On The Margin | Boaz Sobrado & Ivan Patriki

Is Crypto a Scam? How BILLIONS into Bitcoin | GoMining CEO Mark Zalan & Ivan Patriki

Ivan Patriki — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 02:00:00 GMT

From Soviet Refugee into GoMining CEO: Mark Zalan on GoMining, Crypto Fraud & the FUTURE of Bitcoin.

GoMining is one of the top 10 Bitcoin miners in the world by hash power, and the CEO Mark Zalan sat down with me to share the unfiltered story behind his rise from Soviet Union refugee to leading a company with 5 million users.

We cover:

How his family fled the Soviet Union in 1989 with $360 and refugee documents - and what that shaped in him
Why he was late to Bitcoin (and what finally changed his mind)
How Go Mining lets anyone start mining Bitcoin for as little as $25
The difference between cloud mining scams and what Go Mining actually does
Is crypto mostly fraud? An honest breakdown
Bitcoin as financial freedom — Ukraine, Venezuela, and the Canada truckers protest
Why you need to know more than just money to succeed (the Andrew Tate debate)
Go Mining's upcoming instant Bitcoin payment protocol — Layer 1, zero user fees, 0.2% merchant fee (vs. 2.5–3.5% for card networks)
What visionary entrepreneurs actually look like up close
The imposter syndrome no one talks about at the top

Whether you're a crypto investor, entrepreneur, or just curious about how people go from nothing to building something massive - this one's worth your time.

Check out GoMining
https://gomining.com

More of Mark Zalan:
https://x.com/MarkZalan_
https://linkedin.com/in/mark-zalan
https://www.instagram.com/markzalan_gomining/

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https://x.com/sobradob
https://www.instagram.com/sobradob/
https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
https://substack.com/@artizt
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https://www.financemagnates.com/author/ivan-patriki/
https://financefeeds.com/author/ivan-patriki/

00:00 Intro
01:04 Soviet Refugee to Silicon Valley
02:53 Why He Bet Everything on Bitcoin
03:26 How Wall Street Killed Bitcoin Mining
05:27 The $25 Bitcoin Mine
06:26 How Go Mining Actually Makes Money
09:37 The Truth About Cloud Mining Scams
12:48 Building Trust in a Trustless Space
14:50 "We're Extremely Profitable"
17:04 $360 and a One-Way Ticket Out
21:45 Did Poverty Make Him Hungrier?
23:11 Why He Joined the Marines
24:39 How He Got Into GE Capital
28:29 The Moment He Knew He'd Made It
33:19 Does Winning Get Easier?
37:11 Luck, Charisma, or Skill?
39:06 Why History Majors Win
42:18 Destroying Andrew Tate's Money Advice
45:40 What Billionaires Are Really Like
55:15 Making Payroll From His Own Pocket
01:07:37 Is Crypto Mostly a Scam?
01:13:51 Was Bitcoin Built for Crime?
01:20:29 Why Crypto Is About Freedom
01:30:27 Can the Government Freeze Your Bitcoin?
01:43:57 🚨 Instant Bitcoin Payments Announced
01:47:13 Killing Visa's 3% Fee
02:07:47 On Power, Politics & Imposing Your Will
02:15:43 Why Every Revolution Ends in Executions
02:23:46 The Blueprint for Going From Nothing to Millions

Tanner Hackett Built Billion Dollar Companies, His Next Project, AI Powered $50M Insurance Company Powered by AI. What's the Secret? - Ivan Patriki On the Margin

Ivan Patriki — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 21:42:59 GMT

Backed by the same investors who funded SpaceX, I sat down with Tanner, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Counterpart, to get an honest look at what it actually takes to build something real fraom scratch.

From cold-calling 40 people about a job offer in Malaysia and only trusting the two who said yes, to raising $50M to fix an industry everyone hates, to why working 14-hour days is his version of good mental health.

This conversation goes places most founders won't touch. If you want to understand how normal people end up doing extraordinary things, watch this first. Counterpart is building the future of small business insurance using AI and data science. Instead of human underwriters trying to assess thousands of variables, their platform synthesizes data points to instantly quote, price, and place coverage for small businesses facing risks most of them don't even know exist, from wrongful termination to wage violations.

They're backed by top-tier venture and private equity firms, and are on a mission to flip insurance from a reactive payout machine into a proactive risk prevention partner.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:02 - Best Day of His Life
00:02:04 - What Is Counterpart?
00:04:13 - The SpaceX Investor
00:06:36 - How Great Investors Help You
00:07:06 - Building Amazon for Southeast Asia
00:08:46 - 38 Out of 40 People Said No
00:10:21 - Insurance as Risk Prevention
00:11:21 - Small Businesses Getting Fined
00:13:52 - Is Insurance a Scam?
00:19:03 - US vs. Dubai: Where to Build?
00:20:44 - Stare Into the Abyss
00:24:34 - Sacrificing Your Social Life
00:26:40 - The Feedback Loop Philosophy
00:31:10 - What Is Good Mental Health?
00:33:58 - Building Counterpart for Life
00:39:32 - Why Entrepreneurs Study Philosophy
00:42:42 - Who Do You Look Up To?
00:59:30 - Advice for the Next Generation

Check out CounterPart:

https://yourcounterpart.com

More of Tanner Hackett:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerhackett
https://x.com/tan_hack

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US Ambassador: "How I Sold My Company to Microsoft" | Trevor Traina w/ Ivan Patriki | On The Margin

Ivan Patriki — Tue, 19 May 2026 22:52:48 GMT

How Trump appointed him as US ambassador, how to sell companies to Microsoft and Mastercard, and his biggest project yet: Kresus, a Web3 super app.

