There are three hot topics in the crypto space which everybody talks about: BTC price rocketing, arrests and investigations against big market players because of lack of AML-compliance and, of course, DeFi. I interviewed the founder of the Estonian exchange, , because they have an authority licence for operations, upcoming neo banking, and they are doing a DeFi auction right now. STEX Hi, VK, pleased you agreed to this interview! Hello, Maria, thanks for having me. And first, obligatory BTC bull market question: What is your 2021 BTC price prediction? Also, what do you think is driving the current Bitcoin bull market? We can reach $50k with support resting around $22-27k. The emergence of “Institutional retail” like PayPal and CME grows Bitcoin’s scarcity without hype or FUD like we saw in the last bull run. On one side, Paypal opened the window for average users because traditionally entering into crypto is still complicated and overwhelming to some. But now, you can simply buy $100 from your salary credit card on Paypal right now in one click. This is extremely good for both mass crypto adoption and price. CME is doing the same for institutional investors, making it simple to spend their funds. In 2017, there was only a dream about Paypal adoption but now this is reality. We see the US warming to the possibility that DeFi will replace the traditional bank model. STEX was on the cutting edge of DeFi by incorporating the first game-theoretic decentralized finance Auction. What is the future for DeFi in the industry and on STEX? Everyone wants to define the value of DeFi right now and this is tough because it reminds me of crypto in 2013. Truly, the future is bright for the entire crypto industry. Solutions that provide fiat intake combined with alternative earning and saving solutions stand to benefit the most from mass adoption growth. How do you see Jointer as a progression for the DeFi space? Speculation has always proven to be risky to the crypto industry for users. Jointer’s use case is unique because it utilizes smart contracts to launch a heavily financially engineered, non-speculative asset. As always at STEX, we strive to provide new options to our user base and Jointer has shown to be a creative and capable partner. Recently David Lewis, executive secretary and G20 Foundation deputy at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), says crypto firms still have a long way to go before they're compliant. Why is that and how does STEX stay compliant? The most complicated point for the entire cryptocurrency industry is the crypto-fiat bridge. Fiat by design is not transparent and trackable, which is how they print more by the way. This is why so much documentation is required for any significant movement of fiat. FATF or any other regulators do not care about the transparency of crypto/fiat/wrap technology. The regulators want to stop the bad guys selling oil, drugs, and money launderers. In the crypto world, we have such private police businesses like CipherTrace who track and analyze bad actor activities on public blockchains. Within a few years, crypto will prove to be a better way to track compliance in an automated and transparent fashion. CipherTrace's recent report found 56% of 800 exchanges did not follow KYC guidelines at all. As we see cryptocurrency mature, do you expect these numbers to increase or decrease? BitMex has shown that centralized exchanges must play by the rules and listen to warnings. Non-KYC exchanges will continue to be punished, whether it be now or a few months from now. This is why it is better to build properly from the start and upgrade compliance measures consistently. What are you most excited for in STEX’s future developmental roadmap? We are preparing some game changers for the entire cryptocurrency industry. Let's say STEX will be a one-stop solution for neo-banking. Disclaimer: This interview does not contain any financial advice and based on tsubjective opinion. Be careful when investing.
