Mastermind.fm

In this episode we chat with Henrijs Jansons about the relaunch of the Debitum platform, and why investors should consider investing in this regulated platform. Links Debitum Jean's review of Debitum

In this episode, Jean and Joe interview the founder and CEO of Lonvest, Roman Katerynchyk. We dig into how P2P lending for consumer loans works, and what kind of models power the decisions to give loans or not to new customers. We discuss the ethical side of P2P lending, and the big issue with millions of unbanked people in developing countries. For example: 44% of Vietnam's population was unbanked in 2022, but a higher percentage remains under-banked. Only 6% of the population in Vietnam have credit cards. We also talk about how Lonvest works, why Roman started this new business after many years in the fintech and traditional consumer loans space, and what comes next for the platform. Roman also explains how Lonvest is differentiating itself in the market and bringing a new level of transparency to the game. Invest on Lonvest Links Lonvest Roman's Linkedin

Welcome to another exciting episode of the Mastermind.fm podcast, where we explore the latest trends, ideas, and innovations shaping the world. In today's episode, we're diving deep into the fascinating realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its transformative impact on the way we work. We're thrilled to have with us a special guest, Martin Slaney, the visionary behind ProductPrompts.com. Martin is a thought leader in the AI space and has extensive experience in harnessing the power of intelligent tools to enhance productivity and drive growth. In our conversation today, we'll explore a wide range of AI-powered tools, such as OpenAI's GPT-4, Dall-E and Midjourney, and we'll discuss how these new tools are enabling businesses to streamline their operations, make better decisions, and ultimately, redefine what's possible. From AI-driven customer persona generators to automating customer support and data analysis, Martin will share his insights on how AI is changing the way we approach our work and the potential pitfalls to watch out for as we continue to integrate these powerful tools into our daily lives. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and get ready for an enlightening conversation about the AI revolution with Martin Slaney. Stay tuned, because this episode of the Mastermind podcast is one you won't want to miss! Links Martin Slaney on Twitter Product Prompts Westworld Humans Almost Human ChatGPT

In this episode Jean and Joe speak with Shehan Chandrasekera from Cointracker about the intricacies of NFT taxation. Links Cointracker

In this episode, Jean hangs out with Tinbane and Astamcloud/P to discuss the experience of collecting, creating and curating in the generative art space. Links Jean's post about embarking on his artistic journey Jean's generative art resources DCinvestor on-chain gen art collector thesis The rise of long-form generative art Mandelbrot set Picasso's The Bull * Featured image art by Tinbane

In this episode, Jean speaks to Eric Rubens, a successful professional photographer and founder of Collective Strangers, an NFT community focused on photography. We go through Eric's journey into photography, why he created Collected Strangers, and what pass holders can expect in the coming months. We also touch on the photography NFT space as I'm quite excited about the future prospects of this niche. Links Eric Rubens on Instagram Collective Strangers Justin Aversano Dave Krugman Cath Simard Nick Kuchar Drift

In this episode, Jean speaks to the founder and CEO of NFTfi, Stephen Young. We talk about all the use cases for borrowing and lending in the NFT space. I found this talk fascinating and learnt some new use cases I wasn't aware of. Whether you're on the borrowing or lending side, you should listen to this. Links Stephen's Twitter NFTfi

In today's episode, Jean speaks with the artist ZAR, who he had the pleasure of meeting for the first time during his recent trip to New York for NFT NYC. We delve into many different topics, for an overall fascinating talk where topics like minimalism, utility for NFT art, community building, and the process for building Classicality are discussed. Links Classicality ZAR's Twitter

Jean and Evan Medeiros team up to recap their action-packed week at NFT NYC, discussing their favorite projects such as Doodles, PROOF, Moonbirds, Coolmans, Cool Cats, Cyberbrokers etc. They share what they loved about the events and what was a bit of a letdown. If you haven't been to NFT NYC, this is a great way to catch up on the past week's events. Links Evan's Twitter Thetraderisk.com

I recently started collecting generative art NFTs, and one of the collections that I fell in love with was Hōrō (meaning wandering in Japanese), from Lionel Radisson, known in the art world as makio135. In today's show, I connect with Lionel to talk about his journey as an artist and how he got into NFTs. We speak about the challenges and also big wins that ultimately helped Lionel transition into working as a generative artist full-time. I am extremely bullish on the potential of NFTs to empower artists and bring their ideas and work much more accessible to collectors the world over. Links Lionel's Twitter @mattdesl @amygoodchild Lionel's first sketch using Slashes shapes Article about Lionel's journey Lionel's linktree

