Jamil Hasan is Founder and President of Minerva Data Advisors, LLC, a service-based Data Advisory company. Jamil is an author, Blockchain educator, business coach, and token advisor.
Jamil has over 20 years of experience in a variety of roles: Technology Management, Operations, Business Analysis, Financial Planning and Analysis, Data Analysis and Governance, and Business Strategy at Fortune 100 companies including 11 years at AIG. He has spent substantial time facilitating and developing business solutions as liaison between system engineers and front office and C-suite executives. Jamil holds a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Tech and a Masters of Science in Finance from Drexel University. He holds a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Villanova University and is a Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor with the Alliance of Mergers and Acquisitions Advisors.
Have you ever suffered from scams in your life?
The very first scam that I was victim to was about 18 years ago. I was in Newark, walking to the train. I was headed home in after a hard days’ work at my accounting job at the time. I was approached by a man who appeared upset and lost and said he needed money to get on a train back to Boston. I felt something was not right but wanted to help, so after a few minutes being conflicted I went to the ATM machine. I withdrew $100, handed it to this man, and watched him literally walk down the corridor. Instead of buying a train ticket, he handed a man the $100, who in turn handed him a small bag of white powder, then he took off running.
After experiencing the feeling of being duped, lied to, stolen from, and embarrassed, I paid a point of never being taken advantage of again. I would never allow myself to “get got”.
For years that slogan worked, until I entered into crypto. I’ve had organizations use my name on their advisory council to give themselves credibility; illegal organizations take my identity and post it on their scam project without my permission or knowledge; people not honor their contracts; and scam ICOs list me as an advisor without listing their core team.
While some losers in the industry do exist and some have found me, I have learned how to do background checks and due diligence in the space. Blockchain technology is too great an invention to be deterred by a few bad apples.
What inspired you to team up with CryptoPolice?
I don’t look at Crypto and Blockchain as just a fun, cool thing to do. I believe the Blockchain is a game changing technology, along the lines of the invention of the airplane or movable type for printing presses, possibly even electricity. What the technology represents from a humanitarian view is too important to have some bad seeds bring it down.
I started watching the videos of the CryptoPolice . I was intrigued by the intelligence and passion of its CCO. I felt the urgent need to help them be successful. I figured I have read close to 1000 white papers and analyzed what the best in class ethical projects were doing right and what those who failed in the first year were doing wrong.
I also got to experience the impact of a scam on a personal basis. A young man in Vietnam contributed to an ICO in presale recently. He didn’t know he couldn’t send Ether directly from an exchange to an ERC20 token project. The project site did not specify how to send the Ether. That young man reached out to me that his money for help because his transaction never hit his wallet. An amount of .1 ETH may not seem like much to some, but to him he cried it hurt so bad because that’s about 1 million Vietnamese Dong, a lot of money.
When I was able to feel that same personal pain that man experienced and then realize CryptoPolice could clean up the scams and provide direction to token companies on what ethical things to include in their communication, I realized CryptoPolice could make a real difference for people.
The CryptoPolice team is committed to integrity and ethics, ensuring viable businesses, and raising awareness in diligence. What they are doing in setting the tone for best practices is inspirational.
What is the role of community in the fight against scams and fraud?
Even after reading nearly a thousand white papers, and quickly being able to recognize clear scams, I still sometimes miss things and make a mistake. Scammers are getting more and more creative by omitting certain key information, like their real management team, or funding parent, or actual logo. While I can usually pick up on these things, due diligence is still very subjective and new things fall through the cracks at times.
It’s very important to have another set of eyes to look at projects to ensure they make sense, not just from a scam perspective but from a viability viewpoint. The best platforms sometimes have the worst positioning. It really takes peer review and community involvement to achieve a successful project.
The harshest reviews of projects to assess scams have been passion based. Most of the times that’s because a community member or someone who cares deeply about a cause acknowledges that someone is in that space doing it wrong or acting either illegally or unethically.
The best projects are where the community strongly backs a very important cause.
The CryptoPolice algorithm helps the community align on the purpose and goals. Technically the algorithm enables any user to send a request to the CryptoPolice. The community gets to provide their opinions and verdicts on any issues that are then validated by other members in the community. At the end of the day, a single objective verdict that has been completely approved by the community is issued.
My relationship coach speaks to me quite often about integrity being twofold. First it’s being on time, keeping my word, being functionally in integrity. It’s also, more importantly, about holding a powerful context no matter what. When I’m making others wrong, there is no integrity. When, instead of making people wrong, I come from a place of love and contribution I am hence living in integrity. Allowing community involvement and validation on the CryptoPolice platform enables communities to participate in causes they care deeply about.
What are your thoughts on the future of online security and evolution of scams?
I have witnessed how my money can vanish from my wallet in just couple of seconds and realized that rapid advancements in security must be applied to Cryptocurrency wallets, if the crypto movement ever wishes to be sustainable. Coupled with the creative ways that scammers remain relevant, online security has a profitable future ahead.
What I think is totally unique about the CryptoPolice is that it’s really the first of its kind to improve safety and security tools to fight against cyber attacks and scams. The platform engages the community to seek out unethical and illegal activity to minimize potential damage based on a decentralized algorithm. It consists of a public archive and a unique Watchdog system. CryptoPolice offers its own escrow contracts to ensure equal owner and investor rights while motivating the community to participate.
As scams evolve, we all need to increase our education and training. What CryptoPolice Academy does well is it not only educates its’ officers but also its users by providing them with training opportunities using high-quality informative materials focused on continuous improvement.
How do you evaluate the readiness of CryptoPolice team?
I hold a Masters degree in Finance, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor, several Big Data badges, among my designations. I have over 20 years of corporate experience in technology, operations, and finance.
I have many talents, but, I enjoy being an author the most. With that I can write books, do market positioning articles, and write movie scripts. And I can actually enjoy what I do.
It’s never the person who is most qualified who is the right person for the role. The person most ready is the one with the strongest desire, and who backs that desire by faith.
From what I see CEO Arturs Rasnacis has built a team that is fueled by passion and cares deeply about the mission of this organization. Sure the platform solves problems, engages the community and offers rewards. But most importantly the people in the team want to make a difference for those projects that are legitimate and viable so that their communities have a voice in the world. And that makes all the difference.
How visionary is CryptoPolice project in your opinion?
The CryptoPolice project is one of a kind. Cryptocurrency was born out of the world of mistrust of banks and financial institutions. It was designed as a way to decentralize trust and give power to the people. Some entrepreneurs build their projects based on this decentralized layer of trust; while others take advantage of the situation and deceive their communities.
Up until now it has been a guessing game of what projects are legitimate. Scam artists have gotten more clever to fraud investors. What was designed as a secure environment has become the most insecure.
The CryptoPolice project creates an objective way to look at each project that takes emotion and passion out of the decision making process. I have projects that I have advised that I wanted to do well. As a result I had a harder time acknowledging they were a fraud because I wanted them to be successful. While I was tempted to look the other way, I didn’t, but my decision process was tougher as I really wanted to think with my heart.
Making emotional decisions may cost potential investors millions of dollars and their life savings. It’s not what is right and just. CryptoPolice has created a fully objective platform and model that is designed to achieve fairness and security. The first generation platform may not be 100% precise, but it is a tremendous achievement. It’s a great first step to cleaning things up in the neighbourhood.