Introduction post: Who is manonthemat?

Hello steemit community!

After anxiously waiting for two weeks to have my account activated, I can now take an active part in this very interesting and exciting community.

In fact, I was so excited to get started and provide some content, that I broke the unspoken rule of writing an introductory post first and I ended up posting a longer article in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency space with the title Going green for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. I want to apologize for my lack of good manners and give a brief, yet hopefully somewhat meaningful introduction to my persona.

I was born and raised in Hamburg (Germany), where I spent the majority of my first three decades of my life. Currently I live in Los Angeles (USA) with my wife, who is an US citizen with Mexican roots, and our two cats. My current job title is that of a Senior Software Engineer. My work history can be viewed on LinkedIn.

My username manonthemat is a reuse of my public GitHub account. It stems from a time where I was so occupied with providing financially for my family, that I missed out on mat time. However, I wanted to make myself a promise, that I will return onto the mats and make martial arts an integral part of my life once again. Especially 柔術 (commonly misspelled as Jiu Jitsu) is one of my favorite activities.

This photo dates back to May of 2010, where I was awarded the blue belt under Eddie Bravo.

As a matter of fact, these days one can see me on the mats again more often. While I'm full-time employed, I'm also a full-time college student. During this semester I'm taking a 柔道 (Judo) class at college, and even manage to drop into 柔術 classes every now and then at a nearby gym that's run by former training partners.

My profile picture is from a snapshot on the set of the MMA short-film One More Round (yet to be released), where I played a corner man next to UFC legend Chuck Liddell.

However, at least initially, I do not plan to write about these subjects here (unless you are interested in the mat-life). Instead, I am planning to continue writing about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies first and foremost. My next article will be about media influence on cryptocurrency markets. It will most likely be much longer than most steemit articles, but I hope you find value in it, as I try to thoroughly research these topics.

I am looking forward to read and write many articles here, which may lead to some great exchange of ideas and collaborations.

With kind regards,
Matthias