Meet Zubair Bukhari, a blockchain and crypto enthusiast managing Content & PR for Kinesis. One of the first through the door, in what was at the time, newly-established London offices, Zubair joined Kinesis as it began to secure its foothold in the UK crypto sphere.
In this Q&A, the crypto-centric Londoner reveals what it’s like to be involved in a fast-paced industry still operating in largely uncharted waters and what it takes to market an alternative monetary system destined on changing the way we transact.
Q: What do you do on a typical day at Kinesis?
A: First things first, I inspect the crypto markets to see what overnight developments occurred on the other side of the world.
I scan CoinMarketCap to asses the changes across the board, which helps me to identify market trends. I also read industry reports as well as the news, so I’m aware of global, political and legal factors which may need to be considered.
On a daily basis, I’m able to identify new use cases for Kinesis currencies across multiple geographical locations, whether it’s offering a stable currency for areas dealing with high levels of inflation or perhaps countries suffering from political uncertainty and unrest.
Crypto never sleeps
Due to the nature of the industry, regular working hours don’t apply! Crypto never sleeps — when one side of the world goes down following a long day of trading, the other side wakes up, picking-up where their fellow investors left off and this process is continued.
Keeping on top of international time zones is key when managing cross-continental relationships. For navigating a multinational this comes with the territory. Having to ensure effective communication with all the agencies we are working with, whether it’s publishing press releases through to US news outlets to negotiating with industry-leading influencers or even maintaining open communication with all other Kinesis offices around the world.
We get a lot of interest from influencers, exchange platforms, PR and marketing agencies as well as ICO listing sites from all over the world — we get hundreds of emails daily requesting us to engage with them. I scrutinise much of these propositions intensely; to identify which opportunities should be pursued, ensuring value will be added for both parties.
Following this, we do a run-through with the whole team to discuss strategy, delegate tasks to the respective departments and identify which projects are pending resources. This could include anything from content needed for website development, SEO, banner ads, social posts, video script review, language translations and to name a few.
Great places to eat
We have a plethora of great places to eat in central London, where the Kinesis office is. I normally take a walk down Moorgate or London Wall and choose anything from pasta at Coco Di Mama, to curry and rice from an independent local favourite, or a Vietnamese bento box. My personal favourite has to be sushi from one of the multiple Japanese restaurants scattered around the heart of the City.
By the afternoon, I begin overseeing various agencies and partnerships we’re collaborating with. This includes managing the relations with MLG, our experienced blockchain consultant firm and Flame, our award-winning London-based PR and digital marketing agency, who specialize in technology & finance. Time is also allocated to nurturing new partners, such as RenGen Labs, and Etheralabs, to ensure they are well directed and have all the resources they need.
Reaching out
We’re always on the lookout for new opportunities to grow the reach of Kinesis. For me, that could take the form of drafting fresh press releases, articles or even doing detailed competitive analyses on competitors in the crypto sphere. It is then my duty to ensure the information is effectively conveyed and conferred via our PR agency, our social media manager or directly reaching out to various tier 1 and 2 news outlets personally.
By end of day, I make my way back home to Richmond via the London Underground. The first thing I do is make dinner, or perhaps order something on Deliveroo if it’s been a long day, in between checking in on the crypto markets — as I say, both crypto and Kinesis never sleep! I’ll then unwind with some television, check out what’s trending on Netflix, and get stuck in.
Following this, I’ll catch up on international news and scroll through various social platforms to see what’s going on around the world. Finally, I check on my own portfolio and decide my next days trades depending on the movement of the markets.
Q: Which crypto news sources are your favourite places to visit for industry info?
A: CoinDesk and Cointelegraph are two of the most prominent sources for news in the crypto industry. In addition to this, I participate actively in a number of prominent Telegram groups with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of influential and highly-engaged, blockchain enthusiasts liaising about the newest ICO projects and relevant updates in the industry.
Q: What kind of impact do you think blockchain would have made in the next five years’ time?
A: Right now there are a lot of blockchain-based projects all trying to fill the void for how to best utilise the technology. I’ve seen hundreds of projects out there which have huge holes in their project regarding scalability, lack of team experience, real-world usability and generally a project which has no clear goal or roadmap to success.
It seems as though there seems to be a trend of ICOs taking an already-established business model, introducing blockchain technology and introducing a public sale to selling tokens which have little, to no, intrinsic value. They somehow are able to raise funds with a ‘develop as we go’ mindset. With Kinesis, all infrastructure is already fully developed, tested and audited ready for global adoption.
Survivors
In my view, over the next five years, we will have the survivors of this fierce race with those who were able to create projects with real-world usability, left flying the blockchain flag.
Blockchain adoption is imminent, regardless of your understanding of the technology. It’s like the Internet — eventually, we’ll all be involved with it, one way or another.
Many banks have already begun adopting blockchain technology for ledgers right now to keep track of their transactions. Huge multinationals have started to lay the foundation for brand new, state of the art, blockchain-dedicated divisions whose sole purpose is to analyze the multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency industry which has begun taking shape.
Q: What’s the most exciting thing about working for a company like Kinesis, in the middle of a successful ICO?
A: It is essentially working for a start-up with a lot of funding and a team full of experienced individuals who are highly capable of with institutional financial backgrounds. It’s a fast-paced industry with large amounts of tier 1 mainstream and crypto press being delivered. There’s a high degree of creative freedom in regards to which agencies we approach and what strategic angels we would like to pursue. We’ve been asked to feature high profile channels as a result of being covered by top media heavyweights around the world including influential YouTubers.
My favourite part about being involved with Kinesis is how, with what we’re building, are able to find solutions to real-world problems which I, first hand, have been inconvenienced by. These include dealing with international trade fees when transferring money overseas and having a lack of ability for movement of large quantities of precious metals, again, across borders with ease.
For more information on precious metals-based crypto Kinesis, tipped by financial commentators to be “the biggest ICO in history”, as well as our whitepaper, blueprint and other downloads, visit our website: https://kinesis.money/en