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Interview with Yuriy Kropelnytsky, Softjourn‘s Project Manager:

Where did you start your career and how did you gain the experience needed to run the tech side of your company?
I started my career in telecoms, setting up and adjusting billing systems: first as a developer, then as a manager. Ten years ago, I switched to IT. Now I’m a project manager at Softjourn, working in financial services, card-processing and blockchain cryptocurrency. I learned how to run the tech side of Softjourn by developing different complex software systems and focusing on the cutting edge of fintech. That’s why we decided to test Blockchain to see how DLT and smart contracts work. As a result, we set up an in-house employee loyalty system based on cryptocurrency using smart contracts.

From a technologist’s perspective, what’s unique and game-changing about your technology?

Softjourn’s combination of hardware, blockchain cryptocurrency and smart contracts as an approach to crowdfunding local social projects.

Tell us about your favorite implementation of your solution/technology.

My favorite implementation of this technology was going from a simple in-house loyalty program for employees to funding local community projects. The same SJ coins employees can use to get coffee from a vending machine can be used to support orphanages and animal shelters or to raise funds for families of sick children or those who have lost a breadwinner at the front. Through our blockchain-based voting system, employees can vote on which projects they want the company to support through the Softjourn Foundation, which was set up to support community causes. We have also developed different currencies and different colors to identify different projects.

FinDEVr New York 2017 is partnered with American Banker, BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Breaking Banks, Byte Academy, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, CIOReview, Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Distributed, Economic Journal, Empire Startups, Femtech Leaders, Finmaps, Fintech Finance, Harrington Starr, Level39, Mercator Advisory Group, The Paypers, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.