I sat down with Trevor, a serial entrepreneur turned U.S. Ambassador to Austria and now founder of Kresus, to get an honest look at what it actually takes to reach the top.

From raising your first $100k from friends and family, to closing a Microsoft acquisition the same morning Bill Gates announced it on stage, to navigating a government full of entrenched bureaucrats, this conversation goes places most successful people won't.

If you're serious about building something real, becoming the new elite, watch someone from the elite explain everything.

His magnum opus, Kresus, is building AI directly into its wallet app. It's as a tool that helps anyone use Web3. On the trading side, the app already offers smart insights like tracking what top traders are buying in real time, which is a precursor to the fuller AI feature set.

Expanding AI integrations is listed as one of their near-term priorities alongside growing their mini-app ecosystem.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:09 - How Do You Even Get to This Level?
00:02:25 - Your First Company & the Entrepreneurial Mindset
00:05:31 - Did Going to Princeton, Oxford & Berkeley Actually Help?
00:09:04 - How Trevor Got Trump to Appoint Him Ambassador
00:10:54 - What Does an Ambassador Actually Do?
00:15:14 - Did He Make a Real Political Impact?
00:17:59 - Is the Deep State Real?
00:22:10 - Raising Millions From David Sacks, the Winklevoss Twins & Marc Benioff
00:23:17 - Why Blockchain Is the Revolution Everyone's Sleeping On
00:27:23 - What It's Really Like Selling Your Company to Microsoft
00:29:44 - What Makes the Ultra-Successful Think Differently
00:35:14 - The Opera Story: How the Universe Puts You in the Right Room
00:38:20 - Advice for Young People Who Want to Change the World

More of Trevor Traina:
https://kresus.com - Sign up to Kresus
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevortraina/

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'Most Prop Firms are in Debt' - Expert Stanislav Galandzovskyi | On The Margin with Ivan Patriki

On The Margin — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:55:50 GMT

Stanislav, a growth consultant for brokers and prop firms, gave me an honest look at what's really going on behind the scenes. From firms going bankrupt the moment payouts are due, to influencers faking their trading profits, to why entire countries get banned from platforms — this conversation goes places most people in finance won't touch.

If you're thinking about starting a prop firm, or putting money into a prop firm, watch this first.

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:31 - Are Prop Firms a Pyramid Scheme?
00:03:22 - The Truth About Payouts & Bankruptcies
00:05:37 - Marketers Running Prop Firms With No Finance Experience
00:09:29 - Should You Trade or Sell Courses?
00:11:21 - Why Vietnam Gets Banned From Prop Firms
00:17:33 - How to Tell If a Prop Firm Is Trustworthy
00:21:50 - Do Finance Influencers Actually Make Money Trading?
00:35:06 - How Brokers Really Make Their Money
00:40:29 - Can You Actually Make Money Day Trading?

Follow Stanislav Galandzovskyi:

https://www.galandzovsky.pro

https://t.me/ads_for_fintech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/galandzovskyi/

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What is Clipping? Secret Ads Powering Polymarket & Hollywood

On The Margin — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 19:12:22 GMT

With Daniel Bitton of Content Rewards

AI Agents Hunt Defi Yield

On The Margin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:51:11 GMT

With MacBrennan Peet from P0

The Account Layer For Crypto Banking

On The Margin — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 02:31:28 GMT

With Neo Liat Beng, COO of Ur Technology.

Who Owns The Wallet Owns The Rails

On The Margin — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 02:12:41 GMT

Watch now | With Nitya Subramanian, founder and CEO of Para

Close Friends Only - With Matt Moss, founder of Locket Labs

On The Margin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:07:24 GMT

Matt founded Locket, a social media platform designed to be used with your friends

Whop Stop Shop?

On The Margin — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 02:24:21 GMT

By many accounts, Whop may be the fastest growing fintech of 2026, albeit it isn't usually thought of as a Fintech company. I discussed this and more with Steven Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of Whop.

Off-Exchange Settlement For Institutional Crypto

On The Margin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:41:36 GMT

With Nirup Ramalingam, the CEO and Founder of BridgePort.

Raj Kamal On Stablecoins in Cross-Border Payments

On The Margin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:40:46 GMT

The Rise of Non-USD Stablecoins

On The Margin — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 05:08:40 GMT

With Gianluca Minoprio of Daimo

Inside Crypto's Scam Industry

On The Margin — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:50:43 GMT

Cryptocurrencies have furthered the professionalisation of the global scamming industry. How do these scams work? Who are the players involved? What can we do about them?

The Dark World Of Financial Influencers

On The Margin — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:08:50 GMT

I spoke with Ivan Patriki aka Artizt about the financial influencers, paid groups and how they do online marketing.

The Fintech Startup Graveyard

On The Margin — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 01:48:46 GMT

Most Fintechs startups fail. But why? And does AI now mean we should be revisiting some of the ideas behind the failed Fintech startups of the past?

DeFi For The Global South? Growing BNB Chain

On The Margin — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:58:40 GMT

BNB Chain is often overlooked in Western financial circles, but is a behemoth that serves many people across the world.

Powering Payments For Polymarket

On The Margin — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:21:13 GMT

Polygon is moving towards a vertically integrated payments stack. What does that mean?

Jim Penman On Biohistory

On The Margin — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 23:17:38 GMT

Why does every single world religion control sexual behaviour? Why do all religions have rules around food and fasting? These are the topics I discussed with Jim Penman, a businessman who is funding his own research on the controversial topic of biohistory.

On Prediction Markets & Gaming with Betr CEO Joey Levy

On The Margin — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:28:50 GMT

Joey and I talked about the rise and rise of prediction markets, and how they have impacted the traditional sportsbetting market.