Driving Blockchain Development in the XRPL Community with Abner Pinto

Hello RippleX community! My name is Abner Pinto, and Im thrilled to introduce myself as the new RippleX Tech Community Liaison.

A Bit About Me

My personal interest in crypto dates back to my childhood. I grew up in 1990s Brazil while the country was experiencing hyperinflation, with prices going up as high as 71% per month. I saw firsthand how this period affected many peoples lives, my family included. My father worked in the banking industry at the time and I distinctly remember him coming home with bags of coins and paper bills for me to play withtoys that had become worthless due to a currency change to control the hyperinflation. I enjoyed stacking the bills up and rolling the coins, but I couldnt figure out why, when I looked in the mirror I saw a mini Scrooge McDuck, yet I couldnt buy all the ice cream I wanted. Why was my money worthless? I am sure my family was asking themselves the same question.

After briefly living in the US, Russia, and Ireland in my late teens, I landed back in the US where I attended college and majored in Economics at the University of California Davis. I then started my career working in energy research and later as a statistician for various law firms. During my time in college I became increasingly interested in crypto because it was the easiest way to send and receive money to/from my family in Brazil. My initial interest soon blossomed into fascination with all the possibilities of this technology. With the rise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) in 2020, I started getting more involved with crypto communities, helping users understand things such as Automated Market Makers, borrowing/lending, and leveraged yield farming. I could not believe I could take out a loan in less than a minute, with low interest rates and without talking to a banker. I had to know more.

In the beginning of 2021, I officially started work for a few DeFi projects on Binance Smart Chain, helping them scale and moderate their communities. While working as a statistician during the day, I found myself working for DeFi projects at night, which helped me realize my passion for working with crypto communities. I was completely addicted.

What Brought Me to RippleX

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to stumble upon my dream job at RippleX. I have always appreciated what Ripple does for the industry: creating real world products and innovating in the global payments space, and I am excited to be a part of that contribution. Separately, I also admire the XRPL community and what it does for the industry. I am looking forward to seeing how this broader community grows through the contributions of all the members of its community. A truly decentralized, scalable network with low fees, powered by the community and aligned incentives between players, promises a true game changer for the industry, and I am excited to work for, and be a part of, one of the players in this great community.

As the RippleX Technical Community Liaison, my goal is to work closely with all of you; to listen to and support you, to help those already well-established in the community, as well as those who are new to XRPL. Your vision and hopes for the community will be the driver for the initiatives I will support. I know that together we will succeed in growing this community and realizing its full potential.

Lets Get Acquainted

Im looking forward to meeting and getting to know you all and cant wait to see all the amazing things we build together. Feel free to follow me and reach out so we can keep the conversation going, or share your ideas/thoughts/questions for the community in the comments below. I would love to hear from every one of you!

My handles are:

Twitter: @BiasGoose
XRPL Developers Discord: (BiasGoose#3155)
Telegram: @BiasGoose