Marc Taverner of XEROF On The 5 Things That Can Be Done To Improve and Reform The Cryptocurrency Industry

First, we need to maintain integrity and be perceived as a maturing and reliable industry, it is important to point out bad actors. This phrase keeps being repeated, and I believe it needs to be emphasized even more.

As part of my series about the “5 Things That Can Be Done To Improve and Reform The Cryptocurrency Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marc Taverner.

Marc Taverner is the CEO and co-founder of XEROF, a leading Swiss financial services provider specialising in cryptoassets. He has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry and now pioneers the use of cryptoassets for liquidity and efficiency in financial services worldwide. Previously, Marc was part of the management team at Genesys Conferencing, a company focusing on detailed events ranging from large-port calls, operator-assisted conferences, webcasts, medical education events, investor relations calls, and onsite production. After that role, he joined the management team of the leading European Bitcoin and blockchain firm, Bitfury. Marc then became the founding CEO of INATBA, one of the largest multi-stakeholder blockchain trade associations in Europe, backed by the European Commission and Abu Dhabi Global Market. During his tenure, he led a multi-stakeholder response to the EU cryptoasset regulation MiCA. Marc is also an angel investor and advisor to several web3 and crypto companies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?

My name is Marc Taverner, and I am the CEO and co-founder of XEROF. We’re a Swiss fintech specialising in cryptoassets. My career, in many ways, feels like a series of “first chapters” in technology — and even though I first studied finance at university, it is only now (after a 30-year career) that I lead a purely financial technology company.

I founded my first tech company right after graduating. We specialised in fax modems but really, we specialised in internet infrastructure. After doing my own research, I realised that certain technologies (like fax modems) were what would make a wider, more utility-driven internet possible. Of course fax modems are an old technology now, but this was at the time where the internet was just beginning to emerge, and they were incredibly progressive and made it possible for the internet we use today to start growing. After a few years, I exited the company and started consulting other companies on the internet and other emerging technologies. From there, I joined the management team of a telecomm firm named Genesys Conferencing and after scaling it successfully over more than a decade, we were able to sell the company.

After that, internet technology was “old news” to me, but the internet was coming for education as well. New technology was arriving that promised to improve learning and school engagement. Ever a student myself, I jumped into a few roles with very future-thinking edtech companies who were on the cutting edge of smart whiteboards and other innovations that are commonplace today, but brand-new at the time. I also consulted for the Bayes Business School (formerly Cass Business School). The telecommunications world pulled me back one more time, and I led global sales at InComm Conferencing before deciding to retire. After sprinting through more than two decades at the bleeding edge of technology, I thought I’d done enough.

But then I heard about bitcoin and blockchain. And I left my all-too-short retirement to join the management team of Bitfury, which was at the time the leading global bitcoin miner, and over the years we turned it into Europe’s first unicorn company in blockchain. Blockchain technology was different from the internet, however — it didn’t have the same understanding or comprehension from governments and regulators. After facing this over so many years, I decided to speak to the regulators directly by joining INATBA (The International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications) as their founding executive director. We led commentary on many different EU initiatives and bills relating to blockchain and cryptocurrency, authored research papers, and other activities. I did quite a bit of education as well, using my edtech background as well as my telecoms experience to explain how cryptocurrency was born out of internet technology and what it could mean for the future. With that, my career came full circle to my original degree. I departed INATBA to co-found a Swiss cryptoasset firm with my co-founder Nick Ntigrintakis.

Can you tell us the story of how you got first involved in blockchain and the cryptocurrency industry?

Blockchain and cryptocurrency came out of the internet and telecommunications sector in many ways — without the internet, they aren’t possible. I think that helped me get involved in the cryptocurrency space in the first place — I was already familiar with new technology and understood how it worked. So when someone told me about bitcoin and blockchain, I instantly wanted to be a part of it. Bitfury, the company I just mentioned, was looking for a senior sales and business development leader to help the business scale into more markets. This was my first role in the “crypto” space, and since then, I haven’t stepped back. I realised the huge potential of cryptoassets, but I also understood the importance of regulation in the process of bringing these new technologies to the mainstream — mainly from directing and answering questions from regulators about what we were doing and what impacts it could have. For that reason, after Bitfury, I went to the regulatory side of blockchain technology. I was the founding CEO of INATBA, one of Europe’s largest multi-stakeholder blockchain trade associations supported by The European Commission. During that time, I worked closely with industry stakeholders and regulators on the multi-stakeholder response to the EU cryptoasset regulation MiCA, which has now been passed.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

