Andrew Zimine, Founding Partner and CEO of Exscudo, spoke with Bitcoinist in detail explaining his view of the cryptocurrency industry and how blockchain platform Exscudo is aiming to bridge traditional finance with the cryptocurrency market his blockchain platform.
Bitcoinist: Can you describe the current cryptocurrency market?
Andrew Zimine (AZ): The evolution of the cryptocurrency market makes this sphere less chaotic and more regulated each year. This is a natural process of any nascent market. The most progress is shown by those regions and jurisdictions that are most interested in both the blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies in particular.
Transaction processing is a new trend in the cryptocurrency market. International companies are exploring cryptocurrencies as a financial instrument. Besides, traditional financial institutions show great interest in the blockchain, since it has enormous potential to transform the financial business.
Bitcoinist: Why is the financial sector adopting blockchain solutions?
AZ: The blockchain can be applied in many different ways and for different tasks. The most popular are the decrease of transaction costs, optimization of the workflow processes. The blockchain can also guarantee a higher level of security of personal and business data. Besides, I believe that it will be widely used in the validation and verification of financial transactions without third-party services.
Bitcoinist: How did you come up with the idea for Exscudo? What is your mission?
AZ: I have been collaborating with a major cryptocurrency exchange and consulted the team on security issues. When I saw the backend organization from inside, I understood that this sphere lacks professional players. The reason was that the market is still too small for big players, but already too big for current players.
We want to create […] a system where an unbanked person can trade on the stock exchange just as simply as an institutional investor.
You can easily assess it by simply reading the news: $50 mln stolen from this startup, another exchange hacked and lost $60 mln… Such scandals are part of the daily routine in the cryptocurrency market. Knowing this, I decided to create a professional trading instrument and develop an infrastructure of services around it, eliminating the need for middlemen.
Our mission is to create a platform that unites the world of traditional finance and the cryptocurrency market. We want to create a new global center of liquidity for all groups of users. A system where an unbanked person can trade on the stock exchange just as simply as an institutional investor. Our main goal is to create an easy-to-use, fast, legal and secure access to the cryptocurrency market for every person with access to the Internet.
Bitcoinist: Why do you think your solution is better than others that are already on the market?
AZ: We have a client-oriented system, and we are creating something more than a project with a return on investment within 1-2 years. Exscudo is running a marathon, not a sprint. Besides, our team consists of highly qualified specialists in all fields, from security of stock exchange trading to usability and legal questions. I think that our main advantage is that there are no analogous solutions. There is no other project that offers this wide range of products under one roof.
Bitcoinist: How did you build up the team? Have you run any other projects together before?
AZ: Building up the team was hard and painstakingly. For each position, I needed not only to find a highly qualified professional, but someone who has interest in Exscudo, who shares our view and spirit. The fact that the person must qualify as an expert is a must. The development of Exscudo took many years. During this time, we saw in practice, whether the person fits in or not. We also had some negative experiences when people resign or were fired. There was pretty much everything.
Bitcoinist: How did you raise the initial funds for the development?
AZ: Despite Exscudo, I am running other businesses, such as software development, for example. The income generated by those enterprises makes the development and functioning of Exscudo possible.
Bitcoinist: Why have you decided to make the core of the Exchange centralized?
AZ: Because otherwise the liability would be ill-defined. We would not be able to take responsibility for the actions that take place on the Exchange. The proprietary core is a perfect solution for this problem.
This [blockchain] technology allows Exscudo to handle transactions between Exscudo Stock exchange and international banks[.]
Bitcoinist: What do you need the blockchain for?
AZ: EON, the blockchain, is the fuel of the whole Exscudo ecosystem. It uses the smart transactions algorithm that is similar, but not equal to the smart contracts mechanism of the Ethereum network. This technology allows Exscudo to handle transactions between Exscudo Stock exchange and international banks, as well as cryptocurrency wallet users and fiat accounts holders. It also grants our independency from third-party developers.
Bitcoinist: Who are the target audience of the project?
AZ: Exscudo is an ecosystem that consists of various products that have different target audiences. For example, the mobile ‘Chatwallet’ app targets private users that may even not know anything about cryptocurrencies, because the app can be used for secure communications only. On the other side, the trading terminals have been developed for professional traders. To say it shortly, Exscudo unites everybody who is interested in the cryptocurrency market, be it private users or international financial institutions.
When will Exscudo be launched?
AZ: We plan to launch the first line of products in Q2 2017.
Images courtesy of Exscudo, Shutterstock