Michael Creadon: «It’s a tough period and only the best projects will survive»

Michael Creadon is known in the world of financial market as a professional, whose brings a wealth of knowledge and trading industry insights. Two decades he was a CEO of Traditum, a trading firm based in Chicago.

And it says a lot that his experience goes beyond the one area: worked as a journalist at Bloomberg, TIME Magazine and Voice of America Radio as well as serving in the United States Peace Corps in Namibia. Today Michael is CEO at 4Rev, a global crypto research blog.

Also today Michael is a new team member of Membrana blockchain platform! We would like to welcome him to our team and ask him a few questions.

You have the global experience in journalism. Why have you changed your focus to financial market? Why do you research the cryptocurrency today?

I am a former bond trader for 20 years at Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Before that, I was a reporter at Bloomberg and Time. When I left trading in 2017, I quickly became enamored with cryptos. But I was surprised at how lacking the media coverage was. The banks won’t talk about cryptos and the mainstream media barely covers it, either. So I launched a website and began writing posts on LinkedIn. I enjoy writing. I don’t charge for my website and I don’t have sponsored ads, either. So I can write whatever I want. I make a point of disclosing all my paid clients, and in fact, I am Chief Bussines Developer Officer at Membrana. I feel lucky to be on this team. I like very much what they are doing.

Told us about 4Rev, please. That is the main mission of this project?

4Rev is a website that has articles about blockchain and cryptos. We also have crypto quotes and allow writers to use our platform to publish their work on the blockchain. It’s been a fun experience but to be honest, most of my time is spent on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn platform is truly unbelievable. It’s been pretty humbling and very flattering the response I get to my writing. People don’t always agree with me, which is fine of course, but the typical responses are very civil. I am kind of shocked at how big of an audience I am reaching, and especially where these people work. My posts are most commonly read by employees at Goldman Sachs, Citadel, JP Morgan, Deloitte, Amazon, Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley, IBM, and so on. To me, it just demonstrates the fact that there is a lack of quality content online. I take my responsibility as a modern day journalist of sorts very seriously and try to be objective at all times, including disclosures. In fact, I don’t use my platform to promote projects I am working on in an explicit manner. That feels disingenuous to me.

What does the future hold for crypto market and ICO projects? What mechanisms work for the success of projects today?

2018 has been a tough year for cryptos and BTC. Alt-coins, too. The price destruction in BTC has crippled investment in this area. A series of high-profile scams and deep selloffs in major coins like XLM, BCH, and LTC have dented confidence further. I am a long-term bull on the industry but the period we are in is like the period after Lehman Brothers. I have no idea how long the market will remain this difficult. And remember, we don’t have central banks on the sidelines waiting to bail us out, either. It’s a tough period and only the best projects will survive. CEOs of ICO projects need to be resourceful and creative in order to keep their companies alive. I see a trend now of projects collaborating on investments, sharing employee talent and costs, etc. Steps like these are imperative if you want to stay in the game.

What do you think about trust management of digital assets? What is your prediction of the relevance of this area?

We live in the “Sharing Economy”. The biggest transportation company in the world doesn’t own any cars (Uber); the biggest hotelier in the world doesn’t own any hotels (AirBnB). The Membrana platform will unite investors and portfolio managers in a frictionless, trustless environment. It’s a great concept. Like any business, the challenge will be to get ‘buy-in’ from clients. Someday this will be the future of trust management, but it’s hard to predict when adoption will take place. I think a lot of financial advisors will lose their jobs in coming years as savvy investors realize they can cut out the middleman. This new model won’t be the solution everyone needs or is seeking, of course, but I do believe over time more investors will want full control of their investment decisions without an intermediary. This is still a new concept, however, and it won’t happen overnight.

We are so honored to cooperate with you, Michael! Why did you choose the Membrana blockchain platform?

I chose to work with Membrana because I love trading and I see value in what they are doing. I want to also say what an incredible honor and joy it has been to work on this project with such wonderful Russian counterparts. I have never visited Russia or done business directly with Russians, and I have to say I am utterly impressed with the entire teams’ professionalism and ingenuity. I look forward to a day when business relations are renewed between our two great countries and I very much look forward to visiting you all in Russia soon.

Thank you, Michael!

Welcome to Membrana team!