{"id":"alexander-zaidelson","version":1,"language":"en","title":"Alexander Zaidelson","hidden":false,"content":"**Alexander Zaidelson** is the former CEO of the Beam Foundation and the founder of [Beam Privacy](https://iq.wiki/wiki/beam). He is an entrepreneur and investor with experience in [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain), cybersecurity, and software development. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)  \n  \nHe is also the co-founder and board member of various startups, including Nareos, Wikitup, and WeFi. [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-4n7eozyujcf)  \n  \n# Education  \n  \nZaidelson pursued a Master's in Applied Linguistics from Saint Petersburg State University, which he completed from 1994 to 1999. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)  \n  \nLater, he pursued an MBA from Tel Aviv University, specializing in Finance and Entrepreneurship from 2000 to 2004. In 2016, he returned to Tel Aviv University and completed his studies for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Philosophy by 2018. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)  \n  \n# Career  \n  \nSince 2008, Zaidelson has acquired a wide range of professional experience in various positions and industries. He founded Wikitup, a desktop dictionary application, where he served as CEO. Zaidelson transitioned to Vice President of Product Management at WeFi, leading a team that delivers user-centric analytics and on-device customer experience management. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-tfev33pcldn)  \n  \nIn 2016, Zaidelson joined CIRTech Fund as a Principal, concentrating on supporting technology leaders and innovators spanning multiple industries. He later assumed the position of CEO at [Beam](https://iq.wiki/wiki/beam), a scalable, confidential [cryptocurrency](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cryptocurrency) platform. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-tfev33pcldn)  \n  \nSubsequently, Zaidelson engaged in advisory roles at realizeMD, PerfectScale, and UNI.DIAMONDS, where he also held the position of Chief Data and Product Officer. His journey continued with a role as Director of Product Management, specifically for Investor Solutions, at SimilarWeb. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-tfev33pcldn)  \n  \nIn 2022, Zaidelson took on the dual roles of Founding Advisor at Agora Labs and Head of Business and Data at VirtuSwap, showcasing his blockchain research and data modeling expertise. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-tfev33pcldn)  \n  \nIn August 2023, he became the CEO of SCRT Labs, the founding core development team behind the Secret Network. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-o0ipotjh2r)[\\[3\\]](#cite-id-tfev33pcldn)  \n  \n# Interviews  \n  \n## Privacy and Crypto  \n  \nIn a 2019 interview with trade.io, Zaidelson explained how Beam will differentiate itself from other cryptocurrencies. He said: [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-lil1wezzgp)  \n  \n> “BEAM is first and foremost a scalable and confidential cryptocurrency. So today, we know there are around 2,000 different crypto coins, but the absolute majority of them are fully non-confidential, fully transparent. So whenever someone uses Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or any of the other well-known coins, they need to realize that their transactions are observable and will remain on the blockchain forever.”  \n  \nHe went on to explain why he chose [Mimblewimble](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mimblewimble) as [Beam’s](https://iq.wiki/wiki/beam) privacy protocol: [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-lil1wezzgp)  \n  \n> “MimbleWimble, as a protocol, actually solves the problem…a system where it has all the benefits of the blockchain, it’s fully permission-less, decentralized, proof-of-work, but, it gives you full confidentiality, so nobody can see what you’re doing, who you’re sending to and what you’re sending, and it does that without the penalty of scalability. So the blockchain is actually much smaller, than that of bitcoin.”  \n  \nZaidelson later attended Deconomy 2019 in South Korea, where Block Monster Labs interviewed him. He shared his views on the value of privacy: [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-m8jwt1mzo1p)  \n  \n> “The value of privacy is actually having control over your information. We even call privacy part of your sovereignty, so if you have the full sovereignty, you need to be able to control what you own but also to control the information about what you own.”  \n  \n$$widget0 [YOUTUBE@VID](vJu6SrSAf7U)$$  \nIn 2020, [Cointelegraph](https://iq.wiki/wiki/cointelegraph) interviewed Zaidelson. When discussing how Beam’s confidential [DeFi](https://iq.wiki/wiki/defi) differs from others, he said: [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-xli3wnqnfta)  \n  \n> “They are built on Ethereum, which is an antithesis of privacy. Beam Confidential DeFi will offer evolved functionality plus financial privacy and all that with great usability and ability to audit transactions.”  \n  \nHe went on to explain the target audience and the future of DeFi: [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-xli3wnqnfta)  \n  \n> “everyone needs privacy, so eventually, everything will move to confidential DeFi.”","summary":"Alexander Zaidelson is an entrepreneur and investor, known for founding Beam Privacy and former CEO of the Beam Foundation, with experience in blockchain and cy...","categories":[{"id":"people","title":"People in crypto"}],"promoted":0,"tags":[{"id":"Founders"}],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[{\"id\":\"o0ipotjh2r\",\"url\":\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaidelson/\",\"description\":\"Alexander Zaidelson | LinkedIn\",\"timestamp\":1703107603611},{\"id\":\"4n7eozyujcf\",\"url\":\"https://medium.com/coinmonks/beam-privacy-beam-a-comprehensive-guide-b11e77e344e2\",\"description\":\"Comprehensive Guide to Beam Privacy | Medium\",\"timestamp\":1703107645977},{\"id\":\"tfev33pcldn\",\"url\":\"https://theorg.com/org/virtuswap/org-chart/alexander-zaidelson\",\"description\":\"Alexander Zaidelson | Theorg\",\"timestamp\":1703107734458},{\"id\":\"lil1wezzgp\",\"url\":\"https://medium.com/@trade.io/exclusive-interview-with-ceo-of-privacy-coin-beam-alexander-zaidelson-1e19e95084c9\",\"description\":\"Zaidelson Interview | trade.io\",\"timestamp\":1703107990677},{\"id\":\"xli3wnqnfta\",\"url\":\"https://cointelegraph.com/news/everything-will-move-to-confidential-defi-beams-ceo-says\",\"description\":\"Zaidelson Interview | Cointelegraph\",\"timestamp\":1703108230642},{\"id\":\"m8jwt1mzo1p\",\"url\":\"https://youtu.be/vJu6SrSAf7U\",\"description\":\"Deconomy Zaidelson Interview | Block Monster Labs\",\"timestamp\":1703108276371}]"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaidelson/"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmZN8CBok4MwrANjnr2ChkzzstKdCicDcfmZCm5YUMQ915"}],"user":{"id":"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2"},"author":{"id":"0xacb6c5AD52b8f605299B0d774CE97F26e3DB80c2","profile":{"username":"JSD","avatar":""}},"media":[{"name":"vJu6SrSAf7U","id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJu6SrSAf7U","size":"0","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"},{"name":"w28TDMJqT24","id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w28TDMJqT24","size":"0","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"},{"name":"9rxyqcZy0kU","id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxyqcZy0kU","size":"0","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"},{"name":"IduWUrsv7_M","id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IduWUrsv7_M","size":"0","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"},{"name":"Y5ycNSjdkkI","id":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ycNSjdkkI","size":"0","type":null,"source":"YOUTUBE"}],"views":43,"events":[],"ipfs":"QmZN8CBok4MwrANjnr2ChkzzstKdCicDcfmZCm5YUMQ915","transactionHash":"0x1c28cc360f3d5f2005862c31c89f5cb54e3ac995c27ba79cf445bcb19105c6e6","created":"2023-12-20T21:49:08.765Z","updated":"2023-12-20T21:49:08.765Z","images":[{"id":"QmVV8aacW1a6gXuxANbWZg4QEdAeZ4rFc1yQmrMtK5wjfR","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":["beam"]}}