Episode 35
Banking on Bitcoin | Solving the Problem of Credit Using Distributed Applications | Alex Mashinsky
Episode 35
Alex Mashinsky
Banking on Bitcoin | Solving the Problem of Credit Using Distributed Applications | Alex Mashinsky
summary
In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with Alex Mashinsky. Alex is the founder, and CEO of Celsius, a next generation lending wallet that aims to be the ‘Killer App’ of the bitcoin and cryptocurrency revolution. Celsius attempts to overcome the limitations of a traditional banking system by leveraging technology and rethinking lending for the 21st century. A serial entrepreneur, Mashinsky is the founder of seven New York City-based startups with over three billion dollars’ worth of exits to his name. He is a serial inventor with over 35 patents, relating to exchanges, VOIP protocols, messaging & communication. Alex Mashinksy is also one of the inventors of Voice Over Internet Protocol with a foundational patent dating back to 1994.
In their conversation, Demetri attempts to understand the mechanics behind the Celsius Network, as well as how the company intends to manage risk, execute short sales on behalf of institutional clients, and lower borrowing costs for its users. Who are Celsius’ main competitors, and how does its lending wallet differ from the competition? How are loans issued on the Celsius network? How does the CEL token work, and how does it incentivize the network to service its customers and not some financial middleman? What is the revenue model for this network? How does Celsius generate income from lending, short sales, and staking? What are some of the unintended consequences that could arise from a securitization market in cryptocurrencies? What are the risks associated with hoarding utility tokens in a proof-of-stake system? Could Celsius and other networks become central points of attack for malicious actors looking to destabilize the Ethereum once it moves from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake? Finally, what is the timeline for Celsius’ new wallet and how soon will crypto holders be able to rely on it as a real source of credit and interest-bearing income?
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
Join the conversation at @hiddenforcespod
bio
Alex Mashinsky was born into communism, reared under socialism, and is currently thriving under capitalism. He is a prominent Israeli-American entrepreneur who has founded several companies over the years, including GroundLink, Transit Wireless, Elematics and Arbinet.
Alex’s success as an entrepreneur stems from his acute ability to identify winning trends and assemble world-class teams. Two of his companies, Arbinet and Transit Wireless achieved a monopolistic hold in their respective industries and pioneered new business models and technologies used today.
Alex has a long history with tech in fact, evidenced by his powerful intellectual property portfolio. He has authored over 50 patents that cover aspects of the Smart Grid, Ad exchanges, Groupon, Twitter, Skype, App Store, Netflix streaming concept and many other top performing web companies. He is one of the leading evangelists of web-based exchanges and is even considered to be one of the early developers of VOIP.
Due to his extensive experience as a prolific inventor and a business strategist, Alex has been a featured speaker at over 120 international conferences. He has also made numerous TV appearances on talk shows.
He has received numerous awards, notably the prestigious Albert Einstein Technology Medal in 2000, the Technology Foresight Award for Innovation (presented in Geneva at Telecom ’99) and Crain’s Top Entrepreneur Award in 2010. He has also been nominated for E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2002 and 2011.
After years of entrepreneurship, Alex subsequently gravitated towards investing in startups, founding his early stage venture capital firm, Governing Dynamics. Over the years, Alex has raised over $1 billion in venture and private equity funds to help position his startups as leaders in their fields. Arbinet’s fundraising efforts were even documented in an HBS case study in 2001.
Currently based in New York, Alex serves as a Managing Partner of Governing Dynamics. The firm has a keen interest in helping Israeli startups scale-up in the United States. The immense growth potential of the “startup nation” and its advances in high-tech – particularly in AI, biotech and cybersecurity – interests Alex greatly, who has a strong affiliation with Israel.
Having grown up, attended college and served in the military there, many of his ventures started out based in Israel – which he then went on to scale in the US. Thus, he has been fostering Israeli-American business ties for years, and he hopes to continue to do so with his work at Governing Dynamics.
Alex has invested in over 60 startups over the years, recording many successes and an equal number of failures. As a prominent figure in the New York entrepreneurial scene, he has previously been a member of the YPO’s NYC chamber. He believes that “the secret to success is finding something to do in which your skills can exceed your ambitions.”
transcript
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sic consequentibus vestris sublatis prima tolluntur. Videamus igitur sententias eorum, tum ad verba redeamus. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quae cum ita sint, effectum est nihil esse malum, quod turpe non sit. Ergo, si semel tristior effectus est, hilara vita amissa est? Qua tu etiam inprudens utebare non numquam. Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur.