In this episode, Jean talks to Hanif Perry about his experience as a collector of generative art NFTs and member of various communities that formed around this movement. This is a great primer for those who are interested in NFTs and want to know what to look for and where when buying their first pieces. Links Hanif's Twitter Jean's article on generative art NFTs Picasso Punks GrailersDAO Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs Chromie Squiggles Dmitri Cherniak Century by Casey Reas Gazers by Matt Kane Stefano Contiero Rhythm by Jeff Davis Infinite Objects frames Mov3 Quantum Key Grails by PROOF

In this episode, I sit down with Danny Greene, the general manager of the MeebitsDAO. We have a wide-ranging conversation about the significance of NFTs, the analogies that can be used to onboard new users into the NFT space, and of course, we also focused on Meebits in particular. I really like the MeebitsDAO initiative in favor of an open metaverse, so if you'd like to learn more about the metaverse and how you can start participating in this space you should definitely give this one a listen. The Meebits are 20,000 unique 3D voxel characters, created by a custom generative algorithm, then registered on the Ethereum blockchain. The original 9000 Meebits were available for purchase through a Dutch-style auction starting from 2.5 ETH. The remaining NFTs were distributed to holders of CryptoPunks as well as Autoglyphs. A simple gas fee transaction could be used to redeem a Meebit with a punk or glyph. Because of its rarity as well as scarcity, the collection had topped the charts as well as sustained constant sales. With $127 million in sales volume, this became the 7th all-time top collection in just four months. At least ten Meebits have indeed been sold for over a million dollars. Links MeebitsDAO Yugalabs acquisition Jadu Mirrorverse

In this episode, we speak to Robin Copernicus (real name Robin Kabir) from Metaverse Land Club. It was a real pleasure speaking with Robin, his passion for futuristic technologies and the ways that they can help human betterment really comes through in our conversation. Join us as we explore the many facets of the metaverse and how it will impact humanity in this wide-ranging episode. Links Metaverse Land Club Robin on Twitter Gaia Forums Nano reef tanks (I was also a huge aquarium hobbyist growing up) Lemonnerd art Gaming guilds My Pet Hooligan BT Forum - Orbs (Gala Music) Books mentioned Minimum Viable Mockup Traction Atomic Habits

In this episode, we have Igors Puntuss, CEO of Bulkestate, as our guest. Together with Igors, we discuss Bulkestate's journey over the past five years, and the main things that investors should expect going forward. Bulkestate is one of my favorite platforms. Contrary to other players in the market, they have an understated approach and focus on delivery rather than hype. Here are some of the main numbers from Bulkestate's performance over the past years. Total funding volume originated as of 31.12.2021: € 24 307 835,00 Total number of projects funded: 135 Weighted average annual return: 14.33% Number of active investors: 10 171 Capital lost: 0 Repaid objects: 86 Defaulted objects (Historically): 6% Delayed objects: 13% Biggest project: Marijas Street 1 750 000 EUR with 740 investors and 17% return. That ended up being 2% more than planned. With regard to group buying, here are the main stats: A total volume of group-buying deals: 14 992 883 EUR Number of group-buying deals: 4 Total area sold in group-buying deals: 15 350.8 sq m Number of participants in group-buying deals: 83 Total units sold: 95 Links Bulkestate is 5 years old

We are glad to welcome Hearsay to our show. It's a really special episode covering a quiet unspoken topic of law and NFTs. We started discussing uncertainties of crypto taxation and what is crypto from a legal standpoint. A big part of the discussion ahead was about the traditional art industry and legal backbone, as well as the concepts of authenticity, derivatives, and value compared to the digital NFT world. The other important topic we touched upon were DAOs from the legal perspective and their prospects in governance. Links Hearsay on Twitter Creative commons NFT License NFT License Breakdown: Exploring Different Marketplaces and Associated License Issues NFTs and Intellectual Property: What IP Owners and NFT Creators Need to Know Protecting IP and Limiting Liability When Licensing IP for Digital Art and NFTs BAYC - The case for licensed commercial use rights NFTs, Minting and Copyright

