When he was around 4 years old, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia endured the second-longest period of hyperinflation in world economic history, along with continued tensions from prolonged geopolitical conflict.

“For all families, it was very hard to have a normal, decent life that every human should have,” he said. “You basically received your salary, and then you would run to convert that fiat currency, which is losing value every single hour, to convert it to a more stable currency.”

He added that, after people received each paycheck, “it was first an effort to run against time to convert that currency to something more stable so you could basically make it to your next salary.”

Bjelic says this experience, along with his long-time interest in technology and mathematics, “naturally led me to crypto.”