One fine day, I suddenly read an article about the using cryptocurrency to overcome the lack of free convertibility of the currencies of individual states technology. It is an interesting offer. Very simple and useful. It is strange that it has not yet been implemented in any country.
I decided to get closer to one of the DeFi experts who commented on this technology. Just to top up my own acquaintances in case.
So, meet Lado Okhotnikov, founder and CEO of Meta-Force.
Birth
Origin. Family. Education. Sports. Hobbies.
I was born in Kazakhstan, grew up in Tatarstan and as a young man I ended up in Moscow.
Ethnically I am a Tatar; there are Muslims on my mother’s side and Kryashens (christened Tatars) on my father’s side. Tatar-Kryashens have Russian names and surnames.
My father is a master of sports and a coach in Greco-Roman wrestling, in my childhood and youth I loved wrestling very much, I was the champion of Tatarstan.
I was 13 years old when the USSR collapsed. Therefore, I remember well the real non-fictional USSR in all details at a conscious age but at the same time my growing-up took place already in Russia, free from Soviet propaganda.
From childhood I remember well the shortage of goods, the worship of everything foreign and the low quality of everything around. So I am categorically disgusted by nostalgia for that country of lies. The Soviet Union went bankrupt and therefore the transition period was very difficult in the 90s but at the same time there was freedom and hope.
I graduated from VIPPK, it is something like a branch of VGIK and I am a director by education.
Former name – Vladimir. And then Lado? Why?
Lado Okhotnikov:
We get our names from our parents. My parents blessed me in the name of Lado 15 years ago.
For me Vladimir is my passport name. Now only ancient acquaintances and relatives whom I have not seen for a thousand years can call me that.
I had many different practices, which are associated with the reassessment of many values. It began to seem to me that the name Vladimir – “The World Owner” is somewhat aggressive. Lado is the Georgian variant of the name Vladimir. At the same time it turned out that there is such a Slavic name. In the legends there was a god of joy and fun – Lado. In Russian the meaning of the name sounds like “get along”, “be in tune”. To be in harmony with the world is closer to me than to own.
Career start
Career guidance. First job. Interesting cases. Acquaintances.
Lado Okhotnikov:
I dreamed of making films but the path looked slippery. I didn’t want to shoot stupid commercials or to become a slave on television for 5 years hoping that new opportunities will open up later.
I was very sensitive to the ideas for cinema and their distortion seemed unacceptable to me.
I didn’t want anyone else to decide how I should make films.
I didn’t want someone else to decide how I should live and how I should work. And that’s why I barely worked for hire. I began to develop the most decentralized type of business – network marketing. This was long before the emergence of mass Internet and mobile phones, not to mention smart phones.
How was the path to the crypto industry?
Source of knowledge about crypto? Business start – the first coin. Faith in technology
Lado Okhotnikov:
Now it’s hard to imagine but some time ago in marketing everything was paid in cash and people were paid in cash once a month in the office according to the list on the printout.
Once upon a time even connecting bank cards was a clear technological breakthrough for us then the Internet started to develop more actively and more electronic payment systems appeared, such as PerfectMoney, AdvancedCash and Payeer while Yandex.Money and QIWI were popular in Runet. In such context at first the bitcoin was for me a tool to use in one of the projects in the Internet. This was in 2016.
Then in the hype of 2017 I began to look at other cryptocurrencies. In 2018 I thoroughly studied the topic of blockchain and its application trying to find a community close to me. Back then it became obvious to me that this technology would change the world.
Opinion about crypto
What was the situation in the beginning? And now? What is the technology future like?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Bitcoin was born in a situation that cannot be repeated; therefore it is indispensable as a pioneer. Back then in the beginning no one understood its potential and value and if they began to understand they could not gain confidence. After all, at first it did not cost anything at all, then in the beginning its price was equal to one five-thousandth share of an ordinary pizza. Such a path from an incomprehensible unknown numbers toy to the worldwide recognition but through many stages both growth and fall cannot be repeated because the times when no one knows what a crypt is cannot be returned. No one had 100% reliable information about the great future of bitcoin – all this coupled with technology made it possible to secure absolutely total decentralization for bitcoin. And that is what creates its real value.
The birth of new and new cryptocurrencies is a natural process of further development of the free market which gives both the development of technology and the development of ideas, distribution and application. The future is undoubtedly for truly decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Who are crypto enthusiasts?
Attitude to them?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Crypto enthusiasts is a very broad generalization and soon the term itself will begin to become obsolete as mass adoption will reach the point where no one will perceive anything specific, “unconventional” in the crypt itself.
Now crypto enthusiasts include a variety of people who invest in cryptocurrencies. These are people who are really enthusiastic, who believe in technology and/or an idea and those who simply found a source of income in it and those who see where the trend is heading.
For me crypto enthusiasts are those who were the first to get in the right place and in the right direction. This audience will expand without limit.
What are the obstacles?
The existing obstacles for the massive use of cryptotechnologies.
Lado Okhotnikov:
Violence. The states have a monopoly on violence. If people were given a free choice then fiat would have no chance at all.
