Essam Elmir: There Is Always Another Trade

Some people spend years building a profile.Others quietly build the network everyone else ends up needing.In this episode of Internal Momentum, Ben sits down with Essam Elmir,Head of Ecosystem at Fortuna One, to unpack what more than a decadein crypto and fifteen years of community building actually teachesyou about people, money, and the discipline it takes to hold yournerve.Essam got into Bitcoin as a teenager, a self-described nerdy kid whohacked handheld consoles and then went down the rabbit hole when aschool friend asked whether some coins he had mined years earliercould be recovered. From there it was Ethereum white papers, aChinese project translated line by line through Google Translate,and years of learning the hard way. He describes trades that wentseven figures, losses that took weeks to process, and being bannedfrom banks simply for buying and selling crypto before anyoneunderstood it. He also describes something less comfortable. He wasin the room early, he knew the biggest names in the space when theyhad a few hundred followers, and he never put his own face forward.Ben and Essam explore the part of trading nobody puts on ahighlight reel. What actually separates the top one percent is notchart reading, it is emotional control. They talk about thegambling loop, the ego that builds during a bull run and the dropthat humbles you, and why one good friend's line about there alwaysbeing another trade changed how Essam approaches risk. Ben opens upabout his own crypto years, the days his mood was set by a chart,and the sell orders that never executed while he watched the marketfall.The conversation then widens into the thing underneath bothstories. Fear of being seen. Ben talks honestly about twenty yearsof capping his own business because visibility felt dangerous.Essam talks about the opportunity he watched pass while he stayedbehind the scenes, and what he does differently now. They finish oncommunity, execution, and why the small consistent gestures, thecomment, the call, the follow up, quietly compound into everythingelse.If you have ever watched people with a fraction of your experiencebuild a much bigger name than yours, this episode will name exactlywhat has been holding you back and what it costs to keep waiting. About the GuestEssam Elmir is the Head of Ecosystem at Fortuna One, where hebuilds and runs the community behind the events. He has been incryptocurrency for over a decade, starting as a teenager miningearly coins, and has spent around fifteen years buildingcommunities across crypto, trading, and now artificialintelligence. His focus sits on connection, education, and helpingpeople get past the fear of asking the obvious question. Connect with Essam:LinkedIn: Essam Elmir Chapters: 00:53 Introduction to Assam Elmir and Fortuna One03:08 Building Communities in Cryptocurrency05:24 The Power of Collaboration07:29 The Importance of Networking09:40 The Reluctance of Being Front Facing12:22 Mental Fortitude in Trading14:49 The Journey into Crypto17:30 The Future of Cryptocurrency37:52 Market Patterns and Emotional Trading42:39 The Role of AI in Business48:06 Navigating Innovation and Fear51:12 The Future of AI and Business Execution59:44 Building Community and Connection at Events