We sat with Galin Ganchev (GG) and Daniel Zahariev (DZ), LimeAcademy alumni, to ask a few questions about their transition to blockchain development and how their career has been transformed after the Academy.
Tell us more about yourself and your background.
GG: A junior blockchain developer nurturing a great passion for the decentralized future of everything. I’ve spent five years studying and working in Germany. I graduated from а Software University but got hands-on work experience long before graduation.
DZ: I’m a professional software engineer, and I’ve been developing software for more than 15 years. My first experience with front-end work was with Vanilla JS. Then jQuery came along, and a few years later, I moved to Backbone, then Angular, and in the last few years, React. I’ve worked with NodeJS, PHP & Go on the back-end side. I’ve occasionally filled the DevOps role as well. In my free time, I enjoy reading philosophy books & playing music.
Why did you decide to transition to blockchain development?
GG: I have been fascinated by the idea of transparent and immutable code from the moment I heard about blockchain. As we say, “Code is the law.” This ideological shift has captivated my interest from day one.
DZ: Since I attended the Hedera hackathon back in 2018, it has been my goal to transition to blockchain development at some point. Four years later, I found LimeAcademy at the best possible time. I was looking for a change and had already given my leave notice. The rest is history now.
What is the best part of blockchain development?
GG: It never gets boring. There is new stuff to learn daily as the space moves at warp speed. Also, all the people you meet in the crypto world are very like-minded, making them easier to communicate with. We share common interests and ideas.
DZ: Immutability. Well, it’s probably not the best thing for people who’ve locked millions in smart contracts. So it can be a blessing or a curse. Just do your homework thoroughly, and you won’t be sorry.
How did your life change after LimeAcademy?
GG: I have found a new job in the crypto space. This was the main reason behind my start in the Academy. A dream of mine came true.
DZ: When I completed LimeAcademy’s bootcamp, I had already left my previous employer and enjoyed a month-long break. In that period, I had five or six interviews with companies outside the crypto space, but I was more interested in crypto companies. I stumbled upon Monax, which caught my eye immediately. What excited me about them was the mission to bridge the gap between the crypto and legal worlds. Initially, they turned me down, but eventually, I got interviewed, and from then on, it was
an easy process. I’ve been working for the company for two and a half months, and I’m happy to say that they’ve exceeded my expectations.
Can you tell us more about your current job? What are your key responsibilities, and what excites you most about your work?
GG: ChangeX is a non-custodial DeFi wallet with integrated banking services. It is also where Mobile banking meets Decentralized Finance. I have worked on new back-end services which interact with Uniswap smart contracts and am currently enjoying the development of some custom contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. Knowing that I will permanently leave “a mark on the chain” makes the challenge worth it.
DZ: Monax Labs are developing an NFT minting, management and transactional platform with integrated legal contracting. I work there as a Senior Software Engineer, mainly focusing on the UI interacting with the chains. Occasionally I contribute to smart contracts. Very soon, I’ll start working on the SDK for the platform. The company is still small (~35 people), and there’s a lot of cross-team communication and contribution. It is exciting to contribute and to watch the growth of the company.
What are the most valuable skills and knowledge gained at LimeAcademy that you continue to use to date at work?
GG: Well, as you can expect from such an Academy, I had to work with Solidity daily utilizing Hardhat and Ethers.js as primary blockchain-related tools. Basics of cryptography, creation and interaction with wallets, signing and sending transactions on different chains. This knowledge gave me the foundation to build and continue developing my skills.
DZ: I value the combination of being able to write & understand smart contracts and the specifics of how the UI interacts with them. I’ve always tried to understand technology from all points of view, which has always pushed me to go further and excel. This really helps me now at my new job.
What advice would you give to new LimeAcademy students?
GG: Load up on a lot of patience and be thirsty for knowledge. Never give up, never surrender. This space is wild and unforgiving; if you persevere, you will get rewarded for it.
DZ: Iterate. Start small, and follow the exercises. Do your own experiments and tests. Grow gradually and always RTFM. 🙂