Fiat money has no value.
Of course, there is still a misunderstanding by the majority. But this misunderstanding is also related to the artificial hegemony of banks, rules that limit – but limit temporarily. Of course, there are many complexities such as the well-known trilemma – decentralization, security and performance. But all these difficulties are essentially adaptation to new conditions. If you have been living an unhealthy lifestyle all your life and now want to start eating right food, exercising and so on the benefits of a balanced life will not be so obvious to you at first. It is the same with the integration of the mass application of cryptotechnologies.
The use of crypto in economics
If you were in power what areas of state activity would you transfer to crypto?
What about big business? What benefits the introduction and use of digitized money and blockchain accounting bring to corporations?
The backbone of the nation is small business. What are the benefits for it? And how to motivate owners to accept new rules and technologies?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Absolutely all spheres should be transferred to the crypt as soon as there is readiness for it in each sphere. I do not see a single area in which for some reason we need government officials. How can the state help for the development of the country? The best thing the authorities can do is not to interfere and not to interrupt. I do not like the very word “power” in relation to officials. These are managers hired by society who are obliged to report to us and their power should be minimal.
Smart contracts can cover key government functions.
Blockchain technologies are needed by any business from small to large because there is mass adoption behind the metaverses and cryptocurrencies. Very soon the time will come when asking why we need crypto technologies for business will be as strange as asking why we need the Internet today. So the motivation will come to them. Demand is the most natural motivation.
Is there a universal way to combat fakes when making consumer decisions?
What tools are there for it?
Lado Okhotnikov:
There is no universal way. The tools are permanently developed and they are used by both good and bad people. In this matter you need to constantly find new ways to protect. Protection algorithms work best when the user is consciously included in it. What’s the obstacle? – Statism! – Belief in some kind of centralized guardianship which weakens vigilance. This is where the open source comes in handy, for example with wallets and DEXs. If these are well-known tools they have already been audited by specialists and are available to anyone.
In which projects did you take part?
Project names, position, functions, and results.
Lado Okhotnikov:
I had a business in the Tianshi Company, from 2000 to 2010 where the main products are dietary supplements. To be honest I did the main work at the very beginning, I grew up a team which I trained, and they became independent. And for a long time I have received a monthly income almost without any effort. But then the management changed the conditions, income fell down sharply and then ceased altogether, I had to look for another business. There were many different companies. There were many hopes for business in Galaxy Mate where our product was Yerba mate, an Argentinean specialty drink that is healthy and perfect for meditation and contemplation. I was very inspired to do this and therefore I became the number one leader in the company. But unfortunately changes happened there too and they forced me to leave.
After such stories, like other experienced networkers, I was very inspired by the concept of smart contracts – this is a business in which no one can change the conditions and take away your income even the founder. When such MLM marketing on smart contracts appeared in 2019 I immediately got involved in them. In the beginning there were few such projects and I tried all of them but they were not perfect. Then I met my future partners with whom we began to look for such an approach to make the business long-term. Previous marketing on smart contracts was not interesting for long-term business. We created the first such marketing in history, it was Forsage. Well, the result is known. Two million members around the world by the time I parted with them. It is still operating to this day without me and can last as long as necessary.
How are you related to Meta Force?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Directly. I am a founder and an author of all Meta Force programs.
You declared yourself to be an experienced networker
How can this experience help the system partners earn actively?
Lado Okhotnikov:
When creating marketing partner programs as well as many additional referral and bonus programs I am based on the understanding of what is over and what is available on the MLM market, what works better and what worse, what is important for networkers and how to motivate them to develop. I myself greatly lacked this understanding on the part of the leaders of companies and projects in which I had previously participated. This has prompted the very idea of creating such a business which I myself would gladly join as a networker.
How can system partners influence its content?
Let’s suppose there is some partner with a ready-made goods manufacturing or service rendering. Is it possible to integrate into the community and use it to strengthen own sales and expand the product portfolio of the system itself?
Lado Okhotnikov:
In Meta Force this is exactly the reason why an ecosystem with Metaverse is created. For example, in Tactile we will have a marketplace and we will look for the best products for us. For the Metaverse we will need extensive content and there are already partners who are preparing games and other digital products for us.
If one of the partners offers something worthwhile, we are ready to consider such an opportunity.
What is going on in your career now?
Current projects. Details. How has the business vision changed over time? How is it implemented in real life?
Lado Okhotnikov:
I develop MetaForce and the projects are related to it. Now the main development is the Metaverse with which a large ecosystem is connected.
In the process of creating, I refocused on more ambitious plans. Because now there is such a request that all facets of the metauniverse are needed, one cannot limit oneself to some of its fragments. We are building a meta-world. Inside it you will be able to own or rent land, real estate, create a business, produce the necessary products, meet, create new communities and much more.
Instead of government regulations we will create more effective tools to give people maximum freedom while maintaining order and balance.
Ideology
You state that for you the most important segment of the project is ideology. Formulate it, please.
