Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, believes that generational trauma is a significant driving force in his continued commitment to NFTs and new social networks — even with the cryptocurrency market's current "chilly winter storm." 

What Happened: In an interview with Forbes, Ohanian revealed that his ancestors were victims of the Armenian genocide, having their belongings and assets seized by the perpetrators in the process. 

Dubbing himself a “crypto pragmatist,” he understands the value of U.S. regulation when it comes to cryptocurrency. At the same time, Ohanian practices what is called “self-custody”, which requires him to be directly responsible for managing the passwords, or private keys, of his most valuable possessions. This step, according to him, ensures his digital wealth remains secure and out of the hands of the government, and anyone else.

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Investments: He has invested in 29 startups that are working on cryptocurrency’s underlying blockchain technology and in February 2022 raised $500 million, largely to finance more such companies. 

When Ohanian first heard about Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), he decided to invest $15,000 to buy around 50,000 ETH, an act of faith that has since blossomed into an $84 million return.

“In hindsight, I didn’t invest nearly as much as I should have,” he was quoted as saying.

The FTX collapse left many investors empty-handed and vowing to abandon crypto forever. But for Ohanian, his family's history made him not only stay the course but double down on his investments.

“Even though it is extremely volatile, there are plenty of people who have that generational consciousness of seeing massive inflation. So many countries in Latin America, plenty of countries throughout the world have this notion of it. And so when they see the volatility of cryptocurrency, it’s like, ‘Okay, yeah, it’s volatile, but have you seen the shit we’ve lived through?’” he adds.

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