My Dubai Salary: ‘I earn up to Dh50,000 a month as a crypto start-up founder'

Entrepreneur Altan Tutar primarily invests in cryptos and start-ups

Altan Tutar, chief executive and co-founder of MoreMarkets, studied AI but moved into the crypto market. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Altan Tutar, a 27-year-old Turkish national in Dubai, has a risk-on approach to investing and currently allocates three-fourths of his portfolio to cryptocurrencies.

He is the chief executive and co-founder of MoreMarkets, a marketplace that enables users to unlock the value of their idle cryptocurrency holdings.

Mr Tutar left Turkey in 2016 to pursue his undergraduate degree in computer science and maths on a scholarship in the US. He then moved to London in 2020 and completed his master’s degree in artificial intelligence at the Imperial College London.

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After living in the US, Singapore, the UK and South Africa, he’s been in the UAE since April and plans to spend six months of the year here. He currently rents an apartment in Dubai Harbour.

Sharing his tips to succeed in the crypto industry, Mr Tutar says: “Be curious, try to learn new things and be honest. It’s also important to go out there and build trust. Communication skills are also very important.”

What was your first job and salary?

My first job was as an analyst with Antler, an early-stage venture capital firm, in London where I earned an annual salary of £40,000 ($54,153). I stayed in the job for a year.

What is your salary now?

We started MoreMarkets in June last year. We've raised $13 million from US venture capital firms led by Electric Capital. We built an earning app for crypto. So, if you hold Bitcoin, XRP or stablecoins, you can deposit them on our platform and we have yield strategies, similar to a savings account.

I earn an annual salary between Dh400,000 ($108,917) to Dh600,000 a year. That is lower than what would I get paid in the crypto industry, though. If I were to work for one of the top 50 blockchain companies, I would earn way more. But the idea here is to build a start-up.

Do you manage to save and what asset classes do you invest in?

I save 40 per cent of my monthly income and invest it in cryptos and ventures, never in stocks. About 75 per cent of my investment portfolio is allocated to cryptos, particularly stablecoins because you can earn a yield on them. I also hold Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The remaining 25 per cent is in the form of angel investments in 12 start-ups. I stay away from investing in AI companies because there are too many of them.

Have you purchased property here or in your home country?

Not yet. I want to buy in Dubai, but I'm still looking at when is a good time to purchase property here. Dubai is a good base, especially if you travel a lot.

I can probably buy a property in Turkey, but the economy is in a bit of a bad state now.

Do you have any debt?

No, I was lucky that I had a scholarship for my undergraduate education in the US. A lot of people take student loans going to the US. I have someone that helped to pay for my master’s degree, so that helped me not to accumulate any debt.

Growing up, were you taught how to handle your finances?

My mother was an English teacher, and father was a helicopter pilot in the military. There was a boom in the Turkish economy from 1990 to 2013 when I was growing up. My dad saved up a lot of money for his children to study abroad. His strategy to build wealth was through savings alone and I learnt a lot from him.

After that, my relationship with money was through my brother, who's a successful commodities trader. He worked in Wall Street and became a trader. His view is contrary to my dad’s: make as much money as you can and don't worry about saving. I'm in between where I consider either taking a lot of risks or saving.

Altan Tutar worries about how to keep beating inflation, especially after seeing the value of the Turkish lira depreciate. Chris Whiteoak / The National

What are your major monthly expenses?

Rent, travel and food are my major expenses. I don’t spend money on going to a mall and buying stuff. I work from home, so paying rent for my apartment is OK. I am very busy and don’t have the time to cook, so spending on food is OK.

Have you started saving for retirement?

I don't wish to retire. But my company has signed up for the Dubai International Financial Centre’s Employee Workplace Savings plan (Dews). When I was in the UK, they had signed me up for a private retirement plan. But I opted out and invested that money in crypto instead because it was underpriced. I wanted to buy crypto rather than pay for retirement. I have a risk-on approach, but that may change when I am in my 30s and 40s.

Do you have an emergency fund?

Yes, it can sustain my expenses for more than a year.

What do you spend your disposable income on?

I love electronics and have a bunch of screens everywhere at home. I used to play a lot of games, so I still have a PlayStation. I occasionally spend on clothes, especially this summer because many friends were getting married, and buy some things for my parents.

Do you worry about money?

I worry about inflation, especially because I have seen how fiat money like the Turkish lira has inflated a lot from 2013 to today. I don't worry about the money I earn. I'm more about worried about how to keep beating inflation.

I invest in Bitcoin and also plan to buy gold in the UAE to beat inflation.

What are your financial goals?

My financial goal is to make my company successful. I'm highly leveraged to the company, so if the venture does well, I do well. Another financial goal is to gradually get to a position where I don’t need to worry about money any more and my investments will take care of my bills.

What is your idea of financial freedom?

To be able to do things that I want to do, not worry about money and to follow my passion.

Do you earn passive income?

I earn passive income through yield products in crypto. I also stake Ethereum, but my crypto investments haven’t reached a place where their yields can pay for my expenses.

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