In this episode, we welcome back Jalil from PunkScape for another round of NFT knowledge drops. Following our more introductory first episode with Jalil, in this episode, we continue evolving some of the topics we touched upon previously as well as introduce some other very important concepts and guidelines that all NFT investors or creators should know about. Some of the topics discussed: An exploration of NFT contracts on Etherscan. How metadata and images are stored on IPFS. What software was used to build the scapes? What's happening behind the scenes in a project's reveal stage? Potential for exploits, cheating, unfair advantages when a project is launched. Why ENS domains are important and how they fit into PunkScapes. Some innovations in the PunkScapes metadata, such as the date assigned to each scape. Upcoming PunkScape apps and functionality(animations, gallery, background builder etc). Links Etherescan contract - PunkScape PunkScape token 1 on IPFS Example of PunkScape PNG file hosted on IPFS Pinata Cryptopunks contract Figma Affinity Designer Tom Sachs Rocket Factory

In this episode, we welcome the founder of Kumo's World, Kumo, who shares with us her journey and motivations for creating this collection of extremely cute characters, as well as the new features that are on the roadmap for the next few months. About Kumo's World Kumo's World is a fantastical place where you control the story. Go on adventures with the other explorers and discover the hidden gems the world of Kumo! Here, you can let your inner child free and just be yourself without judgment. We hold expeditions in our discord that are like text version of RPG, where the story follows the explorers actions. They have set challenges to overcome and with each challenge, they grow stronger as a team. There will be factions where grouped resident classes will compete against each other in World leagues, as well as pets with special powers that can open up different realms for more adventures in unknown parts of world. A new currency kxwCoins will be in circulation post drop. These coins are only available through taking part in the leagues, explorations and community events. Shops will open in the future where the coins can be exchanged for items/pets. Future roadmap includes children story books, merch, collabs with other similar projects, live events and many others to come! Links Kumo x World

In this episode, we welcome Jalil Wahdatehagh, the founder and artist behind the PunkScape NFT project to guide us through the remarkable world of non-fungible tokens. How do we visualize value, what are and why digital identities are important, how NFTs can be used not only for visual art? These are just minor parts of the topics we discussed with Jalil. Of course, we covered the basics (well, they are not so basic after all): NFT minting process and ownership Algorithms and ideas behind NFTs How do NFT treasuries work? How NFT is a form of money? What are the prospects of NFT in the future? Apart from that, we talked about PunkScape, the NFT project Jalil founded and now runs with his team, as well as other projects like the CryptoPunks. If you are new to NFTs, jump over to the 'How to Invest in NFTs' article on my personal blog to learn more about the topic. Links PunkScape on Twitter Jalil on Twitter

In this episode we've met Liza Aizupiete, managing director of Fintelum. Fintelum is a crowdfunding platform, which offers assets tokenization. With Fintelum investors can invest in businesses, who are tokenizing their equity, and then receive dividends. We've talked about how Fintelum works, new ways of investments and why you should make your crypto work. Also, we've touch next topics: how investing in crypto and in traditional currencies differs; why Fintelum is not a stock exchange; what backlashes exist against p2p landing; the essence of token; and many others.

In this episode of Mastermind.fm we've met with Arnab Naskar, co-founder and business lead of STOKR. It's a digital marketplace which allows to invest into new and existing business with no middle man. STOKR is built on blockchain to keep things transparent and secure. Arnab introduced us to the story behind STOKR and how it operates. And we've discussed lots of interesting topics including:  inefficiencies of capital market, equity vs. crowdfunding, hybrid IPOs and Liquid Network of Bitcoin. Also we talked over Blockstream Mining Note, one of the most recent ventures on STOKR.

In this episode we've met Jameson Lopp, CTO and co-founder of Casa. We talked all about Bitcoin security, starting from the basics of managing private keys to how Bitcoin transactions work. It's an essential episode for anyone planning to keep crypto assets in self-custody securely. That's not all, we've discussed more: how bank authentication is different from crypto wallets trusting 3rd parties vs managing your own private keys security vs convenience how multi signature wallets work You can find more information on Bitcoin and crypto security in general here: Casa Casa Blog Jameson Lopp Blog

In this episode we've met with Pavel Klema, the CEO of Bondster. It is a Czech FinTech start-up that offers investments in loans. What is interesting about Bondster is that offer a huge potential for diversification, listing both short and long-term loans from the broad selection of regions. To help us dig deep into the topic we were joined by Andrew Farrugia, blogger, fitness instructor and investor. We've discussed how COVID-19 impacted loans landing companies, investors and the P2P lending market overall. Also, we touched on the loans secured by cryptocurrencies - a new product Bondster is preparing to launch very soon. Links Bondster

In this episode we've met Michael Bereslavsky, CEO and founder of Domain Magnate to discuss all the nuances of buying and selling sites processes. To help us dig deep into the topic we joined by Andrew Farrugia, blogger and fitness instructor who ran into the issues of the content business himself covering fitness and lifestyle topics. Listening to the podcast you will know more about: Things you need to check before buying a website Challenges of the industry How does content businesses' market operates The process of buying a website, its management and returns Apart from that we've talked about newly established Domain Magnate Capital fund, which aims to help investors benefit from such alternative investment as an online content driven business.  

