Andrei Zimin, CEO of fintech company Exscudo, explains his perspective on crypto-industry and its evolution in the years to come.
The French government has recently passed a bill that regulates the country’s crypto-industry. What do you think, is it a good decision on the part of the French government or is it still inactive, considering the absence of cryptocurrency regulation in other European countries?
This is a good decision, but the regulation of cryptocurrencies, even if it is not in pure form in some EU countries, does not differ too much from its requirements of the usual financial control, for example, Estonia which has already introduced the 5th amendment to PSD2 this year.
Why is the topic of asset tokenization so timely today?
If the mechanism works correctly, the transition of entities from a simple (centralized) digital plan to a decentralized plan is a classy case of asset management, as it removes distrust and frod as a class, complementing it with exchange possibilities almost without restriction.
Could France still boost the economy thanks to the development of the digital asset market?
Perhaps, but in addition to regulation and burdens, it is necessary to work with the market, to think about development and to take real measures to popularize technology (for example, to oblige banks to open accounts for crypto-money projects and describe in clear the rules of the game in the legal context).
Can you imagine France as a crypto-nation where tokenization is present in all areas of life?
What is important is the very essence of the introduction of such regulation, what it will offer market participants in addition to the restrictions. Commercial conduct in this area is a very expensive event, and making the decision to place in a particular area is a very difficult decision. A simple change of premises, even formal, costs the company hundreds of thousands of euros, and the damage caused by the lack of business conduct can be counted by millions for each day of disconnection of user services. This is why it is not an occasional action, but a well thought out mechanism to introduce the digital economy into the life of French citizens at the level of the government, interact with market players, be able to hear and understand the demands of the industry. In this case, France will be able to create a favorable climate for market players and attract the attention of the world.
Will this bill prevent the illegal money laundering that many states around the world are facing with cryptocurrency?
No ! Has the regulation solved the problem of money laundering in the field of fiat money? – No. And the history of money laundering through crypto-currencies or financing through crypto-currencies of illegal companies is a tedious meme. All the turnover of such an activity will not be one thousandth of the turnover in fiduciary currencies. Is this problem solved effectively today? – Not particularly. Cryptocurrency is the least suitable for such operations because it is 100% transparent.
The French government plans to invest 4.5 billion euros in innovation of the blockchain over the next 5 years. Will France go beyond other European countries in economic terms?
This will give some growth, but the economy is based not only on census tools, data processing and storage – it’s all secondary and is only a service, although it’s very advanced. The economy revolves around goods and services, if we consider the chain of blocks as a service – then France can try to use the advantage received from its initiatives and change its field of competences before the other actors of the market, thus gaining foothold as a provider of such services – this will increase GDP, in which case the growth of the economy is obvious, but unlikely.
Can the digital economy replace the rest of the economy? Is it really achievable?
Yes, and in the next 15 years it will happen.
Is your company the developer of technology and products in the blockchain? Could you detail the benefits of your products?
Exscudo is a financial ecosystem of the last generation. Our main goal is to create a financial instrument that will give users complete freedom to dispose of their personal resources while at the same time having a full and indisputable right of ownership. Our ecosystem consists of several products. We have developed the EON block chain on which the entire ecosystem is built.Channels is a branchless bank of the latest generation that can store, send and exchange various digital assets. It also supports the secure match feature.Exchange is a professional trading instrument giving our users the opportunity to trade different currencies.The Merchant platform is our e-commerce payment solution that allows you to accept payments in different currencies and bank cards.Exscudo is linked to Channels, they have a wide functionality and allow to make cashback purchases up to 10% worldwide! All of these products together are created to close all the financial imperatives of our customers.
Would you like to work on the French market? What would be your proposed solution to the French economy in the first place and why?
We are working on it because France is part of the EU. We would have proposed to replace skrining and acquiring in the banking sector with our technology – it’s much cheaper and much more reliable.
( Original article in French: https://www.latribune.fr/supplement/il-s-agit-d-un-mecanisme-bien-reflechi-pour-introduire-l-economie-numerique-dans-la-vie-des-citoyens-francais-825395.html )