Alena Afanaseva is a key player in the crypto media world. As CEO and founder of BeInCrypto, she leads a global platform that provides timely news and insights on blockchain and digital currencies. With a background in finance and journalism, she is dedicated to providing accurate information and educational materials for both professionals and beginners. Under Afanaseva’s leadership, the platform has become a leading source of up-to-date news and educational content in the industry.
As BeInCrypto celebrates its 6th anniversary, we spoke to Alena Afanaseva about the company’s growth, the biggest challenges facing the industry, and the future of crypto journalism.
Looking back on the past six years, what stands out most to you as CEO of BeInCrypto?
The most telling moment for me was when I realized how much we had grown. Six years ago, we started with a team of four, and we had a startup feel with fast decision-making and a flat hierarchy. Every year, we expanded by adding languages and products, and I didn't realize how big we had become.
And then one month we hired 40 people, and that's when I realized, in the first year we only had 30 people in our team, and now we're adding the same number of people every month! Honestly, we didn't even have an HRM system yet, so we didn't realize that we already had 150 people working with us from 60 countries.
What was the toughest challenge you faced while scaling your company, and how did you overcome it?
In 2020, right around the time I described earlier, we actually hit a crisis. Our internal processes — procedures, company culture, Slack chat, role definitions — were thrown into disarray. Things that worked well when we were a small team started to break down as we grew to over 100 people. This caused a lot of confusion and some drama.
At that time, I understood that it was time to develop the company into a more mature company. That's when we decided to establish a human resources department.
Gradually we defined roles and responsibilities, developed procedures that were flexible enough for a distributed team, and set clear steps for onboarding and offboarding. It was a turning point and helped build a stable and loyal core of crypto enthusiasts before the bear market arrived.
The process wasn’t easy. It took about a year and brought a lot of changes to the team, but it was a time of great insight. We finally saw clearly the diversity of our presence in terms of geography, gender, demographics, and nationality. I can now proudly say that 39% of our team is female, and an impressive 53% hold leadership roles. The youngest member of our team is 16, and the oldest is 63.
The cryptocurrency industry is known for rapid change. How has BeInCrypto kept ahead of the curve, and what trends do you think will shape the future of crypto journalism?
The only way to stay ahead in an unpredictable environment is to be prepared for constant change. That’s the culture at BeInCrypto — we test everything, figure out what works, and scale quickly.
The biggest trend right now is AI. It’s already influencing audience behavior, Google’s strategy, and even how journalists create content. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next year, but the landscape is going to be completely different. Nothing in crypto journalism will be the same as it was in the last 10 years, and many current approaches will become outdated.
When we first started out, we were an English-only news outlet, and there were very few sources of cryptocurrency content at the time. We focused on explaining Web3 development in simple terms, and resonated with a non-technical audience who wanted to learn about new technologies.
The next step was to expand into more languages in regions with high crypto adoption. We first added four languages in 2019, and at the time of writing, we have reached a total of 20! As we expanded the number of languages, we began experimenting with different types of content that educated our readers and paid more attention to more data-driven content and explanatory articles.
At this time, Learn was added to our product ecosystem. We have gradually transitioned from an English-only news source to a multilingual media platform, with the goal of providing diverse content and supporting our readers with everything they need.
Markets and audiences are changing. Projects are becoming more mature, and new products and concepts are being tested every year. The demand for sophisticated analytics and data is now much greater — fast, reliable, and insightful to stand out.
How do you ensure that you resonate with audiences across cultures and regions?
We are a data-driven company, so we track our performance every day and connect with our audience through surveys, interviews, research, and social media. Each local team has the freedom to run their own tests and come up with new ideas, which we then share with the entire company.
As mentioned earlier, we now cover news in 20 languages. While challenging, this provides valuable insight into regional trends. For example, what is popular in Latin America may not be as relevant in Europe. In countries like Venezuela, Argentina, and El Salvador, stablecoins are important to hedge against inflation.
On the other hand, Europe tends to focus more on volatile and risky assets to increase income in a low interest rate environment. We observe similar differences in Asian markets.
What unique challenges have you faced as a female leader in a male-dominated industry, and how have you turned them into opportunities?
I have had my challenges both subtle and direct. In the beginning, my expertise was questioned or I was underestimated because of my gender. But instead of letting that shake my confidence, it motivated me to push harder and prove my worth.
One of the biggest challenges is the lack of representation. When you’re one of the women in the room, it can feel isolating. But I’ve learned to see it as an opportunity. Being different in this industry allows you to think outside the box, challenge the status quo, and bring new ideas to the table.
This has led me to lead in a more inclusive, collaborative and ultimately innovative way. I encourage the same within BeInCrypto — the most important thing is professionalism and expertise, regardless of nationality, age or gender.
How do you maintain a strong company culture and keep everyone motivated in a diverse and mostly remote team?
We put a lot of effort into building our company culture. Because we have a diverse team, there is always room for improvement. My main principle is transparency. We are open about our vision, our goals, and the challenges we face.
We have a clear communication structure for company goals and updates. We have weekly announcements and monthly company newsletters. We also provide quarterly reports to keep everyone informed about the company’s performance and future challenges.
We also work hard to build team spirit. We have offline meetups around the world, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries both online and offline, hold regular webinars with team leaders on non-work topics, and foster a flexible and supportive culture.
Finally, we provide a clear path to career growth and a variety of opportunities. From industry conference participation to speaking opportunities to internal recruiting programs, we support talented individuals.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur in the crypto space and how has it shaped you?
The biggest lesson is that everything depends on the team. It is important to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, who inspire you, who see opportunities and can drive change.
Another important lesson is accountability. At BeInCrypto, I take responsibility for every decision I make and the consequences of it. I expect the same level of accountability from my leaders within the company.
Looking at your future plans, what are BeInCrypto’s main goals and how do you plan to achieve them?
We will continue to expand into new markets, test new products, and transform our media platform into a one-stop shop for crypto-related products and services. The ultimate goal of all of this is to provide equal access to new technologies for people around the world and give them the opportunity to participate in building a new world based on freedom, transparency, and flexibility.
On the technical side, I am particularly excited about the launch of BeInMarkets, which will provide in-depth data on cryptocurrencies and trading opportunities to help users build their portfolios and explore different trading strategies. The first phase will be launched in 2024, with the most exciting developments planned for 2025.
We also started to finalize our vision for the BeInCrypto mobile app. We had a long discussion about this and were always skeptical about simply building a news app. Most people use Google or social media to find news. The concept of a news app seems old-fashioned to me. I believe that in the near future, people will reduce their content consumption with tools like ChatGPT.
Our app needs to offer something unique, like a personalized assistant based on the user's interests and strategies. We shape the vision and collect feedback from the team to keep it useful and up to date.
Finally, as an industry veteran, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Never stop believing in yourself and your strengths. It's contagious.