In this episode, we welcome Fernando and Juancho, co-founders of Brickfy. Brickfy can be called a platform of platforms allowing investors to join real estate crowdfunding projects from a single marketplace with no need to register on a variety of platforms. We've discussed how Brickfy operates and their development plans. Apart from that, we touched on the future of real estate crypto tokenization and the frictions behind government and crypto adoption in the real estate loans market. Links Join Brickfy  

In this episode, we interview Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, one of the co-founders of the Canadian crypto borrowing and lending platform Ledn. Mauricio is a very charismatic figure in the crypto space and this was one of the best conversations we've had so far. What we loved about Mauricio is that he has an amazing story that led him to create a product that solved his own problems. We talk about Venezuela, Turkey and other countries that have experienced runaway inflation, and how Bitcoin fixes this. Expect, of course, a deep dive on the Ledn platform, and especially the B2X features which is extremely interesting for those crypto hodlers who are extra bullish on Bitcoin and want to maximise their returns. https://twitter.com/cryptonomista/status/1111430862485114883 Links Ledn Mauricio's Twitter

In this episode, we speak to Jon Gillham about buying and selling websites. Jon is an authority in the space and is involved in various projects such as MotionInvest and Content Minded. He also runs his own site at WebsiteIncome.com. In this podcast, we talk all about the opportunities and pitfalls of buying and selling websites, and what kind of person this investment class is suited for. If you've heard about buying and selling websites for a profit, Amazon affiliate marketing, authority sites etc. and have always wondered how this new asset class works, this is the episode for you. Links WebsiteIncome MotionInvest ContentRefined SiteBuddy Authority Hacker Jon Dykstra - Fat Stacks Blog

In this episode, Jean sits down with Gustas from InRento to discuss this recently launched platform that specializes in rental properties in Lithuania. Gustas is a young but extremely knowledgeable serial entrepreneur who has founded multiple businesses, and its always a pleasure for me to speak with him and discuss the latest trends. You might remember Gustas from his involvement with Evo Estate, a platform that has been doing very well in recent years within the European real estate scene. Gustas in fact remains a shareholder of that company, but is now focusing all his efforts on InRento as he has moved back to Lithuania to build up this platform. If you're looking to learn more about how the rental market works, and what is the risk spectrum for the different ways you can invest in the real estate market, this is the podcast for you. Links InRento

In today's episode, we speak to Shayne Mullen from BlockFi, which is one of the biggest crypto borrowing and lending platforms in the world and has grown tremendously over the past year. BlockFi offers several products in the crypto space: Crypto lending and yield generation Borrowing facilities in USD, with crypto as collateral Crypto trading Credit card with crypto-denominated rewards If you're interested in generating yields on your crypto holdings, this episode is for you. And if you're a long-time hodler, you should probably also look into the possibility of obtaining a loan from BlockFi by using that crypto as collateral. This is a very efficient tax strategy as it avoids you having to sell your cryptos and thus triggering capital gains tax which can be a hefty burden and decimate your holdings. Links BlockFi Jean's review of BlockFi

In today's episode, we bring on Mike Bristow, the CEO and co-founder of CrowdProperty, to talk about crowdfunding for real estate in the UK market. The CrowdProperty platform has been one of the most successful platforms in this space, due to the excellent technology they have built coupled with the many years of experience in the real estate sector of their leadership team and founders. With a background in strategy consultancy advising major corporates and private equity funds on corporate strategy and buyouts, Mike has been investing in property since 2002, investing in high potential proptech businesses since 2014 and sits on the Investment Committee of Pi Labs, Europe’s first and most prolific venture capital fund investing exclusively in early-stage ventures in the proptech vertical. Mike has an MBA from London Business School, was named in the Peer2Peer Finance News Power 50 list in both 2018 and 2019, is a founding board member of the Innovate Finance 36H Group alongside other leading peer-to-peer lending platforms and was named 'Entrepreneur of the Year' at the Midlands Business Awards 2020. After listening to Mike speak about CrowdProperty and the sector in general, I think you'll have a much better understanding of how investing in real estate through online platforms works, and you'll be ready to make your first investment. Links CrowdProperty

