Coin Rivet: Tell us about Fastbitcoins.com and how you went from the Neo & Bee meltdown to launching this new company.
DB: When you’re on bail waiting for extradition proceedings to take their long and slow course, you can either let the 34 years in prison sentence authorities are trying to throw at you, for crimes you did not commit, destroy you, or you can use it as motivation to do something productive. Having then looked back at how I spent the years before my extradition proceedings, I realised the majority of my time went into software development and paying legal fees.
I enjoy both of these areas but concentrating on developing something seemed much more productive, exciting and meaningful than studying for a degree in law. The idea for Fastbitcoins isn’t novel and was something I was considering implementing in Cyprus all those years ago. It was only during the extradition debacle did I have the free time to re-learn how to write code and the free time to build it
I set about building the solution on my own, with no budget, no team of developers or high flying executive team. This puts us in a position to scale effectively. The company’s burn rate is extremely low and if trade volumes continue as they have started for us, we will be profitable by the end of this first month, further reinforcing my own opinion that I took the right decision to build it.
“Bitcoin is the most sound money the world has ever seen. It has shown that it is antifragile over the last 10 years and I am sure it will continue to show that over the next 50 years too. The Bitcoin network will continue churning out blocks every ten minutes and expanding its network effects despite what the critics say”
Coin Rivet: The demise of Neo & Bee was hugely controversial. What sort of reaction are you expecting from the crypto community now that you are back on the scene?
DB: The reaction since becoming more sociable again has been far better than expected. I have been welcomed by many of those I would consider builders in the space, who I have been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to sit down with in person to show them the documents regarding the accusations made against me. They know what the controversy is all about and what was at the root of the legal matters.
The portrayal and speculation of events in the media vs actual reality were at polar opposites. The launch of fastbitcoins.com, coupled with the fact that hardly anyone knows who I am anymore, because of the new faces entering the space during the last bull run, has helped push my name further into obscurity.
Coin Rivet: You say you’re on a mission to restore your credibility, whilst building awareness of the benefits Bitcoin can have on society. How do you plan to do that?
DB: I plan to restore my credibility through providing the best possible service for as many customers as possible across the planet. Through the success of this business I will also make Neo & Bee stakeholders whole again. The awareness piece is going to take much longer but I believe it is important to educate the general public on why Bitcoin is relevant to them, and is not just another fad, get rich quick scheme or buzzword.
Coin Rivet: Do you believe that widespread crypto adoption is coming or will it remain a niche thing for the foreseeable future?
DB: This is extremely subjective on both accounts and depends on what is considered the “foreseeable future” and what is considered “adoption”?
I consider the future of 50 – 100 years and couldn’t care less about predictions for the next 5 – 10 years. The goal posts for mass adoption can be set at any point too; do you only consider it mass adopted when it replaces gold as the go to store of value during financial crises; when the Lightning network is routing more value per day than Visa and Mastercard combined, or when Bitcoin is handling more international settlements than Swift?
I think Bitcoin is useful at a multitude of things, having witnessed the bank bail-ins locally with my own eyes and the mess that created, having some self-sovereign money that the government cannot interfere with, can never be a bad thing, even if it is a tiny fraction of your net worth.
“When you’re on bail waiting for extradition proceedings to take their long and slow course, you can either let the 34 years in prison sentence authorities are trying to throw at you, for crimes you did not commit, destroy you, or you can use it as motivation to do something productive”
Coin Rivet: There are many high profile critics who argue cryptocurrencies are a busted flush, a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist etc. How do you respond to them?
DB: On the subject of what is purported to be “cryptocurrencies” as a whole, I would more than likely agree with them. Bitcoin on the other hand is the most sound money the world has ever seen. It has shown that it is antifragile over the last 10 years and I am sure it will continue to show that over the next 50 years too. The Bitcoin network will continue churning out blocks every ten minutes and expanding its network effects despite what the critics say.
The most prominent critics either stand to lose the most financially or lose the most influence on society should Bitcoin gain any real amount of traction within society.
Coin Rivet: What can we expect from Fastbitcoins.com in 2019?
DB: The world can expect growth in the number of locations where our vouchers are accessible across the planet. We are targeting 300,000 worldwide locations in this first year, and are adding new payment methods to enable people to move from government issued money into Bitcoin.
We are also working to implement more integrations with wallets and services to ensure a flawless experience for our customers, and looking at launching an app to increase simplicity for our customers on mobile platforms. One thing for certain is that none of the current breed of altcoins will be made available through the service.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.