Crypto and Coffee Q&A with Gemini: Aris Agdere, Senior Software Engineer

Welcome back to Crypto and Coffee with# TeamGemini! We’re excited to introduce you to Aris Agdere, our Senior Software Engineer, responsible for building out the Gemini Wallet. In today’s Q&A, we asked Aris about his journey at Gemini, advice for someone who’s just starting a career in engineering, and much more.

Grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy!

How long have you been at Gemini? I started at Gemini in the summer of 2018, so about one and a half years!

What made you want to come work here? What do you love about crypto? I was first introduced to cryptocurrency in March of 2017. After a few months of researching a bunch of interesting projects built using blockchain technology, I became obsessed with the industry. I quit my job at the time, started a crypto mining operation, and started coding applications to make price predictions based on sentiment analysis. I’ve been trading crypto on Gemini since I first started investing. When I saw that they were hiring, I thought it would be the perfect next step for my career.

What is the most exciting part of your job? I love working closely with different blockchains. It gives me a much better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each. For example, Bitcoin excels at basic storage and transfer of value but has very limited functionality, whereas Ethereum has a ton of functionality and can host decentralized applications loaded with conditional logic but has much more room for security vulnerabilities through human error.

What advice would you give someone who's just starting their career in engineering? It’s no secret that the more time you spend doing something, the better you get. Find a fun project to work on that you’re actually interested in. Make a game, app, or website that you would actually use yourself. Whatever you can do to motivate yourself to spend time coding will help a ton.

What do you do when you aren't at Gemini? About a year ago my brother and I started rock climbing. Now we climb about two to three times a week and we’re constantly pushing ourselves to get better. I’ve tried going to a traditional gym to lift weights before and just couldn’t stick with it since it was way too boring for me. Rock climbing is great because each climbing route is a new puzzle to solve. I get to satisfy my nerdy curiosity while getting in shape.

What book would you read over and over again? Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I love this book for reasons that may differ from most. Although I find his journey very entertaining, I think the true value of this book is that it proposes philosophical ideas that can be applied to much more than just technology or even growing a business. I don’t believe that Steve Jobs’ success comes from his being a genius. I think he found the perfect mix of enthusiasm, curiosity, and confidence in himself.

What is your proudest life moment? I am probably going to sound like a suck-up for this but the proudest moment of my life was getting my job at Gemini. I had been involved with crypto for around 1.5 years at the time and spent over a year working for myself. Being able to utilize the knowledge I had gained over that time to pass the interview process helped legitimize my work in my mind. I know it’s a very common problem amongst engineers, and I’m sure other fields too, to doubt themselves and the quality of their work, especially when working on their own. It’s nice to have these periodic milestones to ease the conscience and feel like you belong.

Our team is always growing! If you’re interested in joining us — check out our careers page!

Onward and Upward,

Aris Agdere