In this jam-packed episode, we interview Gregory Klumov from Stasis, the company behind the EURS stablecoin. We talk about what stablecoins are and why they are used. It's hard to come up with a shortlist of all the topics we touched upon in this episode, so just go ahead and listen to this monster episode and I bet you'll have a much better understanding of stablecoins and their impact on the crypto system at the end of the episode. Links Stasis

In this interview, Jean and Joe speak to Mihkel Stamm - COO of EstateGuru, a real estate crowdfunding platform established in 2014, with more than €300m loans given so far. This makes it one of the oldest and most successful platforms in Europe. In this wide-ranging interview, we go into details about how the platform operates as well as general real estate investing trends that Mihkel has been observing over the past years. Links EstateGuru

In today's episode, we interview Allan Martinson from Xolo. Xolo helps people open companies in Estonia and also invoice for their services from Estonia without needing to register a company there, thanks to an innovative solution whereby Xolo is the company invoicing clients. Over 40,000 solopreneurs globally have signed up with Xolo. They are launching either their fully-owned, Estonian-registered companies or using Xolo’s unique partnership-based virtual company model. Xolo manages a third of companies incorporated by Estonia’s e-residents. Links Xolo

In today's episode, we interview Maxime Pallain, the co-founder and CEO of Raizers. Raizers is a real estate crowdfunding platform that currently offers several investment opportunities in France. Raizers' competitors when it started were private banks, family offices etc. Raizers' innovation was in digitizing the way to give loans to entrepreneurs. This platform offers loans to real estate developers, with a maximum 24 months and average of 21 months. There is currently a 0% default rate on Raizers, and there aren't any long-pending projects either. They have financed over 500m in projects. In 2020, they have financed 52 companies with the help of 4 internal analysts (from big four and other important firms in the real estate and finance space, including venture capital funds) and 1 lawyer. This works out at one deal per analyst per month. I'm mentioning this to show that approving projects is not an automatic thing and requires a lot of work. Many proposals are dropped quickly after being received. For example, Raizers will not accept any development project if they don't yet have the permit to build. In the end, only 10-15% are selected and forwarded to investors for consideration. Raizers is very serious about debt collection if the need arises. All mortgages are first rank and there is personal liability as well. Why do borrowers raise money via Raizers? One would say that if you can get a loan at the bank and you come to Raizers there is something strange, since the interest is higher. So that's the first question asked if a client tries to borrow and avoid the banks outright. Speed is typically one of the main reasons for skipping the banks, as the banks take way longer than platforms like Raizers. If everything is going well Raizers can give the money in 1 month, while with banks it would take 3-6 months. If you want to buy a building and you have a tight deadline for getting a great deal, the bank option would not be feasible. Another point is that as a borrower, you can repay the loan before, and you have additional fees like the initial fee and the exit fee at the end. So it might work out cheaper in the end for a borrower to use Raizers. The minimum investment is 1000 euro and you need to pass a suitability test first. Raizers is not trying to find gullible and inexperienced investors and trying to attract them via ridiculously low minimum investments as other platforms do. Raizers does not withhold any taxes for you. You can read more about taxation of P2P lending in my post on the subject. In 2021, we might see Raizers offering the opportunity for investors to invest in the platform itself. This is something that other platforms have done in recent months, and it might be a good investment to consider. We really enjoyed this conversation; Maxime proved to be very knowledgeable and open, and we're impressed with this platform. Links Raizers Jean's full review of Raizers

In today's episode, we speak to Chandan Lodha from Cointracker.io, one of the leading crypto portfolio trackers and tax preparation tools. Cointracker offers two main products: Cryptocurrency portfolio assistance - see all crypto holdings in one place, both hot wallets on exchanges and cold wallets on hardware or paper wallets. The free tier allows unlimited wallets while the premium tier adds tax-loss harvesting strategies, DeFi and further detailed reports. Tax reporting - reconciled ledgers of all their transaction history and reports that can be presented to accountants and tax lawyers for the presentation of your crypto taxes. We talk about the IRS tax form 1040 and taxation issues around the world. If you hold Bitcoin or you're looking to enter the crypto space, this is an essential episode for you, because it's very important to know what happens if you eventually sell the cryptos in the future. Also, with all the exchanges that have proliferated plus the massive DeFi space, it has become more and more difficult to track all your holdings, which is where tools like Cointracker come in. Links Cointracker Chandan's Twitter

