{"id":4461,"date":"2020-02-26T10:27:59","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T15:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/weownvaffles20is\/?p=4461"},"modified":"2020-04-09T13:50:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T17:50:15","slug":"journeys-in-blockchain-mati-greenspan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2020\/02\/26\/journeys-in-blockchain-mati-greenspan","title":{"rendered":"Journeys in Blockchain: Mati Greenspan of Quantum Economics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mati Greenspan’s polished cryptocurrency market analysis and television appearances make you forget something: He’s a real person. He’s smooth. Slick, some might say. Years of practice have made him a master of conveying confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why I was so struck by the incongruity of interviewing Greenspan against a background of Sesame Street, with Elmo yammering away in the third person and a toddler burbling nearby. It didn’t even occur to me that he might have kids. Because when it comes to financial markets, we sometimes forget that there’s more to life than numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenspan is at home in Tel Aviv, and it’s midnight in Israel. Time for the 9-month-old to head to bed? Apparently not \u2014 he spends much of our interview interjecting a running commentary. “He can already say \u2018Dada.\u2019 That one I kind of drove into him. His mom is jealous… But he\u2019s just getting over an ear infection,” explains Greenspan, perhaps sensing my surprise that a toddler has a later curfew than I did until I was 16.<\/span><\/p>\n

Midnight might seem like an unusual time for an interview to take place, but not for Greenspan. He explains that Israel is in an ideal location for his line of work. He can talk with people in Australia in the morning, Europe all day, and the United States in the evening. One soon realizes this does not leave a whole lot of time for him to take a break from business. That\u2019s what weekends are for, he says. \u201cEvery Friday afternoon, the sun goes down, I turn off my phone\u2026 We have a family dinner and I don\u2019t turn my phone on again until Saturday night,\u201d he explains, pointing to a tradition observed by his Jewish family, who honor the Sabbath by spending the time together as a family, away from other distractions. <\/span>This refrain \u2014 the importance of family and tradition \u2014 is repeated throughout our discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was during these traditional times of rest and quality family time that he connected most with his grandfather.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Passing the torch<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Against the wishes of Greenspan\u2019s parents, who maintained a strict Sabbath ritual, his grandfather would often share his business insights and interests in economics with him during their weekly gatherings. The elder would invite business associates to join in the family gatherings, despite the frequent admonishments from Mati’s parents to set aside the money talk. The apprentice eagerly soaked up the knowledge passed down from his grandfather.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was his grandfather who took on the teenage Greenspan to help out at his companies \u2014 mostly in real estate development \u2014 working and learning about all the daily operations of the business, and even sitting in on business meetings. \u201cI did everything from legal to accounting, IT, whatever needed to be done, really. I was always there.\u201d As a teenager, Greenspan might already have known more about running a business than many entrepreneurs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would go out with his workers on construction jobs, attend manager\u2019s meetings, whatever\u2026 I didn\u2019t get bored… He had a company of some 200 employees, so there was always something new to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Being the boss\u2019s grandson, Greenspan explained, everyone wanted to make sure he was happy. Staff would show him new things to learn, giving him a lot of attention. \u201cI was honored to be able to work with each one of them in their profession and get to learn from them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During his time working for his grandfather, Greenspan noticed that there were a few things he definitely did not want to do with his life. \u201cAccounting, legal work were just not for me. It was a lot of repetitive stuff.\u201d One of his first tasks as a legal assistant, he remembered, was to chase down people who had skipped on their rent. \u201cSome of them were four or five years out of their contract already. We were suing them for the back-rent. They were saying to me \u2018How am I gonna feed my kids?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t wanna do this!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenspan realized this kind of work was not something that drove him.<\/span><\/p>\n

What did, however, was the world of finance \u2014 trading commodities like copper, silver and gold, in particular. He would track the prices of commodities by flipping through the Wall Street Journal at his grandfather\u2019s office. He knew exactly where prices were on a daily basis and enjoyed interpreting the pictures and graphs of market movements.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Bar Mitzvah age of 13, he received a few checks, as is the tradition. The tidy sum added up to an amount that a 13 year old, he said, can\u2019t reasonably spend. Together with his brothers, he researched potential \u201cplaces to park our money\u201d and put together a small investment pool. Looking through reams of pamphlets offering a variety of opportunities, the boys managed to get their uncle to help set them up with their first investments. From that point forward, he was hooked. But investing, it turns out, was not his only passion.<\/span><\/p>\n

