Leaders Series: Liya Belenska @ BitPay

Issue 16 — March 19th, 2017

This series highlights the unique stories of leaders from various communities across the growing digital currency and blockchain technology industry. The goal is to showcase the fantastic work these leaders are all doing at different levels of their respective organizations, and to encourage more people at all stages of their careers join the revolution we’re creating, together!

Liya Belenska is an AML analyst at BitPay

She’s been active in the bitcoin community for nearly two years.

How did you get into bitcoin?

In 2014 I went home to Bulgaria for the summer. One evening my brother (who is a developer) came in the living room and asked me if I wanted to buy some bitcoin with him. I remember just staring at him with complete indifference and asking “Buy some what?” That’s how it all started really — nothing too exciting.

A month later I was back at university. It was my fourth and last year as a bachelor of law student and I had to choose a topic for my thesis in order to graduate. I had bitcoin at the back of my mind for a while but I wasn’t sure how to approach the topic from a legal angle back then. Then I started reading different articles, papers and interviews. My curiosity for bitcoin was increasing with each day of research. Bitcoin became my primary interest and determined the direction in which I chose to develop professionally.

In March 2015 I was done with my thesis and I had spent the last 3 weeks writing my one-page motivation letter for BitPay’s Amsterdam office. It was a shot in the dark because there were no job or internship listings. There was very little information about the company overall, so I just had to take my chances and send them an open application. There was nothing else that interested me — I was talking about bitcoin constantly, and when I wasn’t talking I was reading about it. It only seemed natural that I find a job in the space.

A couple of weeks later, in mid April 2015, I got a call from Timo Dijkstra (currently our Compliance Director and my professional mentor since). He invited me for lunch over in the Amsterdam office, explaining that there were no openings but that considering the effort I put into my application he would be happy to meet in person. Long story short, in June 2015 I started as an intern at BitPay’s Compliance Team and as of 1 December 2015 I was offered a full-time job as an AML Analyst.

What did you do before you got into this?

I was just wrapping up my studies when I joined BitPay as an intern. Before that I did various legal internships in the public and private sector. I found the financial industry to be much more interesting and appealing than the legal profession, which I intended to pursue before I discovered bitcoin. It was a big change of perspective for me, and I am very happy it happened.

What’s been the most interesting experience you’ve had in your role so far?

That’s a tough one. I have been learning so much on the job for the past 2 years, and there is something new and exciting happening in the industry regularly. What I love most about my job is that my work is valued and acknowledged, and I feel that I am contributing in a meaningful way. This is my first job, so my impressions extend beyond my role at BitPay into the overall experience of pursuing a career. What continues to surprise me each day is how important it is that you love what you do and how fast time passes when you are in a team of smart, driven people pulling together in the same direction.

What problem is BitPay solving? Why do you feel passionate about this?

When I was still a student and doing desk research on bitcoin, I believed that its mainstream use and wide acceptance as a currency depended on liquidity — users should start spending their bitcoin as they would conventional money, and not hold on to them with the expectation of quick returns.

I see BitPay as the leader in the industry that provides the necessary tools for bitcoin’s mainstream acceptance. We provide individuals and merchants with a more secure payment option, and we provide businesses an alternative to otherwise cumbersome international transactions thanks to our B2B billing tools. Businesses are able to employ or contract with qualified professionals, affiliates, developers, or vendors anywhere in the world and pay them out in bitcoin using our payout tool. BitPay offers real choice and new possibilities in how payments can work, and that’s why I am dedicated to what we do here.

As you think about the evolution of bitcoin, what is one thing you think the business ecosystem is missing today?

Bitcoin awareness has grown significantly in the past few years, and the trend will only go upwards — more regulators are recognizing the need for adopting appropriate legislative measures in the industry, incumbent players in the financial sector are investing in blockchain technology, and multi-nationals are exploring the opportunity of bitcoin transactions for their global operations.

From the perspective of a compliance professional, I see a gap between the constantly growing regulatory regime and some of the bitcoin users’ viewpoints that bitcoin is “anti-government”, “anti-regulation,” and so on. On the other hand, for many banks and businesses the word “bitcoin” carries the stigma of “criminal money,” and companies like ours have to tirelessly prove our worth and Bitcoin’s worth. These misconceptions from both sides of the playing field lead to difficulties when companies like BitPay invest a lot of time and resources to maintain good business practices and abide by US regulations. Our investment in these practices doesn’t just make us more sustainable as a business — it gives the bitcoin industry the needed credibility to compete with the incumbents.

This misunderstanding between all the different actors in the bitcoin ecosystem as well as disproportionate regulatory measures towards bitcoin businesses are both limiting the growth of the bitcoin space. Fortunately, we have multiple forums and opportunities to make a positive impact in regulatory perception on bitcoin, and we can see the growing positive acceptance of bitcoin in our daily work as a team.

As you think about this industry, what changes do you think bitcoin will accelerate in our world?

Looking just a few months back, bitcoin’s recent price runup has already blown people’s minds. It’s very difficult to predict what will happen in the short term with bitcoin. There were so many speculations surrounding the price and future of bitcoin as a whole if the SEC were to approve or reject the proposal for creating an ETF for bitcoin, and yet the bitcoin price suffered only slightly, and temporarily when the ETF was rejected.

I was reading CoinTelegraph’s article on “Why Bitcoin Didn’t Need an ETF to Begin With” and there was a statement by Andreas Antonopoulos which read that “[i]f you measure Bitcoin’s success by the approval of the incumbent and obsolete industry it replaces, you’re doing it wrong.” I couldn’t agree more.

The way I perceive it is that Bitcoin is not here to replace money or the financial system. On the contrary — I believe that in the long run Bitcoin and blockchain technology might possibly become the backbone of many financial institutions, including banks. What will be mind-blowing is that the majority of consumers will probably not even realize it. Bitcoin and the Bitcoin blockchain can help improve the incumbent financial system and bring it to the 21st century just like the internet did with long distance communication. Both businesses and consumers would be better off if the bitcoin’s array of advantages could be brought to the financial sector.

Connect with Liya on LinkedIn!