SQUEEZE- the new Interview Series

In the second edition of SQUEEZE I have interviewed Pharesim (aka Michael), German Steemit Whale, Steemit Witness and Programmer.  

Everybody please have a look at the Steem Smart Podcast feat. Pharesim too! 

@knozaki2015 will interview CEOs, Lawyers, Steemit Whales, Activists, Entrepreneurs, VCs, Models and many more.  

#1 What is your personal background? Where are you from and what are you doing for a living?

I was born and still live in Germany to this day. After school I started moving around the country and tried different forms of alternative living in several communities. The human factor always put me off, and when I realized that the utopia I was looking for doesn't exist I settled in the north.

My dad introduced me to computers with a 8 MHz 286 at the age of 10, since then I'm into automation of repetitive tasks. I saw a couple of universities from the inside, but as a more practical person I always preferred to learn on the go. The boring day job I spent the last couple of years in is due to end soon, and I'm very happy that I'll be able to focus on steem and pevo even more soon.

#2 How and when did you find out about Cyptocurrency?

I was introduced to Bitcoin by Silkroad, when it was about 4$, 2011 or so. I was interested in alternative currencies before (there are several local currency projects in Germany), so I was watching it closely. When the 2013 pump started I was hooked completely, and most of my life evolves around this awesome new technology since then. Didn't take long until I stumbled over Dan and the Protoshares project, where I was one of the first miners. I didn't like where that community was going after release, but even though I dropped out of it I always kept an eye on what Dan was doing. I got involved in a couple of other projects since then, always trying to make the tech useful and usable.

#3 Recently the rumors of potential manipulation of Bitcoin through governments were published. Do you think there is a real threat?

For individuals in oppressive countries the threat is very real. But I don't see the technology itself endangered as long as the big govs don't cooperate, and I wouldn't expect them to do that anytime soon.

#4 Whats your opinion on government trying to regulate Cyrptocurrencies

Leave us alone 🙂

#5 Are you pro/con governments, what is your political view?

If I had to define it I'd say I'm an anarchist without further labels. In the world I dream of nobody would govern over others, and society would be based on voluntarism.

#6 How did you became a Steemit whale? (Did you invest your own money to buy Steem?)

My friend fuzzy asked me if I could mine for him, and after reading the Whitepaper I agreed to do it for a share, and started up some miners on my own. There wasn't a market to buy/sell them at that point, but we spent some money for the servers to mine.

#7 Would you advice people to put their lifesaving into Steem as the price has tanked about 40%?

Never put your life savings in a single asset.

Steem is a risky investment, there's nothing it could be compared to. The upside potential is enormous, but it could also fail completely.

#8 What is your activity on Steemit and around the Steem blockchain and which content do you like to vote??

Most of my days are spent talking to different people from the community, going through their ideas or helping out with questions. I curate actively, trying to support undervalued posts and foreign communities. As a software developer I'm always working on some tools or similar.

My main project is #pevo, which will be a platform for scientific publishing and open evaluation on Steem.

#9 You are supporting several languages on Steemit.com (DE, ES, RU, CN), do you think other whales should do the same?

I believe that international communities are great to have, so I support them. Everyone should vote to their preferences, that's the best way to keep Steemit diverse.

#10 Are there any changes you would like to see on Steemit?

Many, but none are essential in the short term 🙂 I'm very happy with the overall progress, and I know how hard the dev team is working on bringing us even more features. 

Thank you very much @pharesim for our interview!

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I am blogging about the following topics :

• I travel the world (Travel and Restaurant Blog)
• Exposed (Uncovering Stories you need to know)
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• Hidden Gems (German Version)
• SQUEEZE (Interview Series)