Finally we managed to talk with a person for whom the impossible became only a driver for action. His story is filled with difficulties and obstacles but he did not let them stop him. When everyone said it was impossible, he proved the opposite. He learned to appreciate every victory even the most insignificant since everything that happened was done with his own hands.
Lado Okhotnikov, a founder of Meta Force, a crypto enthusiast and a former partner of Forsage marketing project. Having gone through the most difficult path Lado managed to build a successful business out of nothing which promises immense changes for society. His unrivaled experience as an entrepreneur has left an indelible mark on the world of marketing and sales since he started his journey from there. However, by chance, he began to engage in crypto.
Lado, you are good at selling, you are a marketer in the past and now you are the founder of the Metaverse project. How did you get into the field of cryptocurrencies?
In 2019 when MLM marketing has undergone significant changes I was faced with the need to learn new technology. At that time few people knew about smart contracts not speaking about the blockchain operation. However, I realized that it was necessary to learn this technology at any cost because even then I understood that this was the future.
As I delved deeper into the technology I discovered a potential that exceeded my expectations. Smart contracts are autonomous programs capable of fulfilling agreements and conditions without mediation. They open doors to new opportunities in finance, logistics, supply and many other industries.
Blockchain, in turn, provides transparency, security and immutability of data. This technology allows you to create decentralized (DeFi) systems where information is distributed and protected from hacks. It upends traditional centralized structures by giving participants more control over their data.
Several years have passed and now we see how smart contracts and blockchain are actively penetrating into various areas of our lives. They are changing the way we do business, financial relationships and even social interactions. Many companies and startups have realized the potential of these technologies and have begun to apply them in their activities.
Meta Force is a proof of it, we are no exception and we see the huge potential of the blockchain. Naturally, managing such a huge project I understand how the system works and how the market works.
Lado, when did you find out about bitcoin?
It was 2011. I knew about it on the forum because there were such objectives. We monitored very often how Peer-to-Peer networks worked and at that moment there was just such a story when the networking gaming structure was on the forums because back then there was no talk of either YouTube or Telegram. And everyone who was in the gaming movement discussed some kind of digital assets that they would exchange among themselves there.
At that time gaming networking was thriving, people were discussing how to buy and sell artifacts from games without resorting to real calculations. And on one of the forums I came across the concept of bitcoin.
There was a problem of money exchange, accordingly, some solution were needed. At that moment there were already options like WebMoney that could be on the balance sheet, withdrawn and exchanged for real dollars. But there were some difficulties. For example, in order to transfer and receive money verification was required which sometimes took a long and tedious time and customers were not always interested in it.
Then I began to study bitcoin, found its Whitelist, figured out the work basics and began to accept payments in crypto. So I got the first bitcoins but I didn’t spend them – my earnings allowed me to accumulate them.
I held them because I knew that the time would come and its value would rise. At that time it was not possible to really evaluate the bitcoin. Now there is the concept of market capitalization, the coin liquidity but back then it was just a means of payment which suited everyone with its anonymity and network security. By the way, for the entire time of its existence the blockchain has never been hacked which indicates its perfect architecture.
Who popularized cryptocurrency? There is an opinion that these are all tricks of the Pentagon – is it true?
Oddly enough but it was Ethereum that pushed Bitcoin. Vitalik Buterin once introduced smart contracts into his blockchain explaining this by the fact that money should be transferred between one and another person under some kind of agreement with a guarantee that the transaction will be completed.
Contracts are what have really popularized the blockchain. And when people realized what the power of decentralization was like and when they began to feel the benefits – decentralization, anonymity, security, that’s when the boom has happened.
Did you buy bitcoin on purpose or how did it happen?
At that time I had a marketing business, people all over the world bought goods from me, and I received payment in bitcoins. There were already such customers who were comfortable using the crypto.
It was not always possible for a client on the other side somewhere in Asia or Europe or the USA to pay for the service by bank transfer. Then I offered to use bitcoin as payment and people agreed. Of course I understood for myself that I did not risk anything because by 2015 the market had already been formed and the coin cost about $200.
However, the most interesting thing is that there was no real token evaluation as such, that is, it could not be said that the bitcoin was worth $200 on the market. No one knew what it really cost – everyone just named the number of coins that were accepted as payment. Speaking between you and me bitcoin is still not directly tied to the dollar or other fiat currency. It is a decentralized digital currency that is not controlled by a government or central bank. Its price is determined by supply and demand in the market but no more.
What did you do with your bitcoins that you earned earlier?
At the time when the market was just taking shape I did not have a need to spend them. I was earning enough in fiat and doing marketing at the same time. I accumulated bitcoins as I accepted them for payment for goods and services rendered.
Now I still have bitcoin since for me it is no longer a means of payment but a tool. I know people who have accumulated a coin in their time, held it and then launched their own startups. They can be called moneymakers since at the moment they are engaged in leading the companies in the market.
What does “company leading” mean? Can moneymakers manipulate the market?
Let’s suppose there is some kind of project, tokenomics is created for it, the coin is listed on the exchanges and in order to keep its price under control the “manipulators” are hired. These are people or a group of people acting in their own interests. Their task is to keep the coin in some price range, reducing the spread to a minimum in order to avoid losses. And as soon as the market starts to move they follow it buying or selling the token.
Yes, moneymakers are manipulators as the cryptocurrency market is fully managed. If we want the project to be operating and to make a profit, we need those who will monitor pricing. This is very important because if the asset loses its price then demand for it will fall and this threatens to reduce liquidity and ultimately lead to closure.
The goal of a moneymaker is to dump or pump the market, accumulate a position and distribute it among the “hamsters”. As soon as the asset gains its liquidity the manipulator will definitely go to this zone to take it.
Why is there a sharp dump in the market? Let’s say the price is trading in some spread range and at some point there is a dump.
When a player exits the market, closing the entire position at once, this leads to certain consequences. The only reason that prompts the player to take such a step is the emergence of another major participant acting in opposition. When one trader takes a significantly larger position the price band shifts. This does not go unnoticed by other market participants and the order is simply closed to prevent losses.
How many moneymakers are there on the market?
If we are talking about large players with a capitalization of over $1 billion then there are about a dozen of them. They actively trade on various exchanges and cannot be attributed to any particular caste. It is important to note that manipulators also compete with each other, much like small retail traders with $5-10 million positions butt each other.
Can a moneymaker know about a market turn?
In fact nobody knows exactly where the turn will take place since the control is carried out by the player with the highest position at the moment. If another manipulator emerges with an order that significantly exceeds the position of the first player, then at some point a trend change will still occur. However, it is impossible to predict the exact timing of this event as there is no way to know the volume of each player. At least I don’t know about it.
Market dynamics and the power of supply and demand interact in a complex and rapidly changing process making accurate market turn predictions difficult.
To Be Continued
Lado really told us where it all started, how the players behave in the market and what moneymakers do. But our interview does not end there, next time we will find out who manipulates bitcoin, whether someone colludes with the manipulators, when the dollar is absorbed through the crypt and whether the crypt will go its own way regardless of the classical market. Stay tuned for the next part…
