An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Don’t be afraid to go public. Go out of your comfort zone. Stand in the spotlight. It’s the only way progress is made.

As a part of our series about Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution, had the pleasure of interviewing Arina Dudko.

With 15+ years of experience in banking, payments, client relations and crypto exchanges, Arina Dudko previously held leadership roles at Swedbank, IBC Company Formations and Industra Bank. Now Head of Corporate Payment Solutions at CEX.IO, she can address a range of topics including Banking & Payments, Corporate Finance, Business Strategy, Investments and Financial Analysis.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?

Growing up, I had a passion for finance. At 19, I decided the banking industry was the place to channel it. It offered stability to a young woman living in an unstable, post-Soviet Union member country.

My first employer was Swedbank. I enjoyed quick success in a sales/client service role and was designated “Best Client Customer Manager”. This designation led to additional training opportunities and progression to a leadership position.

After taking time off for the birth of my children, I held a succession of roles in corporate finance and business strategy. I became a private banker with a portfolio of complicated institutional clients in the IT/Fintech space. Among these was my current employer, CEX.IO. The company’s CEO asked me to join his team.

Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

We just finalized the addition of PayPal as a platform funding method on CEX.IO, as well as within the CEX.IO Wallet product. PayPal integrates seamlessly into the CEX.IO ecosystem, and adds an additional secure and simple payment method for web and mobile transactions that creates added peace of mind for our customers.

We continue to source new payment and funding options, with the goal of opening up the crypto ecosystem up to as many market participants as want to enter the space. A newcomers’ crypto buying experience should be as easy as purchasing a cup of coffee.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

It may sound strange, but the most important mentor in my career was simple want. I was raised in an uncertain socioeconomic climate and understood very early that I’d have to make my own way. I was literally hungry.

Today I enjoy mentoring and giving back to the industry. For example, my former assistant is now a successful financial industry professional in his own right.

What are the 3 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

1) The “New Age” economy is evolving and happening right now. The last time the world saw such a notable, rapid economic shift was during the Industrial Revolution.

2) The extraordinary speed of mass adoption. The Web 3.0 user base is growing at rates faster than any mass technology we have seen before. Yet even so, we’re still at the early stage of understanding and taking collective advantage of all the possibilities. It is so exciting.

3) The boundaries of how far a person can travel in the crypto space are only located in imagination and drive. We are reinventing the world as it turns. The sky’s the limit!

What are the 3 things that worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

1) The extreme volatility of assets at this stage/phase of crypto industry development is something to pay attention to.

2) Potential overregulation in the space, countered by an equal concern that the lack of a common approach is just as dysfunctional. Self-regulation, freedom of experimentation and above all, cooperation, is what makes the industry blossom.

Some clear and common rules of the game are clearly needed, but if crypto is perceived as a danger to current government economic models, overreaction is possible.

3) Bad actors. Unfortunately, the rate of scam activity is still very high, and creates obstacles for good actors. For 99% of the brilliant crypto minds who want to make the world a better place, there’s the 1% who will always try to misuse it.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?

Sharing is caring, right? I believe in giving generously of my time and experience, helping younger generations find their way with perhaps more clarity than I first had when I began my career. I will answer almost any question I am asked.

As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 5 things that you would advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?

1) Just start doing and don’t be afraid to experiment. It might look scary from the outside, but once you enter, you will see that the crypto community is quite open, friendly and helpful.

2) Forget about the Imposter Syndrome. The industry is so new, and women have never been afraid to pioneer.

3) Share your viewpoint — openly and without fear. The current male dominance of the blockchain industry comes at a significant product cost — offerings built for and by men. True mass crypto adoption is impossible without everyday use by women. We are 51% of the global consumer population.

4) Don’t be afraid to go public. Go out of your comfort zone. Stand in the spotlight. It’s the only way progress is made.

5) Read a lot and monitor industry trends. The speed of development is breathtaking. We all need to stay on top of it.

Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?

In order to engage more women, we need more public attention on the gender imbalance and how it ultimately holds the industry back. Many different skills and professional backgrounds are needed for success. Women must see that they are welcomed and necessary in this industry, as well as any other.

What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?

I can’t hold myself accountable with a quote, however I can and do standby a word — “resilience”.

Resilience is found in all aspects of my life: work, family and, my country. The environment and conditions in the game called life are forever changing. You need to align yourself with what is happening. Focus on the result with positive thinking and pivot as needed to achieve those results.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

This is championed by me and my close circle of women friends: financial independence — be the owner of your life.

In post-Soviet Union countries (such as Latvia, where I’m from) there are still far too many women dependent on men. Especially financial dependence, which worsens when it comes to child bearing. Family stability is a wonderful thing, but you never know what will happen. From my perspective, a modern woman must always rely on herself in terms of her financial stability, security and confidence.

I hope that my lived example of how a woman can be a player in a male-dominated field like finance and crypto, alongside being a mother (which I’ve not sacrificed for my career) can serve as another model for successfully combining the best aspects of life.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Connect with me on LinkedIn.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!


Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution With Arina Dudko Of CEX IO was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Recommended Posts