FORMER professional poker player Edward Moncada is one of the most successful cryptocurrency investors in the world.
But what’s the story behind his achievements? How did he become one of the biggest crypto investors around the globe?
Who is Edward Moncada?
Edward Moncada was born in the United States on October 18, 1973, to Bolivian parents. He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a counter-culture enthusiast with a love for skating.
The entrepreneur helped launch a music internet company in the Bay Area after graduating from UC Berkeley, and from 1999 to 2006, he also played poker professionally.
During this time, Moncada bought his first Bitcoin to play poker on an online crypto poker site.
After a few months of playing, the former professional gambler had won 150 BTC. He then tried cashing out his winnings, a process that took him only two days and gave him an idea that changed his life.
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The US government had made efforts to limit cash flowing in and out of online gambling sites. Moncada realised crypto technology could be used to get around the restrictions.
After his eye-opening experience with the online poker website, he began to invest in various cryptocurrencies. He also started scouring Bitcointalk forums for new ideas and coins to invest in. And it was on those forums that Moncada met Charlie Mason and Peter Lau, with whom he founded and developed the Blockfolio cryptocurrency portfolio management app in 2014.
This group recognised the need for a portfolio management tool to monitor all cryptocurrencies across all exchanges. In 2014, practically all portfolio tracking applications exclusively tracked BTC, and those that tracked other cryptocurrencies only included maybe 10 or 12 different digital assets.
Blockfolio can be used to add assets to their accounts and track more than 8,000 cryptocurrencies across 300 exchanges and wallets. This saves users a lot of time when checking crypto holdings across multiple platforms, especially if they have to log in manually each time.
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In 2017, due to the massive surge in demand for crypto, Moncada and his associates found themselves as the only outfit in town providing comprehensive portfolio tracking services and subsequently captured the lion’s share of the market.
That incredible period of progress led to Blockfolio securing its first significant round of funding through a $3.15million seed round headed by Pathfinder, the early-stage investment vehicle of Founders Fund, with contributions from other investors, including DCM Ventures. Then, in October 2018, Blockfolio raised $11.5million in a Series A round, led by Pantera Capital.
Moncada’s company has become one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency investment apps, with over six million active users.
Edward Moncada’s net worth
Edward Monacada’s net worth is currently unknown. However, it can be expected that he is worth a sizeable sum after Blockfolio was sold to FTX in 2020 for $150million.
“It’s still pretty surreal to me. It’s pretty exciting. FTX is acquiring Blockfolio for 150 million,” he said at the time.
“I’ve been so excited about it. Wanted to tell the whole world about it. It’s nice to finally have it out there.”