In today's episode, we speak with Nikita Goncars, the CEO and co-founder of LendSecured. This is one of the newest lending platforms in Europe, however, it's worth noting that it's an offshoot of an existing lending business that has been operating successfully for several years. The team has considerable experience in Latvia and they want to expand to the rest of Europe, with Germany and Spain being one of the first big markets they are targeting. We spent some time discussing their upcoming focus on agricultural loans, which both Jean and Joe found fascinating. In this episode Nikita also shared his thoughts on why most of the lending platforms are based in the Baltic states. I found that piece of history quite interesting. I would recommend having a look at LendSecured as it might be one of the most innovative players in the space going forward. It's worth mentioning that LendSecured also has skin-in-the-game for every project launched. Links LendSecured

In today's episode, we meet Tomas Medeckis from Nordstreet, where you can invest in business and real estate loans. We talk about why they are based in Lithuania and the pros/cons of that, as well as their great track record with loans so far. We also talk about investing in the Baltic region as well as Nordstreet's plans on expanding beyond the region. This platform has been returning 10-14% for its investors, although according to market fundamentals the expected returns in the next year should be around 10-11%, and Tomas was very open about the fact that returns are ultimately a function of market conditions. Nordstreet has experienced 0 defaults while it has raised €10m so far, mostly from Lithuanian investors. It is open to all investors, however, with the only requirement being that they use a Paysera account for depositing and withdrawing funds. Links Nordstreet

In this episode, Jean sits down with Rob Dix, who is well known for his several projects in the UK real estate space. Together with his wife Mish, he also ran the popular digital nomad blog Making It Anywhere. His journey shares quite a few similarities with Jean's, so it was interesting to discuss several of the topics that interest both of them, including parenting, property and other investments, as well as other life choices. *We apologize for the sound quality in Jean's part of the recording, unfortunately we had a technical problem and had to use the backup audio recording on this episode. Links Rob's Blog The Property Hub Property Geek The Property Podcast

In today's episode, we have Anthony Cerullo from YouHodler joining us to explain how this platform enables crypto hodlers to earn interest on their holdings via the YouHodler savings account, or even obtain crypto-backed loans and even gain big from crypto movements using the Turbocharge and Multi Hodl products. You can check out Jean's review of YouHodler if you'd like more details on the platform, the article is a perfect accompaniment to this podcast episode. If you like the content we're putting out, please consider leaving a 5-star review on iTunes, it helps a ton and encourages us to keep producing quality episodes for you. Links Multi HODL walkthrough video Is YouHodler safe? How crypto savings works Turbocharge Fees and commissions Follow the latest news on YouHodler's Twitter, Blog and Telegram channels

Today's episode features Martins Sulte, the CEO and co-founder of the biggest European P2P lending platform Mintos, as our guest. Lending and alternative lending is not a new industry at all, but many European investors only became aware to this asset class in recent years, also because before there was no real way they could get involved since it required insider knowledge, contacts or big sums of capital. Mintos itself start out with the founders and 4 developers, and it has not grown to over 160 people. It was a pleasure to speak with Martins and have him share some of his widespread knowledge in the P2P lending space. Mintos has been operating for 5 years and is the largest P2P lending marketplace with over 50% market share in Europe. More than 6 billion euros of loans have been facilitated so far and the average investor invests around 3000 euros. The biggest number of investors come from Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic respectively, but this is mostly a reflection of those countries' familiarity with this type of investing. There are more than 340,000 investors that have used Mintos and they come from 90+ countries. More than 60 lending companies offer their loans on the Mintos platform, with over 25,000 people working at these companies and spread over 33 countries, so you can have a global reach when investing on Mintos. The company supports 10 languages via its multilingual support team, while the website is available in 6 languages and there are loans available in 10 currencies. If you're intrigued by this episode, do make sure you check out Jean's extensive review of Mintos on his blog. Links Mintos Review of Mintos AMA about funds in recovery

In this episode, Joseph and Jean interview Chris Roper from MyConstant, a platform that offers crypto-backed lending and borrowing facilities. As an investor, one may use several products available on the MyConstant site to obtain interest on their fiat currencies or stable currencies. On the other hand, you can also act as a borrower, by depositing crypto as collateral and obtaining a loan from MyConstant. The platform focuses a lot on educating investors about crypto-based lending and borrowing, and as such is an ideal platform for those new to this type of investing. Links Jean's review of MyConstant

