In our ‘10 Questions’ series, KBS caught up with On Yavin, an entrepreneur, investor, founder and CEO at Cointelligence.
Tell us about yourself
I’ve been an entrepreneur and investor from a young age. I’ve worked in a lot of different industries, and I went to law school and have my LLB, but I’ve always had an interest in technology. Since August 2017, I’ve been entirely focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Last year I refined that focus even more to cryptocurrency education. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and I wanted to make it easy for people to get the facts in an unbiased, brand-neutral format.
Describe yourself in 3 words
Dedicated crypto/blockchain educator
Tell us about Cointelligence
Cointelligence creates tools for individuals and organizations to better engage with the crypto industry. This includes the educational platform Cointelligence Academy and unbiased market surveillance tools such as the Exchange Rating System. Cointelligence also caters to companies who have specific blockchain or cryptocurrency research needs on topics such as assets, service providers, and exchanges.
What are Blockchain and Cryptocurrency?
Well, usually that’s the topic of a one-hour long class! Let’s try to boil it down to the very essence:
- Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology. It is used to manage and distribute an ever-changing ledger across intricate networks. Essentially, each block in the chain represents the transactions that took place between the users in a given time period.
- A cryptocurrency is a form of value that is being transacted by users on these blockchain-based networks.
How is Blockchain used in our everyday life?
In all sorts of interesting ways! In addition to serving as the basis for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, blockchain is also being used in supply chain management, election administration, and in decentralized finance (DeFi), to name just three applications.
Most of the activity in the blockchain space is still in the trial & error phase, but experts predict that in the future many of the day-to-day applications that we use will be managed by blockchain-based infrastructure, similar to the way the internet has become an inseparable part of most societies.
What would you say to someone wanting to start their own business?
This is another thing that I’d usually spend about an hour talking about. One thing I always say is that you should listen to advice as much as possible but always decide yourself as advisors can be misleading. People always give advice according to their personal experience and it’s not always relevant for you.
What are your biggest achievements in your career so far?
I’m really proud of what we’re doing with Cointelligence Academy and I think it’s going to take off and definitely become my biggest achievement.
Do you have a mentor or role model who has inspired you?
My father was my biggest mentor. I consider him one the most brilliant business person I’ve ever known. He built his companies with his own hands, never raised any funds from investors, and made it big-time.
What is the biggest risk you have taken?
For the past couple of years, I’ve put all of my focus on working in the cryptocurrency industry. A lot of people would call that a big risk, given the volatility of the industry and all the regulatory uncertainty surrounding it, but I believe in this technology so much that I couldn’t not go all-in.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Living in a world where we’ve seen mass adoption of cryptocurrency, teaching the next generation of young professionals and investors how to engage with this economy and utilize blockchain in their professional and daily lives.
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