My BEN Journey — Crypto Trader to Mass Adoption LLC.
Recently I had the opportunity to be interview by the Blockchain Education Network (BEN), below is the Q&A.
- How did you get into blockchain?
I think many of us started in similar fashion — by trading Bitcoin, specifically more during the ICO Boom or The Great Bull-Run (as many classify it). At first, I wasn’t really into Blockchain in terms of it as many whitepapers as possible and speculating which projects had moon potential. However, as the market transitioned from Bullish to extremely Bearish(The Big Dip), I decided to buckle down and really study Bitcoin’s underpinnings — I started asking more rudimentary questions like: what is Blockchain? What industries could it disrupt? Is it probable to see wide-scale adoption? Consequently, these questions just begat more questions — and down I went into the bottomless rabbit hole that is Blockchain & Crypto.
2. How was your journey starting the Mount St. Mary’s Blockchain Club?
Establishing Mount St. Mary’s Blockchain Club was, and remains to be, a huge milestone for me. Having the opportunity to create a blockchain-presence in an environment where Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies are nothing but mere buzzwords meant a lot. This said, we began holding weekly meetups educating members to crypto & blockchain basics. Each week we gradually progressed to more complex platforms such as DeFi (Decentralized Finance), explaining the difference between Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake, and introducing members to staking coins such as: Ontology, Tezos, Waves, and NEO.
3. How did you hear about BEN?
Funny story, so in 2018 (I think) I attended The North American Bitcoin Conference — I was doing my rounds, networking with fellow crypto & blockchain enthusiasts and companies alike, eventually I ran into the BEN kiosk (manned none other than Erick Pinos). After briefly introducing myself, Erick proceeded to explain the overarching purpose of BEN and how Mount St. Mary’s Blockchain Club can be more involved. Long story short, from that day on, Mount Blockchain Club has been an active participant in BEN.
4. How has BEN helped you, what do you enjoy the most about BEN?
Since we joined BEN, we’ve been presented with endless educational & networking opportunities. To be honest, you tend to forget how small this space really is because everyone you interact with knows just as much — if not more — than you. It’s awesome. BEN has done a fantastic job in providing its members with the opportunity to attend major Crypto/Blockchain events such as: The North American Bitcoin Conference, ETHDenver, Latin American Bitcoin & Blockchain conference, and many more. In fact, last year we were fortunate enough to join BEN in attending TNABC (Thank you Erick). Opportunities aside, BEN has exposed me to incredibly knowledgeable people — just having the chance to obtain their perspective and hear their opinion on what’s to come has influenced me tremendously.
5. What do you hope to do after you graduate?
My goal is to continue working within the blockchain & crypto arena. I think I speak for a lot of enthusiasts when I say that it’s reveling to work in such a nascent space. You have the chance to really challenge yourself and be a bit of a futurist to ascertain and foresee what’s to come. You have to grasp a decent understanding of legal frameworks, industry cycles & functionality (i.e. Transport, Telecom, Agriculture, etc.), while posing the question: how can blockchain disrupt this for the better? To bring it back full circle, after graduating, I aim to make a career out of working with blockchain technology & cryptocurrencies; in fact, I would love to work with a few blockchain companies to gain further insight — and perspective — on blockchain innovation. Afterwards, I plan to continue building out and solidifying my company: Mass Adoption LLC. where we aim to stimulate crypto & blockchain use-case thru education modules, white-labeling initiatives, and consulting opportunities.
Feel free to connect with me on social media:
Twitter: Guz_MassAdopt & MassAdoptionLLC
Telegram: Guzman_MassAdoption
LinkedIn: Jeremy Guzmán
