After keeping silence for more than a year after kidnapping, former EXMO analyst Pavel Lerner has given his first interview to the media.
The name of the former lead analyst of cryptocurrency exchange EXMO Pavel Lerner is known for many members of the crypto community. In December 2017, he was kidnapped and was obliged to pay ransom to his kidnappers. Mr. Lerner has left Ukraine but hasn’t left the crypto space. Now he works for BitSonar and deals with quantum analytics.
After the kidnapping, Mr. Lerner hasn’t been leading a public life. But recently he was interviewed by the Russian-language publication ForkLog and shared his thoughts about security and current needs of the crypto industry.
The Kidnapping and Safety
Despite all the rumors, Mr. Lerner doesn’t believe that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) can be somehow involved in this crime. The only reason that he views as the real motive for his kidnappers is their desire to get money. They required him to pay 10,000 BTC as ransom. Let us remind you, that it was just at the golden time for Bitcoin when it was trading for $20,000. The final amount paid was 102 BTC which was approximately $2 million at that time.
Pavel said that the kidnapping had seriously influenced his attitude to personal safety. The police are still working on this issue but it is not likely the criminals will be found.
Speaking about the issues of security, especially for the owners of crypto business, he noted:
“Anyone can be abducted and robbed. It’s just a question of price and time. Your objective is to make it clear to all criminals: it’s easier to rob twenty shops and drive away on a fire truck than to abduct you.”
He strongly believes that countries in the EU or Asia can provide a much higher level of security than the countries of the former USSR.
Moreover, he gave some advice to owners of large crypto firms. The list of his recommendations includes hiring professional lawyer, using tracking devices and joining the local community to get access to legal and financial assistance.
Mr. Lerner pointed out that exactly such measures are used by BitSonar in the process of work with VIP investors.
Work at BitSonar
Pavel’s career in the crypto industry started with his work for the exchange that was initially known as Exmine and late was renamed to EXMO. At first, he was leading the development process and then became a consultant.
The company that Pavel is currently working at is BitSonar that is engaged in quantum analytics. The software that is used by the company lets specialists analyze large volumes of data, find relations between them, develop hypotheses as well as to try them out. Nevertheless, the sphere of the company’s activity is not limited to cryptocurrencies only.
Though at the moment, there are little details revealed, it has become known that BitSonar is going to address personal freedom and security issues as well as to deal with asset management.
Being based in Estonia, BitSonar is an international team that unites specialists from Malaysia, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.
One of the main target groups of BitSonar are holders who own quite impressive sums of coins that they bought a long time ago. With the help of robots, neural networks, and quantum strategies, the company allows such people to multiply their holdings. “We work with highly liquid platforms like BitMEX, Binance, and Huobi”, explained Pavel.
Investors are also interested in the services that the company offers. To earn, they need to know how different tools are working now and what will change in the future.
According to Pavel, the crypto space is constantly changing which explains the necessity for coders, traders and analysts to work together to get profits. That’s the core idea of the BitSonar project.