In today's episode, Jean sits down with Chris Osborne from KintuLabs. Chris is one of the first digital nomads and has been living this lifestyle for 15 years already. He is also a serial entrepreneur with multiple online businesses built and sold. His latest project involves building 15 newsletters in different niches and then selling them. We talk about work and travel, homeschooling, building newsletter businesses, and Chris' favorite locations around the world for spending a few months a year in. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who is location-independent or has aspirations to become a digital nomad and wants to learn about how you can make it all work, even with family in tow. Links Chris on Twitter Chris' course on building successful newsletters

In this episode, we interview Hassan Daher from Qardus. Qardus is a sharia-compliant lender to small and medium-sized enterprises to help with their cashflow needs. They provide short-term halal business loans, or halal business investments. As an investor, you provide the capital to lend to the business, and get paid as the business pays that money back. The kinds of businesses Qardus go for are well-established, strong-revenue companies, typically in stable markets such as the medical or pharmaceutical industry. There is an emphasis on the people behind the businesses as well, so they focus on high net worth owners to minimise risk. For a company to be accepted on Qardus, it must have at least 3 years of good performance, being profitable in at least 2 of those 3 years. It is thus not an ideal platform for new and speculative projects. We enjoyed talking to Hassan about the nitty-gritty of Islamic finance and how Qardus can be a diversification piece in any investor's portfolio. Check out Jean's full review of Qardus over on his blog if you want to read more about this platform.

In this episode, Joe and Jean meet Frank Steffen, the CEO and co-founder of Lendary.net. We discuss the Lendary platform, which consists of a system to optimize the yield on lending to traders on the Bitfinex platform. We go into the nitty-gritty of how this type of high yield lending works, including the risks involved. I liken their system to that of a crypto trading bot, but applied to lending instead. You can choose from various strategies that have different risk/reward numbers. Results over the past year have been pretty spectacular, and this could be a very interesting way for people to get exposure to the crypto space without actually trading cryptos themselves. I think that people who are used to P2P lending, in particular, will find this platform interesting, as the returns are even higher than those found on P2P lending, while the risks are arguably less, since loans are typically over-collateralized. Links Lendary.net

In this episode, I speak to Johannes Larsson, a Swedish entrepreneur who I met for the first time in Malta around a decade ago. He began his entrepreneurial journey at quite a young age and moved from his native Sweden to Malta to be around other entrepreneurs and have a better lifestyle. Eventually, he moved to Cyprus, another Southern European country that is similar to Malta but also offers some interesting tax advantages, which we talk about it in the show. We talk about the divided between northern and southern European culture and why high taxation does not always equal better public services. On the other hand, southern Europe has a more laidback lifestyle that usually leads to more bureaucracy and delays, and we talk about how one can adapt to this different way of living and thinking. It was great to catch up with Johannes and I think he is a great inspiration for Millenials and younger kids who dream of having their own business and being location independent. Links Blog of Johannes Financer.com

In today's interview, we take a look at another real estate investment platform from the Baltics: Bulkestate. Joe and Jean chat with founder Igor Puntuss about the reasons for starting this platform and how investments work. We delve into the case for investing in Latvia as well as Bulkestate's unique group buying feature, where investors can buy apartments instead of just invest in crowdfunding campaigns. Links Jean's Bulkestate review Bulkestate website

Real estate is one of the most popular types of investment worldwide, and is deemed a secure long-term investment. In today's episode, we learn how Estonian platform Crowdestate is making this asset class accessible to the smaller investor, and the challenges they have faced over the years. We speak with CEO And founder Loit Linnupold, who I feel is one of the few honest characters in this "wild west" space of online investment platforms. He doesn't hold back on sharing his experience on how things started off and how much investment he needed to make in order to build this platform. He also shares what mistakes they made over the years, including that of diversifying into working capital loans, which are notoriously hard to manage and assess reliably. As an investor, I too have suffered from this misstep, as I have a few non-performing working capital loans, however, overall I am still making a profit, and on a long-term perspective things are looking good. If you're looking for a real estate platform where you can invest across several geographical areas as well as different risk levels, Crowdestate should be one of your first choices. As I always say, one of the most important steps in conducting your due diligence is to get to know the people behind a platform, and I hope that this episode will help you to get to know the founder Loit in a better way, then make your own decision on whether you want to invest. Links Crowdestate Crowdestate review