From music to money<\/b><\/h4>\n

During his early adolescence, Greenspan went to music school in Tel Aviv. \u201cI really wanted to be a musician.\u201d He explains that lessons learned in music school helped him \u2014 not with stock analysis, but with public speaking, creativity and the confidence required to be in front of people and perform. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a lot of what I do, these interviews and being on camera. It’s all about presentation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, his music education did not help a whole lot when it came to making an income. Upon meeting his future wife, he was soon told to go and get a job. \u201cIf you can pay the bills and be a musician, great,\u201d she said. \u201cThat didn\u2019t happen,\u201d Greenspan laughed, so it was time to find work that could bring in a steady income.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, Greenspan began his first job at a company called DSNR, selling Green Card lottery application services. His task was to build awareness of the program, \u201csell people on the idea,\u201d and offer to process applications. \u201cIt was an amazing sales program,\u201d he explains. The telephone sales crash course got him comfortable with being on the phone with people from all over the world. \u201cThey\u2019d give me a list of 100 Sri Lankans and say, \u2018Call them all.\u2019\u201d But after about a year, Greenspan had finally had enough of the repetitive job and decided to quit. He turned his job-seeking efforts, and his passion, back to the world of finance and trading.<\/span><\/p>\n

To educate himself, Greenspan watched financial news as much as he could, admitting it \u201cwas very difficult and boring,\u201d but he persevered. A virtual stock exchange website associated with AvaFX \u2014 a Forex trading platform \u2014 caught his eye, offering the chance to trade with a virtual portfolio and free demo money. He performed consistently well and opened an account with a nearby AvaFX trading office. Soon after, he took on the role of sales representative and enjoyed a successful stint with the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After his time at AvaFX, Greenspan moved on to other jobs at offices that, he explained, \u201cwere not exactly clean.\u201d Novice traders were targeted: People who, he noted, tended to lose money. The clients would be given a platform, but unbeknownst to them, none of their funds were actually used to make trades. Instead, it worked much like a casino. The client was expected to lose their money by choosing bad trades on what was essentially a facade of a trading platform. In the unlikely event that the client made gains through fortuitous choices, the office would pay them out of the main account. But by and large, most targeted traders would lose out and the company would simply pocket the deposits. \u201cIt was a moral hazard and not entirely legal, according to most regulations\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up in a family that taught him a strong sense of justice, Greenspan struggled with the deceptive nature of the company\u2019s activities. But instead of leaving, he decided to attack the problem by helping the clients succeed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He began to teach the once-<\/span>na\u00efve<\/span> clientele trading strategies and market analysis. \u201cWe made a whole series of videos about how to trade and how to read charts… We did a weekly webinar that was very popular\u2026 clients loved it.\u201d Managers expressed their befuddlement and disapproval that Greenspan would make such an effort to enable the customers to succeed in making money. \u201cThat\u2019s when I decided, I\u2019m done with this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Grabbing the bull by the horns at eToro<\/b><\/h4>\n

Following this brief stint, he joined eToro. \u201cIt was an amazing place to work. It was the first time I could be on the phone and say my real name and location… You could see they really cared for their clients.\u201d He remembers looking at the numbers of profitable clients on file and being blown away. \u201cIt was easily 10 times the industry average.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In early 2013, about six months into his time at eToro, he received an internal company email about Bitcoin. \u201cI\u2019d never heard of it at the time\u2026 I didn\u2019t understand a lot of it. But I did understand that the Internet had a new form of money which is not connected to governments or banks. I was extremely excited about this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After taking a little more time to understand Bitcoin, he experienced what he described as a \u201cwow moment.\u201d He immediately shared his excitement on Facebook \u2014 the social media platform he used most at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

