Hi Matthew, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind ? Ishan Pandey: Avarta Hi Ishan, excited to be on Hackernoon. I am the co-founder and CEO of Avarta. I come from a cyber security and hedge fund background. With crypto, we see a massive opportunity to disrupt the traditional finance system and the centralized ecosystems. Matthew Ainscow: This is the key motivation to start the company to build a multi-chain ecosystem of solutions that can help grow the blockchain ecosystem in an easily accessible yet secured manner. What are your views on Metaverse? Further, how will it change our society? Ishan Pandey: The Metaverse gives you sovereignty over your identity unrestricted by your physical looks. The DLT networks and DeFi are a more open model to participate in financial systems traditionally centralized to accredited investors and richer. Matthew Ainscow: In the Metaverse, where transactions on the blockchain are trustless and processed using technology, the missing link is the personal experience. With Avarta Trust score, a person can further leverage his online avatar to join communities, build reputations, and interact with other avatars in the Metaverse. Web 3.0 is the current buzzword sweeping the Internet world, following the success of the metaverse. What is Web 3.0 and how will it change the world? Ishan Pandey: Web 3.0 as the next evolution of the internet, in my opinion, is a misnomer. Web3 isn’t about replacing the internet as we know it. It is about an alternate ecosystem where participants become less reliant on centralized entities as intermediaries and become more self-sovereign on the data which they generate. Matthew Ainscow: Our company is bringing the world's first complete multi-chain, multi-factor authentication ecosystem with biometrics technology, where every user can have access to biometrically enabled transactions on Web 3.0 and a distinctive Trust Scoring System of its own. We aim to build a biometrics-centric ecosystem to improve user experience and to promote the critical growth of the blockchain. There is no solution out there that can mine data across different accounts if the user does not declare ownership of these separate accounts. We can do this while providing complete anonymity as we do not divulge the users behind the metaverse profiles. The proof of non-custodial signatures allows us to verify ownership without knowing what the private key is. Please tell us a little bit about Avarta and the 4-in-1 solution for DeFi? Ishan Pandey: We go better actually….. 5-in-1! Matthew Ainscow: The pain points in the DeFi space today are the following: Cumbersome KYC process for whitelisting to join DeFi projects Lack of a multi-chain unified trust score to build decentralized transparency on the blockchain A lack of a friendly, simplified user experience Our Company aims to solve that through: An amalgamation of on-chain and off-chain non-exhaustive risk parameters to obtain a unique quality score for you (Avarta Trust Score) — DeFi lenders and non-DeFi lenders, borrowers, and traders can accurately assess one’s credit reliability (Accurate Credit Scoring) — You can gain privileges for transactions in the Metaverse (Priority Transactions) — ( You can access single point whitelisting and necessary KYC functions Whitelisting & KYC) — User-friendly and practical tools including a biometrics-based multi-chain wallet, antibots, and risk-based scoring for you (Cutting Edge Tools) — Although DeFi has a lot of potentials, it also brings up a lot of new legislative and regulatory issues. How would you define the current DeFi ecosystem and some of the high-level implications of DeFi for the present financial regulatory system? Ishan Pandey: We view that there shall be a balance between DeFi and regulations, and it is a delicate one.  We hope to help DeFi users navigate a regulated DeFi world with a superior user experience. Matthew Ainscow: For example, for the DeFi ecosystem to grow, we hope to build a DeFi ecosystem with better collateralization ratios and lower lending rates for all blockchain users through our Trust Score. With our company in the picture, a more regulated DeFi world is not a threat; it is an opportunity for everyone. What are your views on the recent fine of $1.4 million by CFTC action against Polymarket for offering unregistered swaps to investors? Ishan Pandey: This is what is considered a ‘grey area', and one must be careful therefore in giving definitive view points around the CTFC action and subsequent fines. From a general perspective, as the underlying marketplace matures, I would expect to see increased action from the regulators in the coming years. Matthew Ainscow: The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) has recently debuted as an open platform for Bitcoin miners in the wake of an outcry over the volume of fossil fuel-based energy used to mine the cryptocurrency. Do you think this council will be able to make a difference in protecting the environment? Ishan Pandey: Excellent question! If I'm being honest in the short term, I think that such a platform will have a marginal impact on energy consumption and in turn the environment. Matthew Ainscow: However, I feel the tone has been set for miners to embrace more meaningful, environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in the medium and long term. Certain government regulations and in some cases actions have underlined this industry movement. There is a lot of competition within the DeFi (decentralized finance) sector. According to you, which is a safer bet – Cardano, Solana or Ethereum? Ishan Pandey: We are already on the testnet for ETH, BSC, Solana. We are also building out on Cardano so that we can be one of the first non-custodial solutions to support Cardano! Matthew Ainscow: Each one of the mentioned chains has its own underlying strengths and weaknesses, so it would be a challenge to be too judgmental. However, on a light note, I very much hope Ethereum's gas fees come down immediately, for sanity's sake! According to you, what trends will we see next in the blockchain industry? Ishan Pandey: 2022 is certainly looking bright for blockchain developments and other cryptocurrency projects. The top 5 many areas of growth we foresee are below: Matthew Ainscow: - Sustainable Cryptocurrencies - Interoperability and NFTs - Metaverse - Gaming - Crypto adoption is surging. Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence, asking the right questions, and equipping readers with better opinions to make informed decisions.

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