Hi, I'm Robert Malka.
About Me
I'm obsessed with creating cultures that promise to develop beautiful human beings.
My life goal has taken me everywhere. I've built an education startup, formerly called Expanse. I love Bitcoin. I've co-founded a company that provides interpreting services for the Deaf in the US, Canada, and the Middle East, and wrote a book on the ethics of interpreting in the region. I've explored the US and Canada through 10,000 miles of train-riding to write my memoir on the experience of having Deaf parents (out in April 2025). My album Renaissance is a wide-ranging hip-hop album taking in classical and jazz. Finally, some amazing thinkers in the Bitcoin space co-wrote and co-edited a book with me called National Security in the Digital Age, considering Bitcoin's role in protecting the national security of the United States.
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I'm a 2015 graduate of St. John's College, a liberal arts college where we read the Great Books of the Western tradition. My reading of Nietzsche left me wondering about​ epigenetics as it relates to play. Some friends and I are working on a lit review in the space, to be published in 2025.
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Finally, I've been a sign language interpreter in every situation imaginable -- for Elon Musk at Tesla board meetings and for Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook, among others; for graduate-level classes in computer science, chemistry, and literature; at startups and established Fortune 500 companies of every kind; for K-12 special education, juvenile hall, in hospitals for the recovering and dying; for attorneys, politicians, and celebrities. One day I'll write about being a fly on the wall in these places. I've also tutored in ASL, taught debate as a high school teacher (while in high school), and gotten a few awards from Deaf communities in the Middle East for my work in those communities. It's been fun.
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In my spare time I've done Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (lineage under Jean-Jacques Machado), paintball, and swing dancing. I've also worked on some fun data science projects, as a graduate of Springboard's Data Science bootcamp. Check out my Github. And once upon a time, I interpreted rap songs into American Sign Language on YouTube.
World-Class Accessibility.
Deaf-owned, CODA-operated, plain and simple. Malka Communications (and its Canadian partner, Maple Communications) provide ASL interpretation, CART captioning, and notetaking services with highly-qualified and certified staff. It's been a long journey helping these companies grow, and I'm glad to have been part of their mission. If you ever need interpreting services, reach out with confidence -- we've worked with Fortune 500 companies, world-class universities, governments local and international, and more.
Bitcoin-Related Projects
I'm lucky to work with incredible people in the service of making the United States a Bitcoin-friendly country. Yes, I do mean just Bitcoin -- no NFTs, no cryptos, no Web3. IMO Bitcoin is the first and only valid digital currency/store of value to come out of the blockchain / crypto space, and is the only use case for blockchain technology altogether.
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I was formerly on the board of the Bitcoin Today Coalition, a non-governmental, nonpartisan organization educating leaders at the federal and state levels about Bitcoin. We organized plebs around Bitcoin literacy initiatives and wrote some compelling books; as an advisor, I am leading the co-writing of a third book, on Bitcoin and Education. (My personal opinions don't necessarily reflect the stances of the Coalition.)
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I've also been on the team of Mi Primer Bitcoin (My First Bitcoin), where we designed the first official Bitcoin Certification program for El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender. Our ten-week pilot was successful; they've taught hundreds of students, and our Diplomado has been translated into eight languages and counting. We hope to scale the program to all high-schoolers in El Salvador and beyond. Github repo here! And English version free to download here.
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If you want to hear me talk about Bitcoin on a podcast, one example is here.
Education
As a COO, I've built an online school for grades 6-12, formerly called Expanse, that produced radical results - kids jumping seven reading levels in a quarter, leaving their anti-depressants, building amazing projects, all based around a Socratic approach to learning. (I've since parted ways from the program, but it lives on by another name.) I loved it. Sometimes I also help teens who need direction alongside an old teammate, who also happens to be a world-class counselor with decades of experience.
Whatever's in the Jacket
Originally an essay, my upcoming memoir describes the experience of growing up with Deaf parents.​
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A vividly detailed account of being another's voice at the cost of possessing your own, Whatever's in the Jacket is a poignant exploration of identity, resilience, and the delicate art of listening when words are absent. It’s a story about love—messy, unspoken, and often misunderstood—but one that rings louder than sound.
Coming in April 2025.
Born in a two-week sprint with a friend, and thanks to his encouragement, I've sketched an album that's born from as many places within me as possible. Annoyance, sincerity, satire -- I'm curious to explore mostly hip-hop with cutting lyrics, punniness, and catchy vibes. Most importantly, it's original, well-produced, catchy, and the album cover is something you'd put on your wall. Spotify here.