Cyril Alvarez Adriaansen has over 8 years of experience in the Financial Industry working for hedge funds, private banks and brokerage firms. He has a passion for nascent technology and the development process. He currently works in blockchain development and deployment at 2gether.

What has drawn you towards the Fintech industry and Blockchain?

Moving towards the Fintech industry was a natural process for me. I started my career in the financial industry as an Equity Sales Trader covering mainly the Tech sector. In 2011, I discovered Bitcoin by accident and I was straight away smitten by the potential the underlying technology could have in disrupting the financial industry. I quickly realized that this technology, blockchain, could cut costs drastically by making clearing houses obsolete and I saw it as an incredible tool to get rid of counterparty risks.

Do you think Bitcoin could replace the mighty Dollar?

The short answer is no, at least not anytime soon! There is a quote often attributed to Mayer Amschel Rothschild “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.”

Can Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies be considered “real” money?

That’s an interesting question. I personally think that Cryptocurrencies are for the time being a speculative asset and as such, do not meet the definition of money. I believe that there exists a strong case for it being defined in the future but, for now, it’s volatility alone makes it fall short on the three primary functions of money being: a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

How is 2gether leveraging blockchain technology?

For now, we have been fairly conservative in introducing the blockchain technology into our app. For the time being, there are limitations such as scalability, among others, some of which are touched on in this post, that make this process impossible. I firmly believe that in the next two to three years developers will find solutions to those shortcomings.

What do you feel are the most important aspects of 2gether?

The idea of having one place to make all financial decisions is something that I believe will attract a lot of customers. But what I am really excited about is the potential this platform can offer once we combine the blockchain technology with artificial intelligence. Many people like Ray Kurzweil have predicted that a technological singularity, which is basically the hypothesis that the invention of a super AI will trigger a change in human civilization, is just around the corner. I think that if singularity happens it will be by combining AI with blockchain. I hope 2gether can be a part of that process.

What do you do in your free time outside of your work?

I love watching history documentaries. I also trade cryptocurrencies and spend a significant time exploring new ideas and learning new things.