Leaders Series: Soona Amhaz at Token Daily
By: Meltem Demirors
Tags: Media, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency

Leaders Series: Soona Amhaz at Token Daily

Issue 40— March 7, 2018

Soona Amhaz is the CEO of Token Daily

She’s been in the crypto ecosystem for the last three years, and recently launched Token Daily to provide a crucial service to the crypto ecosystem — a platform for token founders, investors, traders and crypto people of all stripes to discover and discuss the latest in crypto project launches, white papers, and Q&A with experts.

How did you get into crypto?

Like most Michigan engineering students, I spent too much time on Reddit in college. In 2014, I remember coming across threads on Bitcoin where people were sprinkling in terms like mining, hodling, and proof of work. It was an entire community with its own jargon and culture which certainly piqued my curiousity. I started out primarily investing and trading — having skin in the game is a great way to turbocharge efforts to learn.

My co-founders and I launched Token Daily because it’s a product we wanted to use but couldn’t find — a central home for crypto/blockchain updates that also hosted a community with experts that we could trust.

What did you do before you got into this?

I was at another startup, Alation — which is a data catalog. Data catalogs and the blockchain are similar in that they both exist to ensure trust, though in somewhat different ways — blockchain is procedural where data catalogs are more declarative. On some level, both technologies answer the question “How do I know that this thing is what it claims to be?”

What problem is your company, Token Daily, solving and why do you feel passionate about this?

Right now it’s difficult to find crypto/blockchain communities that aren’t riddled with trolls, shillers, and all around bad actors. Additionally, there’s plenty of content creation happening in the space, but not enough curation. With Token Daily, we’re creating a platform where users can have high quality discussions, ask the experts in the space questions, discover crypto/blockchain updates all while having confidence that the information they’re consuming can be trusted. I’m passionate about Token Daily because I’m passionate about community, democratization of access, and integrity of information.

What are some ideas you’re excited about in the crypto / blockchain space? Why do you think these ideas are exciting or transformative?

The 2 ideas that I’m especially excited about are:



1) Banking the unbanked — which I’m disappointed to find is increasingly being dropped from the language. For billions, the ability to create a savings account, receive a loan, build a business — basically achieve financial sovereignty in any capacity is incredibly difficult. The ability to create a more financially inclusive future is personally important to me. The best ideas don’t only come from people who have access to reliable banking infrastructures — but they are the only ones that ever see the light of day.

2) Reclaiming control of personal data and our digital identities.

What types of technologies or tools do you think will be most impactful in the crypto space?

Truthfully — at this point — the tools that will be most impactful in the crypto space are the ones that put even a little bit of effort into UI/UX. The severe lack of attention paid to design and usability in this space has been staggering.

As you think about this industry, what do you think will happen in the short term that will blow people’s minds?

Short term things that have been blowing people’s minds: The amount of money ICOs have been able to raise.

What do you think will be disappointing?

The number of companies that ICO’d but can’t ship or deliver.

Where do you think all of this activity will eventually lead?

The hope is this tokenizing over the long term makes companies more accountable to its users. The ability to fork is a powerful one.

What changes do you think bitcoin or blockchain will accelerate in our world?

Over the longterm, one major change we can expect bitcoin and blockchain to bring about is reduction in the size of government.

What’s been the most interesting or inspiring experience you’ve had in the crypto / blockchain space thus far?

Overall how helpful everyone in the community has been. For the most part, we all acknowledge we’re figuring this out together. I haven’t seen much intellectual one-upmanship or straw man arguments in the communities I’ve joined/created. We’re all genuinely interested in learning and helping others learn.

How and where do you find inspiration in the crypto space?

This one’s tough because there are so many inspirational people in the space I could name, but if I had to pick one, it’d be Kevin Belanger over at Miroskii (photo included)

Any advice for people who are looking to get involved in the space? What are things you did that helped you get started?

Great advice I’ve heard (and wish I could pass off as my own) is to remember it’s still early. No one has missed the boat — we’re learning to build the boat.

Things that helped me get started: investing in coins to get skin in the game, watching Andreas Antonopoulos’ videos online, reaching out to blockchain developers and emailing them with my questions, joining crypto slack groups, subscribing to newsletters (Eric Meltzer’s Proof of Work is a great one), watching blockchain/crypto lectures online, and listening to Laura Shin’s podcasts (Unchained and now Unconfirmed).

What’s a concept in the crypto/blockchain that you feel is unappreciated or goes unnoticed?

When you take a step back and think about it, we basically gamified timestamps and got cryptocurrencies.

Long term, a world of many blockchains and coins, or one chain to rule them all?

One chain to rule them all. Look out for Soona Coin — you heard it here first.

Thanks to soona amhaz for participating! Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Editor’s Note: The editor of this post, Meltem Demirors, is an investor in Token Daily.