Hey Hackers! I’m Derek Lim, and I’m the Founder at Fincade, a community-centric crypto research ecosystem.
First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating [me/us] for a 2021 Noonies award! [I’ve/We’ve been] nominated in the following categories please do check out these award pages and vote:
Contributor of the Year - Politics: https://noonies.tech/award/2021-hackernoon-contributor-of-the-year-politics
As a someone in the crypto industry, I believe that the most exciting technology of the present is blockchain because web 3 and decentralization are the future. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on crypto/blockchain in general, and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.
1. What do you do and why do you do it? (tell us your story)
I am currently full-time into the crypto/blockchain space as a senior editor (strategy operations) at Bybit Exchange. On the side, I have Fincade, a community-centric and first-of-its-kind research ecosystem that I founded with another friend! As cliche as it sounds - decentralization and web3 will be the future. This isn’t just a technological shift, its a cultural one as well. Our normative structures as we know WILL change, and so must the technology we use on a day-to-day basis. With this in mind, there’s no other place I wanna be; I am honored to be standing at the frontier of change, and I hope to play a huge part in pushing for it.
2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!
I write about everything and anything crypto and blockchain. To me, education is king in this space - if you are not sufficiently educated or up to speed with regard to informational flows in the crypto space, you will most likely end up getting burnt by it. Therefore, I really hope to be able to help users who are new to the space in this regard, not only in a top-down manner, but also in a dialogical and community-focused manner. This is why we created Fincade in the first place - it is meant to be a cyclical research ecosystem that is more participatory than it is spoon-feeding.
3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?
First off - I LOVE my current career path. There is nothing more exciting than being in this field right now. As I mentioned, it is truly an exhilarating and humbling feeling to be standing at the forefront of change, alongside some of the greatest minds this world will ever seen. I am learning and growing every day, and I plan to keep doing so. I ended up on this path due to a few bad decisions in the past. I absolutely couldn’t fit in my previous job, but I guess that led me to here.
4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?
Well, I’ll be biased for this question - blockchain technology! The potential of this tech is just - the sky is the literal limit, and maybe even beyond. There is still so much to do and discover in this space - we’re just getting started. I cannot wait to be a bigger part of it.
5. What tech are you most worried about right now and why?
I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m worried about any tech per se; I’m mostly about the potential for, and capacity of humans to misuse certain technologies. It’s humans i’m worried about. Used in the wrong hands, any technology can cause a lot of harm to the world. That is probably why I’m so big on decentralization - I know true decentralization is still a pipedream, but I hope we get there some day in my lifetime.
6. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?
I’ll use it to develop my own blockchain project. That has been my dream from day 1, and will always remain so. I may post about the details of said blockchain project some day, so stay tuned!
7. What are you currently learning?
I’m always learning more about the crypto and blockchain space; its a never-ending process. Its intertwined with so many other industries (finance, gaming etc.) that the learning can literally never stop.
8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?
In life, the most important things are your time, energy, knowledge, abilities and loved ones. Just live by this mantra and we’ll all be cool.
9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The only things you’ll regret in life are the things you never tried.
10. Please give us the links to all your relevant social media profiles so we can use them to promote this interview! (Twitter and LinkedIn would be a huge plus)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-lim-67144b211/
https://twitter.com/DerekLimCrypto
https://www.instagram.com/derekkklim/
About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards
The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.
The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.