The Crypto Conversation Unbank Yourself - How DeFi & Crypto Banking help Bitcoin cross the chasm
Alex Mashinsky is a successful entrepreneur best known for inventing VOIP which enables 1B people to talk over the internet for free. VOIP disrupted the Telecom companies, and now Alex wants to disrupt the banks with Money Over IP. His newest start-up Celsius Network has a massive goal - allow crypto users to unbank themselves by depositing crypto with Celsius, and receive interest rates on crypto deposits or fiat loans that are far superior to legacy banking.
Key takeaway:
Alex Mashinsky is a fascinating guy with a fascinating background. He was born into communism, raised under socialism, and he has made a fortune via capitalism. Alex views Decentralization as a 4th system - and the one system that has the potential to benefit the 99%, not just the 1%. Is there a theme running through Alex's career? Yes. The theme is taking a risk, trusting your gut, and trying to change the world by disrupting an entire industry. Alex has done this once, and now he wants to do it again. First the Telecom companies, and now the banks.
Why you should listen:
Alex is positioning Celsius to bring mainstream users into the crypto ecosystem by offering financial services with rates superior to the legacy system, and to the emerging DeFi ecosystem. Alex has a long history of successful investments and missed opportunities. In fact, in a roundabout way, Alex founded Uber before it was Uber, it was called GroundLink, and he then got crushed by Uber.
Alex has 50 patents that make everything from voice over internet, Twitter, Skype, the App Store, and Netflix streaming possible. Alex has made 120 VC investments, he's raised over a billion dollars for his companies, and Alex has achieved exits to the value of $3 billion.
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