The Belarusian flag; photo from Wikipedia. Belarus is Andrei Ivanov’s homeland. On Twitter, Ivanov is @volodia991 and on Telegram he is @volodia99.

This profile is part of the series SoCo Spotlights: The Stories of our SoCo Supporters. As the interviewee is not a native English speaker, his thoughts and ideas were translated to the best of his abilities and his quotes have been slightly edited for fluency. The interviewee has also chosen not to disclose a photo of himself for privacy reasons.

He’s a 30 year-old family man. He repairs computers in his spare time, and loves to fish and cook. He does not see himself as a person who lives lavishly, managing on the typical salary for a Belarusian, but considers himself self-sufficient. In his own proverbial words: “I planted a tree, built a house, raised a son… I took place as a person.”

He’s a secondary school teacher from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. His students are 10 to 17 years old, and he teaches them Belarusian (one of his country’s official languages, the other being Russian), chess, and how to “live by the laws of conscience and morality.”

As a teacher, he said, this means his work is also done in the name of child protection. He works with disadvantaged families and children, and teaches them to “do good deeds”, among other life values, such as loving their country and parents, respecting their elders and celebrating the traditions of their people. He instills in his students the very basic tools every person with character requires: responsibility for one’s actions, attentiveness to others, and a faithfulness to all that is honest and fair.

His name is Andrei Ivanov, but on Telegram, he goes by Volodia Ivanov (@volodia99). And he is a man who, like many other members of the crypto community, cares very much about the future.

“We, as teachers, should… not only develop children’s abilities, but (must also prepare) full members of society with highly moral foundations,” Ivanov said. “Because it’s very important, what kind of children we will raise. This will be our society; this will be the future of our country.”

Ivanov’s drive to shape and inspire the future community extends to his other interests, as well.

For the last two months, he has tended to airdrops and bounties every day after work. His interest in cryptocurrency, however, does not stem from a pressing need or poverty.

Like many others who are casually involved in the crypto world, he discovered blockchain on a bit of a whim. He was bored during the holidays, so he read some articles and watched some YouTube videos about cryptocurrency. From there, his passion spiraled — he got an e-wallet, began participating in airdrops, and made new friends who were also interested in crypto.

Ivanov said he would now consider himself pretty well-versed in the topic of cryptocoins.

As he was getting into crypto, he said his intuition told him to envision a world behind blockchain and cryptocurrency, and what that might mean for the planet. And as the type of person who likes to guide others into new ideas, he was drawn to the cryptoworld’s potential as a major future development, and wanted to “help others get on board, not wallow in the water and wait for someone to help.”

In other words, his passion for cryptocurrency was a natural development from his hopeful and enterprising spirit. He felt he had seen the future, and being a true teacher at heart, he began to do what he did best — help others towards making the future the best it can be.

And thus, he joined the SoCo Bounty and has been supporting the project ever since.

Specifically, Ivanov said projects like SoCo are very timely, which is why he has a great belief in their prospects. By that, he means it is evident that both blockchain technology and social networking are rapidly developing, and he feels almost every student engages in social networking and knows about cryptocurrency. When these children grow up, he said, it is inevitable that blockchain technology and social networking will become even more commonplace in society.

And the moral impact of the project is important to him as well. Monetization of actions in social networking (social assets) will make users more restrained and responsible, Ivanov said. After all, a blocked account would then mean a potential loss of coins and income. Thus, people would value their accounts more, think more about the repercussions of their comments, and communicate more politely. Ultimately, he said, SoCo would act as a sort of incentive so people would self-regulate their actions.

Moreover, Ivanov stressed the literal life-changing impact the SoCo Project could have on the future.

“SoCo can save lives. On Facebook, I have a few friends from Africa who are very poor. And monetization of actions in social networking will help them to really survive,” he said. “For them, even $1 is a lot of money.”

If you’re interested in being interviewed, please contact SoCo SNP at socosnp@gmail.com, or message the admin of the SoCo Telegram chat.