Bounties Network Community Profile: Adrian Pirela – Simona Pop
Borderless blockchain: opportunity without discrimination
“Sometimes we just get six hours in a day, sometimes we don’t get anything, but if we’re “lucky” we get our regular schedule of six hours with electricity / six hours without.”
Let’s get to know you — tell us a little bit about yourself, Adrian.
My name is Adrian Pirela, I was born in Maracaibo, a very warm city in Zulia, Venezuela. I’m a former electronic engineer and I graduated from the University Rafael Belloso Chacin (URBE). In spite of my degree, I decided to learn web development by myself, since I found a profound passion for programming.
As many people reading this will know, Venezuela is currently suffering a terrible crisis on many different levels. In my opinion this is mainly due to negligence and corruption. I won’t dive deeply into every single problem, because there are many, but I’ll say that this situation has left many young Venezuelans without a future — it’s the main cause of the massive exodus we are seeing.
A pressing problem for me right now are the power cuts. Even putting the answers together for this interview was tough. In my neighborhood, there’s a rationing schedule and it should run like this: six hours with electricity / six hours without. But lately this has not been the case, sometimes we just get six hours per day, sometimes we don’t get anything, but if we’re “lucky” we get our regular schedule of 6 x 6.
In spite of this, I have hope. I’m sure that one day Venezuela will rise again.
What interests you about blockchain and why?
My main interest in blockchain is its capability of facilitating open financial systems that anyone can be part of without discrimination.
It’s important that these kinds of systems allow the development of projects like Bounties Network and Gitcoin where people can get alternative means of income in crypto by fulfilling certain tasks.
The fact that you can fulfill tasks for a lot of different things really helps maintain that flow of income too.
How would you define blockchain in simple terms so anyone could understand it?
A highly secure and immutable database, where everything gets recorded in a verifiable manner, including all cryptocurrency transactions and relevant metadata associated with them.
How did you find the Bounties Network and how are you using bounties?
If my memory serves me right, I found the Bounties Network through a Coindesk tweet that was pointing to an article where a group of women were learning to code and earning income from this platform.
The way I use the network is by keeping and eye on new bounties posted everyday. If I feel like I can fulfill one of them or just get involved in it, I simply do it.
The Bounties Network has made a big difference in my life as I have been able to make some savings in crypto and also learn about Ethereum and the way it works.
Concepts like gas, smart contracts, tokens and even the use of web3 wallets like MetaMask started for me with fulfilling bounties and getting my questions answered by the Bounties community.
Do you have any ideas on how bounties (or blockchain in general) could be applied to help more people? Perhaps in Venezuela?
I think that bounties are a great way of helping people by incentivizing positive action like cleaning up the oceans or planting trees and rewarding participants in crypto. It’s worth noting that the Bounties Network is jumping way ahead other apps by making the platform multi-lingual and broadening the access to more people around the world.
I actually worked on the translation for the Spanish version which I think is a huge milestone, especially for users in Latin-America. Creating bounties entirely in Spanish, that can be easily fulfilled, could give a lot of people access to a new way of earning.
What would you like to work on or get involved with most?
I definitely want to work as a front-end/React developer, since it’s the current stack I’ve been learning and dedicating most of my time to. React is just awesome! For now I need to find some economical stability to continue my progress in this wonderful career, so I’m hoping to be able to find a front-end job in the near future.
The kind of projects that I would like to get involved with are mostly around fintech and apps inside the Ethereum ecosystem. One thing that I would like to create —or contribute to if it already exists — is a proof of concept for decentralized web hosting. A lot of dapps use smart contracts but their implementation and hosting are build on top of regular web2 services that are susceptible to discriminatory regulations for certain countries.
For instance, I was happily using Kyber Network when suddenly, it was no longer available in my country due to regulations. Just like that, access was denied. Yes, there are ways around this issue, but I don’t think that’s the point here.
Anything else you want to add for everyone reading?
What is happening today in the blockchain space is very exciting, and I’m happy to be on this journey and see how bright and helpful for humankind blockchain based technologies are going to be in the future. I especially think Ethereum is the most powerful and meaningful project to date and it’s important to mention that I’m not just going to watch Ethereum grow, but I’m planning to educate myself and find ways to contribute to that growth!
And for anyone thinking about trying web3, I’ll say what a good friend mine on Bounties always says: Get Involved ?
Published at Tue, 06 Aug 2019 10:50:59 +0000
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