Laura Inamedinova is the founder of a communications business, LKI Consulting, and is a keen proponent of blockchain technology, who also enjoys writing about it.

She describes the current cryptocurrency market as “like a gold rush” and with ICO and tokens it was “more about just getting rich”.

She believes blockchain technology “will bring consumers to companies,” making it less niche.

Bad credibility

The turbulence surrounding cryptocurrency, will “die down and the technology will take the lead,” she says. “There’s been a lot of bad credibility over the years with scams and ICO tokens.”

She points out that around 99% of start-ups fail and its not different to issues with ICO tokens. “Everyone is going to security tokens now.”

Inamedinova describes the current winter-like conditions in the space with “most of the companies in hibernation mode when it comes to activity like raising funds. It is hard to attract investors,” she adds.

“It’s just everyone is waiting for the Bitcoin prices to go up and for the better days.”

Her company helps with communications and PR ensuring they reach a wider audience.

Legitimate

“The technology’s still a niche thing,” she admits. “There are a lot of buzzwords around. The challenge I have to ensure the companies I work with are legitimate and bring value to the end user. I do a lot of due diligence to ensure this.”

After studying physics at university, she thought she would go into engineering or software development, but had a change of heart.

“I had a hard time just sitting in labs coding and doing research. It was not for me,” she explains.

“I was still interested to be near it and that is why I decided to do something like I do now in PR and communications.”

Gender divide

She acknowledges there’s a clear gender divide in blockchain and says most of her clients are male.

It’s something, though, that she says she has not particularly noticed. “Yes, there are less ladies in the room at a conference, but I’ve never encountered any problems pursuing this career because of my gender. We have open doors.”

There is a need to “try to educate younger girls, their parents and teachers” to the opportunities that blockchain technology to those who are interested in pursuing a career in this field.

“It’s a really welcoming industry,” she says. “It is very supportive and it’s important to get involved at an early age rather than focusing on it after university.”

She continues: “What I would say to anyone who feels it is right and is curious about technology, then pursue a career in it. But I would not just go for it because it is good money and prospects.”

She was doing regular tech communications and PR for start-ups when she was approached by an ICO firm about three years ago. She saw the opportunity and got involved in the space.

What she says she has learned is that “in this industry, connections really matter. Before that, I just thought if you had a product and it was really good then people would naturally want to cover it.”

But what she has found is that you need “the right people” backing the product to “help push it. It’s all about networking.”

Although there’s been a slight decline in numbers at ICO and cryptocurrency conferences recently, she says there’s been an increase in the technology conferences about new applications.

She believes once the gold rush around cryptocurrencies dies down the blockchain technology will endure.

Change the world

“I believe in the technology itself and that it can change the world for the better,” she adds. “As cheesy as that sounds.”

“There are always going to be bad people out there trying to make an extra buck.”

There needs to be some regulation in the space around fundraising as investors need to have that information when they are making decision and she is pro-regulation in this area.

“Bitcoin needs to be self-governed and I would not be very happy if governments interfered. The whole point is it is a decentralised space not controlled by banks and people hold the power.”

She is on Twitter, but says the Crypto Twitter space can be populated by people with “too much free time on their hands. It does not bring any value.”

“I would advise Coin Rivet’s readers to have common sense about every activity with anything related to cryptocurrency.

“There’s so much fake news and scams out there and people trying to create their own truths. People tend to forget that.”