Adrian is a serial Argentinian entrepreneur and investor with distinct background in Management & Finance. He looks back on ten years of experiences in day-trading and possesses deep understanding of financial markets.

Holding degrees in Accounting, Business and Finance, he is currently working for Midas Technologies AG, a Swiss blockchain-based company.

We really enjoyed Adrian’s responses below, especially learning what motivates him every day to push forward. To connect with Adrian Gallo, be sure to find him on LinkedIn or on Twitter via @midas_app.

How did you get started with cryptocurrency?

In 2012 a good friend of mine told me about Bitcoin but I did not pay much attention to be honest. I was too focused on trading stocks in US and European markets and that was already too much. Today I know: big mistake.

Then, in February 2017 I was studying finance in Germany and met Philipp Doğan, who introduced me to the blockchain and later became my business partner in Midas. This technology blew my mind immediately and since that day, I have been studying and digging into many projects to learn more and more about it.

Who do you admire most in the industry and why?

Admiration is a profound word that sometimes is overused. I do not admire people for what they have or for a specific reason. But I do like to recognize those who have achieved great success by believing in and persistently working for an idea.

Looking at the financial industry, I would like to recognize the extreme determination and inspiring vision of Wenceslao Casares, founder of Xapo.

Wences has succeeded in many projects like Patagon in my country Argentina as well as Banco Lemon in Brazil, but he still fights for a cause.

With Xapo he can finally accomplish what he has always been trying to do: helping many people so far excluded from traditional institutions to open a bank account and do payments or storage value in Bitcoin. A person like him inspires others like myself to follow the same track, stick to an idea and try to materialize it.

What projects are you currently working on?

I am currently working on the Midas app, a project that Philipp and I kicked off in February 2017. Starting from our first talks about the blockchain and its potentials in the fintech industry, we meanwhile have gathered a solid and professional team that stands out through maximal passion, creativity and commitment to the project’s idea.

The Midas app is a mobile portal to fund management for retail investors. It enables its users to become fund managers and investors in a user-friendly and easy way by implementing the Melon protocol as basis for blockchain-based fund management.

Using the blockchain and smart contracts for fund management grants transparency, increased security, more control and traceability of investments. The investment functionalities are surrounded by a social media network that gives people the possibility to connect, follow, interact and share investment-related content as basis for informed investment decisions.

This socio-financial experience is taken to a new level through our Community Funds, which allow people to invest together in a democratic voting system. Midas integrates verified businesses and their products and services to offer a wide range of tokenized assets like stocks, derivatives, artworks, real estate and so on. The app distinguishes itself from any other product on the market through a unique composition of socio-financial features, gamification and ultimate user-friendliness.

What’s your favorite thing about this industry?

Blockchain brings many benefits and I love them all: decentralization, total transparency, increased security, traceability, and so on. But if I had to choose one, I would always choose inclusiveness. Those who live in developing countries like me know that many people cannot just go to a bank and open an account to do payments.

Thanks to Blockchain, for the first time in history millions of people so far excluded from traditional financial institutions and global markets can participate with simply an Internet connection. Of course, this is not going to eliminate poverty all around the world but it is a huge step forward for humankind and economic self-determination of the people.

What motivates you to push forward every day?

I love to work on an idea or project that brings benefits to others and which is challenging for me. It is the need of actively doing something and pushing forward, instead of waiting for somebody else to do it, despite the risk of failure.

I embrace failure as a starting point, as you can always take something from it for the future. For me this is opposed to the desire of getting rich or powerful, which is persecuted by too many people unfortunately. From my point of view money and power change your perception of life and makes it difficult for you to enjoy small things, which in the end bring you happiness and true value.

These thoughts derive from my experience as a professional stock trader. The only way to succeed in trading – and I think in everything in life – is by controlling your emotions, your fears and killing your ego.

The real trader rises when you realize that it’s neither you and others nor you and the market struggling, it’s only you and your ego.

The market does not have a life; it is the reflection of all participants’ actions. Only you can improve yourself. When you understand and embrace this, you take another perspective: one that is simpler, humbler and happier in the end.