“At the end of the day, we are not trying to be the next bitcoin or promising crazy visionary technologies. What we have is a good philosophy, backed by a viable business proposition which needs the blockchain to work. We hope you will join us on this journey to make a positive change.”
What does your company do?
At LocalCoinSwap, we are building a decentralised peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange.
What problem are you solving?
We are solving 3 main problems that we see with mainstream exchanges:
- Monopolies: there are too many large exchanges that have huge monopolies over the industry, and there is no way that regular people can share in the success of an exchange. So we are decentralising the profits and the decision making process through our revolutionary LCS Cryptoshare tokens.
- Restrictions: mainstream exchanges are full of restrictions – withdrawal, deposit, verification, and even trade restrictions. On LocalCoinSwap, people will be able to trade any cryptocurrency for any payment method, without any unnecessary restrictions.
- Lack of accessibility to alt-coins: to trade many alts people must first buy BTC or ETH. On LocalCoinSwap, people will be able to buy alts directly with their local currency.
What are the major challenges for your business?
Shepherding a community of diverse views to come together towards a common goal.
How are you changing the world?
We are creating a new hybrid style of business model. The traditional shareholder business, where everyone can share the profits, mixed with the transparency of the blockchain.
What is the major social impact your business has delivered so far, as you see it?
We held our first Crypto shareholder vote, that allowed the community to decide on whether to protect the ICO and project against the declining prices of Cryptocurrencies. This proved that even a relatively small business can have a fair, transparent and low cost voting system, thanks to the blockchain.
Do you see your company as a disruptor or a collaborator?
We are a collaborator. We aren’t trying to do something revolutionary or crazy, what we have is a solid business idea, which utilizes existing technology to meet an unfilled market demand.
How do you see collaboration within the industry?
In the absence of good regulatory guidance, it is up to the industry to selfregulate. I see extensive collaboration in the future with other projects, in order to develop a systematic structure under which we can all operate in good faith.
Why blockchain?
Our project needs the Blockchain to work. Our core tenet is to help participants trade Blockchain assets, and then distribute the profits denominated in their original currencies. We aren’t trying to port something existing onto the Blockchain, without Blockchain what we are doing would be impossible.
Is the blockchain ‘industry’ a maturing one? If not, what more does it need?
The industry is highly nascent, and in some ways a wild west. I think what it needs more than anything else is experience. In years to come, once the crazy volatility has settled down and the scams have dissapeared, I think we will see a much more mature and professional business environment.
Like many blockchain startups, you have turned to an ICO as a way of raising funds for your company. How are you finding the ICO process so far?
It’s been a great learning experience, but also highly stressful. Being in the public spotlight comes with a great feeling of responsibility and accountability. It’s also a 24/7 job, from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep, with different staff members handing over the torch to cover all timezones – if we leave things unattended for even 10 minutes, people will try and scam our community.
It’s highly rewarding to be doing something we love, but it’s also the most difficult thing we’ve ever done. You need a lot of passion and commitment for your project to survive in this industry!
