From Broker to FinTech CEO: Q&A with Ed Handschuh
Edwin Handschuh started his career as a financial consultant for Wells Fargo. Eight years later, he is the Co-Founder and CEO of 1Konto, a revolutionary trading platform that’s set to solve the complexities, fragmentation and tremendous inefficiencies that crypto and traditional markets face. Inspired by the possibility of making traditional asset and crypto trading accessible and simple for everyone, Ed left a great job in the world of financial consulting to create 1Konto. Below, we speak with Edwin about his background, interests, biggest achievements and more.
What is your expertise and field of interest?
Edwin: My background is working with corporations and high-net-worth individuals in order to invest for their retirement, protect and grow their assets. I spent over 8 years communicating the financial and global markets to my clients, navigating both to position them for success.
My interests have always revolved around the financial markets, psychology and politics as I see them influencing each other greatly. My experience in traditional markets and comfort with regulations as a broker, enabled me to see the need for a broker-dealer in the cryptocurrency space to provide traders best price and increased simplicity allowing them to feel comfortable putting their money to work in this new asset class.
How and why did you end up building 1Konto?
Edwin: 1Konto started as a result of trying to put money to work in an alt-coin. I noticed that the process was very cumbersome, and not confidence-inspiring at all. Once I finally completed the trade many hours later, I lost money and missed the opportunity I was trying to capture. I knew that there should be one account that gives a user access to multiple pools of liquidity. This is when the idea for 1Konto (German for “one account”) and our synthetic pairs solution was born.
What exactly is 1Konto?
Edwin: We are making the cryptocurrency markets easier and more accessible by connecting it with the traditional market infrastructure. Through this connectivity, we allow investors to move their assets seamlessly from traditional markets (stocks/bonds/mutual funds/ETFs/fiat) to digital assets (crypto/security tokens/utility tokens etc.). We believe creating an integrated financial system will allow for increased adoption of these new investments.
The biggest problem crypto traders face today is managing multiple accounts and never knowing if they are getting the best price. A trader opens an account with 1Konto and transfers their assets in, similar to opening an account with a traditional broker. Since we will be a broker-dealer, we can provide access to multiple exchanges and route orders to the best execution on the users behalf. This is all done through Teloneum, our order routing engine.
What is your biggest achievement so far?
Edwin: So far it has been bringing together the team to build our vision of unifying the digital asset markets and bridging it with the traditional markets. Without the team, 1Konto wouldn’t be redefining trading the way it is today.
What are you most excited about regarding the future of 1Konto?
Edwin: The endless possibilities of our synthetic pairs solution. We anticipate applying this to equities, fixed income and even the real estate market. We see 1Konto as being a platform that can transact any asset to any asset trading. Our goal is to have one account allowing for friction-less trading regardless of the asset. We see 1Konto bridging many markets in the future and allowing those who were previously left out of the investment system to finally gain a foothold and participate in the fourth industrial revolution blockchain and crypto are ushering in.
What are your personal interests / hobbies / etc.?
Edwin: I love to travel with my wife Alex. Whether it be Italy, Asia or stateside, travelling and experiencing the world with her is the ultimate. We also have a dog, Ace, and I am an avid crossfitter. Additionally, cars are also a real enjoyment for me along with quality comedy (Curb Your Enthusiasm etc.).
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About 1Konto
1Konto (German for “one account”) is in process of becoming the first to connect traditional and digital assets through one-click trading. We focus on increasing adoption of digital assets, reducing friction in ownership and bridging the new crypto world and the traditional financial markets all at the best price via our proprietary algorithm.
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