Lado Okhotnikov:
Dream
What is your idea of successful success? What is the purpose? What will happen then after it is achieved?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Dream and goal is an ongoing process. I reach certain milestones and by that time my goal grows. Now my aspirations are the implementation of the main layers in the Metaverse in which people will be able to buy products, both in the format of NFT-things and real physical ones, use their avatars in our metaworld for a variety of purposes building together our cities, our houses and production sites. We will also have shows and games of special gaming zones. People will interact as if they are in the real world, complementing this with the capabilities of the metaverse. We will make the real life meet the virtual one. My goal is to create the best Metaverse in the world.
How interested are you in what is going on in the world?
Lado Okhotnikov:
I live in this world, so I’m interested in what happens in it. Although, first of all, I am focused on what I do myself. But there are global processes that affect all of us, on which the adequacy of some of our decisions depends. At the same time it is important to learn to read between the lines and get acquainted with different sources, often contradicting each other. I know firsthand how the media can distort the truth and manipulate the news. Too many biased media around. Often the tail wags the dog.
In the decentralized world of the near future there will be more tools to disclose the lies and restore the truth.
Tensions between the US and China.
What is this? Is it a performance or a big game?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Both a great game and a performance at the same time. In my opinion the current US administration is the most mediocre in the history of their country. And that is why there is a strengthening of China against the USA weakening.
What is the priority condition for growth – the financial strength of the state’s economical system or technology and specialists?
Or one is useless without another?
Lado Okhotnikov:
For the economic power of the country it needs as little state as possible in the form of control. The more liberalization the more attractive the country for investors and businesses. If investors and businessmen are attracted the country’s economy grows. And then there are more chances to attract technology and specialists.
Is Trump going to be the next president?
Lado Okhotnikov:
Possibly.
What about your family? Wife? Children?
Lado Okhotnikov:
We have a little daughter, she is only one year old.
There is also a son but he lives on his own, he is 21 and he is already married.
Memories
What is pleasant to remember from your childhood, school years, students?
Lado Okhotnikov:
My father was able to implant in me the spirit of a fighter who must always go towards his goal and never give up. My mother inspired me to look for everything healthy – in the nature.
In my school years I have more pleasant memories not from school but from the sports complex where I went in for wrestling. I had my best friends there. Then we moved and childhood friends remained in childhood.
As students when no one in Russia had money for cinema we shot our student short films on simple video cameras with absolutely no money. And it was a delightful era of inspiration and ingenuity.
How do you have a rest?
What distracts you from worries? Movies? Cars? Or does your job not bother you? What kind of music are you interested in? What do you listen in the car?
Lado Okhotnikov:
My work makes me happy and inspires. But for quality work, you need to switch and sometimes meditate.
The best way to bring the brain into tone is walking best of all in the nature with no people.
I listen to the most diverse music, meditative or chill out is usually more suitable for background. I love incendiary fiery melodies from rock to folk especially Georgian ones. Films are a separate topic, because I am a moviegoer and I appreciate the variety of cinema, from silent to modern, all genres and different countries, from Bergman, Tarkovsky and Yasujiro Ozu to James Cameron, David Fincher and Lars von Trier. Of the individual topics – of course Chinese collection tea, yerba mate as well as… Georgian dances.
There are about a hundred selected varieties in my collection and there are fifty more herbal teas. As well as the South American drink mate. I’ve done ceremonies both tea and mate so it’s more than just drinks. And Georgian dances are one of the special practices that help awaken the inner fire.
You are clearly using a special psychological image
How close does it match a natural one?
Lado Okhotnikov:
I use nothing but the principle of being yourself as much as possible.
What is the meaning of life?
Lado Okhotnikov:
The very concept of the “life meaning” is a mental fiction which, in fact, devalues the life itself. If you remove the internal dialogue of the mind then the life awareness becomes more acute and the search for meaning becomes meaningless. Life is beautiful and it is natural for a living person to do everything to make the world even more beautiful.
You have visited and lived in many countries.
Which is better?
Lado Okhotnikov:
The more I visit different places the more I appreciate the most different countries. I love to return. Travel awakens that part of our attention that weakens when you stay too long in one place and stop noticing everything that tourists who have come to your city rejoice at. I have not decided where I like it more, I will continue to explore the world for now, ask me about it later.
It is clear from your performances that you have studied the works of charismatics
Who has influenced you the most?
Lado Okhotnikov:
The works of charismatics I studied do not occur to me for some reason. I have been influenced by the practices associated with a variety of works. In my student years these were primarily the books by Mikhail Chekhov. Later I was in the New Acropolis philosophical club through which I discovered a number of sources of influence: Aristotle, Plato, Giordano Bruno, Tao Te Ching and many others. And I was especially impressed by the Bhagavat Gita. Later there were Krishnamurti, Castaneda, and Zeland. If you are really imbued with their ideas then you cannot be either their or anyone else’s adept. So the main influence a person should exert on himself. Practice should make a difference. If we talk about public speaking you need to speak then analyze your performance, correct, improve, etc.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Open Headline journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.