Minime vero istorum quidem, inquit. Hoc enim constituto in philosophia constituta sunt omnia. Est autem etiam actio quaedam corporis, quae motus et status naturae congruentis tenet; Idemne potest esse dies saepius, qui semel fuit? Laboro autem non sine causa; Sed tamen intellego quid velit.
Quasi vero, inquit, perpetua oratio rhetorum solum, non etiam philosophorum sit. Non risu potius quam oratione eiciendum? Inscite autem medicinae et gubernationis ultimum cum ultimo sapientiae comparatur. Potius inflammat, ut coercendi magis quam dedocendi esse videantur. Huius ego nunc auctoritatem sequens idem faciam.
Quis, quaeso, illum negat et bonum virum et comem et humanum fuisse? Nam cui proposito sit conservatio sui, necesse est huic partes quoque sui caras suo genere laudabiles. Negabat igitur ullam esse artem, quae ipsa a se proficisceretur; Omnes enim iucundum motum, quo sensus hilaretur. Huic mori optimum esse propter desperationem sapientiae, illi propter spem vivere. Progredientibus autem aetatibus sensim tardeve potius quasi nosmet ipsos cognoscimus.
Full Episode
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Tecum optime, deinde etiam cum mediocri amico. Videamus igitur sententias eorum, tum ad verba redeamus. Res tota, Torquate, non doctorum hominum, velle post mortem epulis celebrari memoriam sui nominis. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quae cum dixisset paulumque institisset, Quid est? Ab his oratores, ab his imperatores ac rerum publicarum principes extiterunt. Dolere malum est: in crucem qui agitur, beatus esse non potest. Quis est autem dignus nomine hominis, qui unum diem totum velit esse in genere isto voluptatis? Dicet pro me ipsa virtus nec dubitabit isti vestro beato M. Cupit enim dícere nihil posse ad beatam vitam deesse sapienti.
Ut proverbia non nulla veriora sint quam vestra dogmata. Nam diligi et carum esse iucundum est propterea, quia tutiorem vitam et voluptatem pleniorem efficit. Ab hoc autem quaedam non melius quam veteres, quaedam omnino relicta. Nam adhuc, meo fortasse vitio, quid ego quaeram non perspicis. Et nunc quidem quod eam tuetur, ut de vite potissimum loquar, est id extrinsecus; Hoc non est positum in nostra actione. Eadem fortitudinis ratio reperietur. Pauca mutat vel plura sane;
Sed ad bona praeterita redeamus. Te enim iudicem aequum puto, modo quae dicat ille bene noris. Non igitur de improbo, sed de callido improbo quaerimus, qualis Q. Sin aliud quid voles, postea. Quarum ambarum rerum cum medicinam pollicetur, luxuriae licentiam pollicetur. Eam si varietatem diceres, intellegerem, ut etiam non dicente te intellego; Tu enim ista lenius, hic Stoicorum more nos vexat.
Haec para/doca illi, nos admirabilia dicamus. Sed tamen intellego quid velit. Nonne igitur tibi videntur, inquit, mala? Age, inquies, ista parva sunt. Memini vero, inquam; An eum discere ea mavis, quae cum plane perdidiceriti nihil sciat?
intelligence report
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae cum dixisset paulumque institisset, Quid est? Serpere anguiculos, nare anaticulas, evolare merulas, cornibus uti videmus boves, nepas aculeis. Apud ceteros autem philosophos, qui quaesivit aliquid, tacet; Ut nemo dubitet, eorum omnia officia quo spectare, quid sequi, quid fugere debeant? Hanc ergo intuens debet institutum illud quasi signum absolvere. Quasi vero, inquit, perpetua oratio rhetorum solum, non etiam philosophorum sit. Sed vos squalidius, illorum vides quam niteat oratio. Tum Piso: Quoniam igitur aliquid omnes, quid Lucius noster?
Quamquam in hac divisione rem ipsam prorsus probo, elegantiam desidero. Non est enim vitium in oratione solum, sed etiam in moribus. Atque his de rebus et splendida est eorum et illustris oratio. Portenta haec esse dicit, neque ea ratione ullo modo posse vivi; Nihilne te delectat umquam -video, quicum loquar-, te igitur, Torquate, ipsum per se nihil delectat? Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. Iubet igitur nos Pythius Apollo noscere nosmet ipsos. Sed vobis voluptatum perceptarum recordatio vitam beatam facit, et quidem corpore perceptarum.
Possumusne ergo in vita summum bonum dicere, cum id ne in cena quidem posse videamur? Aliud igitur esse censet gaudere, aliud non dolere. Hoc enim constituto in philosophia constituta sunt omnia. Non ego tecum iam ita iocabor, ut isdem his de rebus, cum L. Est enim effectrix multarum et magnarum voluptatum. Quid enim ab antiquis ex eo genere, quod ad disserendum valet, praetermissum est?
Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Urgent tamen et nihil remittunt. Quod idem cum vestri faciant, non satis magnam tribuunt inventoribus gratiam. Num igitur eum postea censes anxio animo aut sollicito fuisse? Sed eum qui audiebant, quoad poterant, defendebant sententiam suam. Bonum integritas corporis: misera debilitas. Prioris generis est docilitas, memoria; Id enim volumus, id contendimus, ut officii fructus sit ipsum officium.
extra material
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quis enim potest ea, quae probabilia videantur ei, non probare? An quod ita callida est, ut optime possit architectari voluptates? Septem autem illi non suo, sed populorum suffragio omnium nominati sunt. Nunc omni virtuti vitium contrario nomine opponitur. Cupit enim dícere nihil posse ad beatam vitam deesse sapienti. Quo modo autem philosophus loquitur? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Amicitiam autem adhibendam esse censent, quia sit ex eo genere, quae prosunt. Tubulum fuisse, qua illum, cuius is condemnatus est rogatione, P. Quam ob rem tandem, inquit, non satisfacit?
Deinde prima illa, quae in congressu solemus: Quid tu, inquit, huc? Quos quidem tibi studiose et diligenter tractandos magnopere censeo. Non est ista, inquam, Piso, magna dissensio. Sed residamus, inquit, si placet. Zenonis est, inquam, hoc Stoici. Tuo vero id quidem, inquam, arbitratu. Quonam, inquit, modo?
Velut ego nunc moveor. Illud non continuo, ut aeque incontentae. Virtutibus igitur rectissime mihi videris et ad consuetudinem nostrae orationis vitia posuisse contraria. Cum praesertim illa perdiscere ludus esset.
Quis animo aequo videt eum, quem inpure ac flagitiose putet vivere? An est aliquid, quod te sua sponte delectet? Tanti autem aderant vesicae et torminum morbi, ut nihil ad eorum magnitudinem posset accedere. Quod idem cum vestri faciant, non satis magnam tribuunt inventoribus gratiam. Cum autem venissemus in Academiae non sine causa nobilitata spatia, solitudo erat ea, quam volueramus. Tum Piso: Quoniam igitur aliquid omnes, quid Lucius noster? Atque haec ita iustitiae propria sunt, ut sint virtutum reliquarum communia. At negat Epicurus-hoc enim vestrum lumen estquemquam, qui honeste non vivat, iucunde posse vivere. Eodem modo is enim tibi nemo dabit, quod, expetendum sit, id esse laudabile. Nunc vides, quid faciat.
related episodes
Video
content locked
or Subscribe to Access Premium Content
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Itaque ad tempus ad Pisonem omnes. Quamquam te quidem video minime esse deterritum. Cur fortior sit, si illud, quod tute concedis, asperum et vix ferendum putabit? Sed utrum hortandus es nobis, Luci, inquit, an etiam tua sponte propensus es? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Ut optime, secundum naturam affectum esse possit. Conferam tecum, quam cuique verso rem subicias; Quid ad utilitatem tantae pecuniae? Sic enim censent, oportunitatis esse beate vivere. Nec vero sum nescius esse utilitatem in historia, non modo voluptatem.
Scaevola tribunus plebis ferret ad plebem vellentne de ea re quaeri. At iste non dolendi status non vocatur voluptas. Itaque hic ipse iam pridem est reiectus; Ratio enim nostra consentit, pugnat oratio.
Quippe: habes enim a rhetoribus; Si verbum sequimur, primum longius verbum praepositum quam bonum. Septem autem illi non suo, sed populorum suffragio omnium nominati sunt. Ita multo sanguine profuso in laetitia et in victoria est mortuus. Nam diligi et carum esse iucundum est propterea, quia tutiorem vitam et voluptatem pleniorem efficit. Tu vero, inquam, ducas licet, si sequetur; Quia dolori non voluptas contraria est, sed doloris privatio. Ex quo illud efficitur, qui bene cenent omnis libenter cenare, qui libenter, non continuo bene.
Sed vobis voluptatum perceptarum recordatio vitam beatam facit, et quidem corpore perceptarum. Non ego tecum iam ita iocabor, ut isdem his de rebus, cum L. Deinde disputat, quod cuiusque generis animantium statui deceat extremum. Quamquam haec quidem praeposita recte et reiecta dicere licebit. Compensabatur, inquit, cum summis doloribus laetitia. At iam decimum annum in spelunca iacet.