His first Bitcoin post in 2013<\/a>, declaring \u201cthe future of money is here,\u201d received little fanfare. It garnered a whopping total of nine likes. \u201cI was in shock that there was no activity…\u201d Still puzzled to this day by the lack of interest in the post, he continues to be adamant that \u201cIt\u2019s the future of money!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bitcoin did not have a great reputation in its early days, Greenspan said. \u201cEven in 2017, there was a stigma. Mailchimp closed down accounts talking about Bitcoin. There was a residue from Silk Road and the whole Charlie Shrem trial. The stigma was that it was dark web, dirty money. It took a lot of work for us to get it to the point where people could see it was an alternative form of money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s what being pro-Bitcoin is all about, he emphasizes. As a financial analyst, he explained, \u201cYou\u2019re going against the grain\u2026 You\u2019re seeing potential where everybody else is saying, \u2018No, that\u2019s bad, we shouldn\u2019t be touching it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the directors at eToro didn\u2019t want anything to do with it at the time, he said. But in 2014, eToro\u2019s management acquiesced, adding Bitcoin trading to the platform. \u201cThat was a big moment.\u201d Unfortunately, it crashed a day or two after being made available on the platform due to the Mt. Gox hack, leaving a bad taste in many new traders\u2019 mouths. \u201cAfter that, it sat on the backburner for a while,\u201d he explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bitcoin Rush<\/b><\/h4>\n

In January of 2017, Greenspan made a video called \u201cThe Bitcoin Rush,\u201d when the price of BTC surpassed $1,000. It showed what Bitcoin was and why it was on the move. \u201cThe video just went viral,\u201d he said. The Bitcoin frenzy emerged in the summer of that year. \u201cEToro scaled about 1,000% that year. Q4 2017 was incredibly nuts.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had so many customers coming in, marketing shut down. We didn\u2019t have to promote anywhere… The customers came by themselves… Everyone was working on onboarding new customers.\u201d Nobody was doing anything at the company during the craze except Know Your Customer checks and customer tickets, he said. Greenspan personally handled the customer service chat during peak hours. He worked furiously-paced shifts over a period of about two months, addressing the complaints and concerns of 20 to 30 clients at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the craze cooled off, Greenspan remained with eToro until November 2019, at which time he departed to begin his latest venture as the founder of Quantum Economics. \u201cI was with eToro for seven and a half years. We saw incredible mutual growth. I grew as a person and an analyst. My relationships with people, with clients\u2026 They were incredibly supportive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEToro is a great company to be in,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at some point I realized, I have to jump… I got as far as I could go.\u201d Greenspan becomes emotional as he thinks about the people he left behind at eToro. \u201cI\u2019m tearing up, man. It was good times\u2026 but I\u2019ve always grown throughout my career. That’s essential, it\u2019s who I am.\u201d Reflecting on his stay, he noted, \u201cIt\u2019s a family, at the end of the day.\u201d He was leaving one family behind and starting a new one.<\/span><\/p>\n

The future at Quantum Economics<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Beginning at Quantum Economics, Greenspan shared his goals and future vision for his latest project. \u201cThe five-year goal is $1 billion under management,\u201d he said. A big part of the company, he said, is money management and building a portfolio. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be the difficult part. That\u2019s going to take more time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He shared the three pillars of Quantum Economics: analysis, advisory and money management. Dedicated to building this new family, and a new customer base, Greenspan took no time off in the transition from one company to the next. He picked up right where he left off, leaving clients with a daily message from eToro on a Friday and starting up Quantum Economics on the following Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greenspan\u2019s priorities of family and tradition hold strong. Now that he is working from home, he can take more time for himself, for his family and for his spirituality. \u201cI can take my time, pray for half an hour, an hour, whatever I feel like. It\u2019s a wonderful meditation.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the conversation wraps up, Greenspan picks up his child again, the crying amplified as the infant, held by his father, approaches the microphone. Elmo is still jabbering away \u2014 what time do kids go to bed in Tel Aviv, anyway?<\/span><\/p>\n

I thank him for the interview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAwesome. I think I\u2019ve got another call in 15 minutes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Family and finance never rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who are the people behind the products? How did they come to be involved in the blockchain industry \u2014 and where are they headed? Each week we take a peek behind the curtain to find out more about the real people orchestrating the development of the crypto sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[154,156],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4461"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5091,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461\/revisions\/5091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4461"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}