Meet the Team: Joaquim Madeira Lead Fullstack Blockchain Developer

Today we’ve decided to organize the first post in a series introducing team members of the Gold Fever Project. The “Meet the Team” articles will offer our community a behind-the-scenes look at how our talented team and how it operates.

As the lead full-stack blockchain developer for Gold Fever, Joaquim Madeira plays an essential role in our project.

During the interview, Joaquim talked about his personal journey and professional career, while sharing insights about the inner workings of Gold Fever and how blockchain and smart contract technologies are being implemented.

1 — Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your professional background? What projects have you been involved in before Gold Fever?

My name is Joaquim Madeira, I’m a 30-year-old full-stack developer from Portugal.

My interest in programming and computers started at a very young age. At 13 years old I started learning programming by myself, searching for every piece of information I could find in forums, tutorials, and chat rooms. The internet was a very different place back then.

By 15 I landed my first couple of gigs as a developer, mainly working as a freelancer for eCommerce platforms. Around the same time, I also got involved in my first big project, an online streaming service platform that became a huge national success with over 1 million registered users.

By 18 I joined college and finished my degree in computer science, with high honors. Shortly after I joined a startup and moved to Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal. For three years, I worked on this project, gaining extensive knowledge in the development of single-page applications (SPAs).

Unfortunately, and despite the quality of the work put in, the startup ended up failing as funding dried out. Shortly afterward I began my journey in the FinTech industry, joining the prestigious CryptoCompare team where I stayed for roughly the next 3 years.

In 2019 I developed my own project, a startup designed to digitize information and manage daily operations for restaurants and supermarkets. I also began freelancing again and developed a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) for a fintech application for a German company called Shopmeister UG.

When the opportunity appeared to participate in Gold Fever development I shifted my focus and energy to Gold Fever.

2 — How long have you been into crypto? What has been your experience within the cryptosphere?

I started dabbling with cryptocurrencies as early as 2014. I used them mainly for transactions and, unfortunately, was never much of a hodler. Although it is difficult to separate the financial aspect, my interest in crypto was always more on the technical side. I was always fascinated by the blockchain’s disruptive potential and how it would impact the world.

3 — How did you get involved with Gold Fever? What exactly are your functions within the project?

After meeting the CEO and founder Emilian Ciocanea. We had an extended conversation, where I was hired as the leading full-stack blockchain developer.

My work revolves exclusively around smart contract programming and management of the Goldfever.io decentralized application (dApp). I’m quite proud to be part of such an amazing project.

4 — Are you a gamer? What are your opinions about blockchain gaming as an industry?

When I was younger, I was an avid gamer. I played everything from strategy, fighting, racing, and platform games, but the one I spent the most time with was Ragnarok, an old MMORPG.

When I discovered programming, my interest in video games slightly faded. Nowadays, I don’t play anymore, as I am fully focused on my work. You could say my game is computer programming.

In regards to blockchain gaming, it had mainly been under my radar before joining Gold Fever. I had heard about Cryptokitties, but I wasn’t sure if it could even be qualified as an actual game. I believe that the world of blockchain gaming is underdeveloped and that the quality of games currently available leaves something to be desired compared to other mainstream games on pc or consoles.

5 — Hacking is a significant concern among decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and smart contract coding in general. What measures are you taking to make sure everything is safe? Are smart contracts being independently audited?

We’ve all known that hacks are a major concern in the DeFi world. However, our smart contracts are fully audited by third-party auditors. Our first audited smart contract was highly rated. There were only two low-security flaws found which have now both been fully fixed.

With time, I’ve become increasingly familiar with the most common attack vectors, and I am fully confident hackers cannot break our robust code.

6 — In your opinion, what is the most significant problem that Gold Fever aims to solve?

There is a considerable gap between mainstream gaming titles and blockchain games. Very few blockchain games are 3D, and none of them offer the depth of gameplay Gold Fever aims to accomplish. Gold Fever is the pioneer that will open up doors for other high-quality blockchain games.

Gold Fever is also one of the first games to created that can help players to achieve financial freedom being, they are financially rewarded for time spent playing. The idea of transforming almost every in-game item into an NFT is also something I find exciting.

7 — What inspires you? Is there any figure, inside or outside of crypto, that has had a significant positive influence on you?

I would have to say Vitalik Buterin without a doubt. Because of him, I started investigating Ethereum and learning about solidity, the programming language I use today to code Gold Fever’s smart contracts. I was never fascinated with crypto investors, but I certainly admire Vitalik’s contribution to the world.

8 — Is there any trait or skill that you’ve developed or improved working on Gold Fever?

I have been able to deepen my knowledge of solidity and take my understanding of web decentralized Applications (dApps) development to a whole new level thanks to my position in Gold Fever. I’ve also learned how to use several smart contract interaction tools such as web 3 libraries, ethers, hardhat, truffle, and Remix Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

About Gold Fever

Gold Fever is a challenging free-to-play RPG that leverages the power of the blockchain with the creation of a decentralized economy.

Gold Fever, in its essence, is a thrilling and addictive online multiplayer video game, mirroring the physical world into the digital one and allowing players to take actual ownership of scarce in-game items through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

The Gold Fever economy is a junction of many moving parts that are dynamically adjusted. in Gold Fever, all participants have a seat at the table. Being able to vote and to dictate the future of the game through the governance token. Used for proposals on how to improve/evolve this digital world economy.

Note: Gold Fever is currently in an early development stage, and details are subject to change.

💀 Website: https://goldfever.io/
👤 Telegram: https://t.me/goldfevergame
👥 Discord: https://discord.gg/aX6QPxbRKa
🐥 Twitter: https://twitter.com/goldfevergame
📚 Medium: https://medium.com/gold-fever-the-game