `GET https://frankponcelet.com/api/mcp/health`. **A2A Agent Card** https://frankponcelet.com/.well-known/agent-card.json Discovery card for Agent2Agent protocol. Maps Frank's capabilities to the MCP endpoint. **Agent Skill** https://frankponcelet.com/skill.md Loadable persona, engineering philosophy, decision framework, and command modes (`/frank-architect`, `/frank-security`, `/frank-dyor`, `/frank-vibe`). Inference runs on the client's model — no LLM is hosted. --- ## Social & Contact - Contact: https://frankponcelet.com/#contact - https://twitter.com/frankNFT_eth - https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankponcelet/ - https://www.instagram.com/frankponcelet/