He assures that his business “has nothing to do with cryptocurrency financial institutions”, although they will be at the event.
Mani Thawani has just finished her first press conference . He has been nervous at times, but he has come out on top after all. He has presented the event that his company, Mundo Crypto , has prepared for this Saturday at the WiZink Center and has tiptoed through the controversies that have surrounded him —in recent days there has been a disbandment of presenters and celebrities after the CNMV notice : your company has been on the regulator’s “grey list” since 2021.
Behind his successful ‘millennial’ businessman look — oversized glasses, a trimmed beard, a good watch, a Mao collar shirt in the same black as the jacket, dark-colored skinny jeans and white sneakers — he’s convinced of everything that counts. : “100% security. My product is clean and has nothing to do with cryptocurrency financial institutions. I have a product that is so clean, so white…”, he says, lengthening the a of the repeated adverbs as he opens his arms and outlines a smile.
The canary claims to have made a lot of money by investing in cryptocurrencies. It is not very clear how he did it, but now he is the CEO of a growing company, which everyone thinks is about cryptocurrencies, but which he claims will revolutionize the world “of education” and that “he has nothing to do with cryptocurrency financial institutions.”
So what is it? “This is a new concept in crypto. We are going to introduce something new in education,” says Thawani. The key day is Saturday, at 4:00 p.m., at the WiZink Center, where 7,000 people will gather to attend the event organized by Mundo Crypto .
That’s right Thawani
Until now there was not much biographical information about Mani Thawani. This Canarian was born in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) , in 1992 , and soon moved to Tenerife. Between the ages of five and 11 he attended a British school in his place of residence. There he learned English , a third language in addition to those he already knew, Spanish and Hindi , where his family originated.
The death of his father changed his life. He had to drop out of school and at the age of 16 he dropped out of formal studies because the family’s economic situation was not the best. He worked during the summer of 2008 and then came the dilemma: continue studying or go to work. ” I like to study a lot and I’m a great reader, I can’t fall asleep without doing it first “, but “I took the risk of getting to work and doing online courses to train myself”.
Remember that that was “the best year of my life. I could live with 5,000 euros at 17 years old , that’s the glory. I did all kinds of courses in mathematics, physics, marketing, sales. I did all kinds of training and when it came that year I decided to continue working and studying online. At the age of 20 I had a huge advantage over my friends who had a degree: I had the same knowledge, but I had income and not debts”.
He did the courses through a forum whose name he cannot remember. Nor is it that it continues to exist, from 2008 to 2022 life, especially digital life, has taken many turns. “There were people who uploaded videos and links to Ares (download platform) to be able to take courses. I paid with my mother’s credit card without knowing what she was like, it was not as easy as it is now,” he points out in conversation with EL ESPAÑOL .
However, of those powders, these muds: “That makes me be here.” “I had money saved and I knew what the world of employment, finance, online courses was like… I had no debts and I also had income.”
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He says that from here also began his passion for education, one of Thawani’s favorite words along with the term “mass adoption”. “I helped a lot of people in Tenerife to verify the Coin Base and that’s where I saw the opportunity ,” she says.
Given the lack of online courses on the subject — “those that were there didn’t teach you anything ,” says a man who learned from online courses — he decided to create Mundo Crypto. He embarked on the adventure first as a teacher and then let others teach to enroll in other tasks.
The Canarian king of cryptocurrencies meets the canons of a winner : an attractive guy, with an overwhelming personality, he dresses in fashion. He takes photos with former Real Madrid soccer players and uploads stories of travel, cars, Champions League finals to Instagram… However, socially he defines himself as someone who loves “being alone, my space, video games . I prefer it to hanging out with people, but I’m not bad at socializing.
Thawani seems like a peculiar guy, full of contradictions, something that does not detract from his security: he walks with a firm step, without fear, and sometimes without listening to the advice that comes to him.
The ‘anti-system’
The official statement that Thawani issued on social networks last Wednesday night after what was exposed by the CNMV had war overtones. The young Canarian defended his event and his company by attacking the press and banks, inviting anyone to confront him.
His messages are usually about community, mass adoption, that the world is not run by banks and companies but by true entrepreneurs and investors. Even as if it were a politician, he talks about increasing individual “freedom.”
—What do you mean when you talk about decentralization?
—To the votes. A community must vote what is correct. A community is prepared to vote and we cannot say that it does not know how to vote or that it is not prepared. So the community is also not prepared to elect the politician. You will vote if an editor… The journalist is obliged to write a press release if the company tells him to, ok? Moderately manipulated —the reporter reproaches the lie with his eyes— Well, manipulated is not the right word, but the companies send press releases and they are published. I have done it myself.
—It’s called Branded Content —it’s no secret and it’s legislated.
—Yes, yes, but we are going to put ourselves in the decentralized press. The press is obsolete and can be improved. If an editor and a journalist expose an article and the community votes on whether it is true or not, if it is manipulated, you have an interest… The Community decides.
The conversation is lost on whether that already happens in the pure capitalist system with the law of supply and demand. The canary disagrees because the company “does not always do what customers want.” The canary’s proposal is that people exchange a service within a platform minimally controlled by the creator, who will get a small percentage of the transaction. “Everyone sets their price.”
The king of cryptocurrencies talks about how humans’ “lust for power” “creates social classes.” “I do not reject all forms of power,” he wields himself nonetheless. When he is asked how he would define himself politically, Thawani doesn’t know. “I would not give myself any current name, because if I say anarchist it is not entirely.”
He almost never stops smiling. She is comfortable, because deep down she knows she is right and no one can take it away from her. He has set up an event called Mundo Crypto, Metaverse day, in which everyone has focused their vision on cryptocurrencies, but his business is elsewhere, in the metaverse in fact. The commotion has served to throw down a gauntlet at the regulator and to publicize Saturday’s ‘cryptofestival’.
Thawani doesn’t seem to be daunted. At one point in the interview he is asked if he has ever cared about criticism . He replies that he comes from a humble family: “My mother lives in the same house we lived in ten years ago. We don’t worry much. I know how to channel it so that I don’t worry , but at the same time it hurts a little and you think, why?”.
The answer continues: “There you meditate and such. You start asking the questions to see how that structure works. You don’t understand comparisons that have nothing to do with it, but the utility is there. Now we have to show who we are. I’m going to put 100% the focus on the product . The damage has already been done, but we are going to try to change it. With work. It is worth nothing what we say, what the press says does not matter… Now is when we have to demonstrate”.