In today's interview, we talk to Jan Nieuwenhuijs from Voima. Jan has been a very vocal researcher in the gold space for many years. We take different angles on the gold topic and discuss the main reasons for holding hold and the different ways you can do it. One of my biggest takeaways from this episode is that gold is not an investment per-se, but a protection against the loss in value of conventional assets like fiat currencies. To put a simple example, if you have saved €25,000 now and that's what a new car costs at the moment, you need to know that in 10 years' time that same money will not be able to buy you a new car, as it would cost €35,000 or more then. This means that your fiat currency has been devalued through the effects of inflation. On the other hand, if you convert that €25,000 to gold, you have a good chance that in 10 years' time if you take the gold and convert it back to currency, the car will have an equivalent cost in ounces of gold, which means that you have been able to store your value successfully. Voima Gold Jan on Twitter Jean's article on gold investing

In today's episode, Jean and Joe meet Cormac Leech from AxiaFunder to discuss how investors can make money from litigation cases. This is a really new asset class with the biggest advantage being that it has very little correlation with other asset classes. We discuss the legality and ethical background behind litigation funding (it is still illegal in some European nations) and the future for this asset class, as well as how investing works in practice. This includes what returns we can expect, duration of litigation cases as well as the biggest risks investors face. This was a thoroughly enjoyable chat for us and we learned a lot from Cormac. We came out of the interview very excited about delving deeper into litigation funding and with the intention to put some money to work in this asset class. Links AxiaFunder AxiaFunder review

In this episode, Jean and Joe speak to Jose Maria Pascual from Brickstarter, a vacation rental property platform based in Estonia. By registering as an investor on this platform, you are able to invest in vacation rental properties (currently only in Spain) and benefit when they are rented out. This was an interesting and eye-opening chat with Jose, who was very open and honest about how the platform operates, the challenges faced by this asset class during these months, and their plans for the near future. I base a lot of trust on the team when evaluating platforms, and Jose made an excellent impression on me. I encourage you to check out the full review of Brickstarter and consider this investment as part of a diversified portfolio with several asset classes. Links Brickstarter

Today's guests are Oleg Giberstein and Gabriele Musella, the co-founders of Coinrule.io, a platform that empowers crypto traders to compete with professional algorithmic traders and hedge funds with no coding skills required. I find the entire field of crypto assets incredibly fascinating as it really is one deep rabbit hole. One of the aspects that has captured the imagination of millions worldwide is crypto trading. We've all seen stories of young people who found incredible riches through trading cryptocurrencies, although there undoubtedly are many (less publicized) failures too. Trading can be a brutal job though, requiring long hours of looking at screens and usually inflicting a significant emotional toll. I was looking into how things can be simplified and structured when I came across Coinrule. In today’s world, more than half of cryptocurrency trading volume is driven by complex trading bots. Yet, 75% of all hobbyist traders cannot write a single line of code. Coinrule empowers regular traders to compete with professional algorithmic traders and Hedge funds: a smart assistant to build automated rules for crypto exchanges without having to code. Coinrule have just closed their second round of funding, and they are conducting all the legal aspects of the funding through Seedlegals, which is another interesting project to look into if you're interested in startup investing. In this episode, we explore how beginners can start trading with the help of Coinrule. Some topics discussed: The different types of traders A few popular trading strategies How to manage risk while trading Connecting exchanges Complementary tools for traders Coinrule is still a relatively new project, but the team has great plans for the future, including AI assistance while trading and several interesting integrations with DeFi projects. For example, you might be able to create a strategy whereby your crypto would be used for staking when the crypto asset you're trading is in a sideways period, and then switch back to trading when the price action picks up. With the growth of DeFi and AI there will be infinite possibilities for such services to help traders create ever more interesting strategies. I finished off the episode asking Oleg and Gabriele what Fintech projects and areas they are most excited about, given that they are based in London, which is a hotbed for financial innovation in Europe. Links Coinrule's website Seedlegals

In today's episode I sit down with fellow Maltese entrepreneur Philip Camilleri, who recently made his exit from Smartasset.com, a company he co-founded in 2010 and through which he achieved tremendous success in the United States over the past 10 years. He is now hard at work on his new project Founderslist.com. We discuss the differences in the fintech spaces of Europe and the United States, his journey with Smartasset.com, why he decided to create Founderslist and what are the problems that founders still face and that he is trying to help with. With Malta being such a small country, it's not common to come across such highly successful entrepreneurs as Philip, so his journey should serve as an inspiration to all those who come from small countries and regions that are far from the epicenter of startups and investors. Links Smartasset.com Founderslist.com Philip on Linkedin