It is a popular opinion among the fanatics that cryptos and blockchain will play a prominent role in the future of payments as the financial market reaches the next step in its evolution. Alexander Mamasidikov, co-founder of MinePlex, a new-generation mobile digital bank that utilises crypto in its services, shared his opinion on this notion among others.
How did you get the idea of MinePlex and how did you make it a reality? How has been your journey in the industry and what is your core idea about it?
To give some overview – my journey in crypto began about 7 years ago when I became interested in blockchain technology. By that time, I had spent over 12 years in digital banking and fintech in general, and when crypto and blockchain came around, I grew curious about what advantages they could bring in if integrated with traditional finances.
Together with several partners, I decided to establish MinePlex, a mobile digital bank that allows users to operate crypto and fiat assets alike in their payments, banking operations, etc. We set out to expand the presence of blockchain in the global financial system and provide accessible and comprehensive tools that would give an average person a way to pay with crypto with as much ease as they do with fiat.
Today MinePlex is a multifunctional ecosystem that offers individual and enterprise-level solutions to conduct financial operations with cryptocurrencies and fiat. We operate on our own blockchain network and have built a system of products upon it.
At the foundation of MinePlex and its services lies a unique development of ours called CrossFi. It is a technology that takes the stability offered by traditional financial instruments and improves upon it by adding the elements of security and transparency that come from blockchain.
Which are the key geographical markets for Mineplex? Is India among your near future growth plans? Do you think that despite aggressive taxation policy on virtual digital assets (VDAs), India still has the potential to be a key player in the ecosystem?
As far as the geography of MinePlex services goes, our priority lies with countries where people need affordable financial instruments and banking services. MinePlex seeks to give them an opportunity to carry out transactions without being tied to offices, and the availability of online financial services.
The Indian market does, indeed, represent a very attractive expansion option for us, due to many factors. India is one of the fastest growing countries in the crypto industry and fintech. It ranked second among the countries with the largest number of Internet users, close to 66 million.
In last year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis, India ranked second among countries that are seeing strong growth in digital currency usage. Cryptocurrency allows country residents to save on transfer costs, make savings and investments. So it’s safe to say that the level of adoption of digital assets in India can only be expected to grow.
How is crypto changing payment and fintech across the globe and how pivotal MinePlex has been to this journey? What are your plans to make it bigger and what is the timeline for the same?
Previous history and personal experiences show that the financial sector evolves when and where it is needed. Seeing as how crypto and blockchain have proven that they are here to stay, we are now seeing attempts by regulators to adopt them into the existing system. But the progress in this matter is rather slow, as regulators and governments are struggling to keep up with the quick pace of the crypto industry.
We hold the stance that blockchain implementation is necessary for the evolution of payments, and it is necessary now. People need to be given tools for simple and convenient usage of cryptocurrencies in their everyday lives. A straightforward service with a comprehensive, user-friendly interface – that’s the kind of solution that the payments market is looking for right now.
As an answer to this demand, we have created an understandable and convenient product that our clients don’t need any advanced knowledge to use – they just need to know that it works. With our solution, average users are able to open multi-currency bank accounts, make transactions using various currencies, order delivery of physical and digital MinePlex cards and much more.
Cryptocurrencies are going to shape the global payments scene going forward and with MinePlex people can really make digital assets an integral part of their lives.
If you do a SWOT analysis for mineplex, what are the key strengths and opportunities you see for your business? Also, please elaborate about weaknesses and potential threats you would like to work upon? What differentiates from the competition?
The main advantage that sets us apart is that MinePlex solutions respond to the realities and needs of the current payments sector. We offer faster, more efficient means of payment, but, more importantly, our clients are fully able to manage their own funds.
As we have seen in recent times, politics can interfere in all areas of life. This can affect the stability of habitual financial instruments and cause unease among common people. We aim to fix this and create alternatives and new experiences for all our users.
With our solutions, clients can manage their own tokens and fiat assets in one application, make transfers in cryptocurrencies in seconds, withdraw cash from any ATM, pay for purchases with tokens, and much more. We have built tools to ensure that MinePlex clients are the sole owners of their digital assets and always retain control over them.
Crypto enthusiasts have been highlighting this as one of the biggest advantages of decentralized assets since the very beginning of this industry. Fiat money is never truly in the hands of the people, as it is issued and controlled by governments. We have made it our task to enable people to manage their funds themselves, in any situation, from anywhere in the world.
The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies provides many advantages, it also comes with its share of risks. This must be taken into account when you enter this market. Owning cryptocurrencies means being 100% responsible for your own money.
When we delegate the responsibility for our fiat funds to banks, it also means that we are delegating a degree of asset ownership and management. With it comes to crypto, the sole responsibility for assets lies with their owner, and you have to be prepared for it.
What is CrossFi technology – can you elaborate on what it does? How much potential does this particular theme have and are you aware of any other big projects on this theme?
CrossFi (Cross Finance) is a new word in fintech that we introduced. It is a scalable and globally applicable solution, unique in its nature.
It combines traditional financial instruments with blockchain to enable people to use crypto on a daily basis as they would with fiat. It can be used to pay for goods and services directly and without intermediaries, reduce transaction costs and delays, and conduct cross-border payments more efficiently.
CrossFi brings value not only to individuals, but to businesses, as well. With our solution enterprises can gain the ability to accept crypto payments and adopt digital currencies within their infrastructure. This enables companies to keep up with the rapidly evolving financial systems and expand their user audience by including people who are enthusiastic about crypto today.
This technology is our way of pushing towards the development of a next-generation global financial ecosystem.
How do you see the company and the industry going ahead?
MinePlex set out to unite crypto and traditional finance to build a more advanced payment system that would respond to the growing demands of today’s society. This is our mission, and we constantly work towards it by scaling our ecosystem and introducing new financial instruments, with CrossFi being crucial in these developments.
We believe that the digitalisation of finance will continue as lawmakers and financial services put greater focus on meeting the needs of their consumers for faster and more flexible payment systems. We are constantly looking into new opportunities and partnerships across various fields and industries. Our team consists of experts with experience in integrating payment solutions across various types of organisations.