One person who has definitely influenced my professional journey is my co-founder, Nick Ntigrintakis. I met Nick when we were both working in the Bitcoin industry. Nick was buying some hardware equipment from Bitfury, the company I was working for, which is how we first connected. A few years later, Nick contacted me for suggestions on a trustworthy and compliant company that could help him exchange or trade the Bitcoin he had mined. We discussed several potential firms, but ultimately, after a year or two, we decided that the perfect solution didn’t exist yet. There weren’t many reliable and compliant solutions for Bitcoin or other cryptoasset holders, and that’s when we made the decision to build XEROF to bridge that gap.

Can you share a story of a time when things went south for you? What kept you going and helped you to overcome those times?

During the bear market/the great crypto crash of 2019, the cryptoasset technology persisted because it was more efficient and simply better than the systems created by the rest of the world. Despite the worst days, it was evident that the technology wasn’t going away. By disregarding the monetary value and hype and focusing on the benefits, we could appreciate the good in it.

In your experience, what are the top strategies that blockchain companies should consider to have a stronger competitive edge?

The blockchain industry must address fundamental issues such as establishing real-world connections, creating effective on/off ramps, and reducing friction to gain mainstream adoption and credibility. Although innovations described as “groundbreaking” are exciting, it is critical to provide reliable, user-friendly, almost basic experiences and solutions that minimise complexity and entry barriers. Founders and investors should prioritise these problems because solving them will attract more users and regulators to the space, promoting further innovation. Moreover, web3 companies must ensure that their offerings are user-friendly, seamless, regulated, and secure. We should work with regulators. We should demonstrate that our industry is reliable and offers real solutions to real problems. The days of bad actors are over — we cannot become trusted partners for our clients unless we provide them with reasons to view us in this way.

What are the 3 things that most excite you about the blockchain industry in general? Why?

Since I work in fintech, of course, the possibilities that blockchain brings into the finance scene are exciting for me. Being able to use cryptoassets for faster, more efficient and frictionless transactions brings new opportunities to many industries, countries and people. At XEROF, we are already seeing a rising demand for cryptoassets in this way, and in a few years, this kind of digital payment will be commonplace. And if well-regulated, they will make our lives easier and bring a lot of cost savings to more people as well.

What are the 3 things that worry you about the blockchain industry? Why?

1. There is too much hype that is driven around money, and not enough attention being paid to building useful infrastructure and utility.
2. Ill-advised government interventions have the potential to stifle innovation, especially if regulations are not ideal and overreaching. This has been the story of cryptocurrency regulation in many ways, and it affects the blockchain industry as well.
3. Incumbents (whether in web3, TradFi, or Big Tech)are known to use protectionist tactics to defend their market position. Blockchain companies are especially hurt by this, like when companies like Google and Apple refuse to allow apps in their app stores. Or as we see today, with the popularity of Bitcoin ETFs leading TradFi institutions to lock up BTC in their organisation, charging high fees while removing liquidity from the market.

Can you please share “5 Things That Can Be Done To Improve and Reform The Cryptocurrency Industry”?

1. First, we need to maintain integrity and be perceived as a maturing and reliable industry, it is important to point out bad actors. This phrase keeps being repeated, and I believe it needs to be emphasized even more.
2. Build more infrastructure, less apps. Investors, companies, and builders should focus on practical solutions, rather than flashy ones, that actually work and can build a strong foundation for improvement and reform of the crypto industry. We need to remove the friction and make the entry point easier and more accessible for everyone.
3. Build less sexy companies, do more problem-solving.
4. Stop prioritising vanity metrics — big speaking slots or Super Bowl ads or celebrities or even big board names/seats if they don’t contribute. Make it about the build.
5. Bring in more diversity. More countries, more backgrounds, more lived experiences — otherwise we build for our own blind spots.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?

The experience I gained while working at Bitfury, one of the pioneering Bitcoin mining companies, proved to be very useful during my tenure at INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications). As the director of INATBA, I was responsible for overseeing our multi-stakeholder response to MiCA (The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation). During this time, I worked closely with industry stakeholders and regulators to develop a detailed, multi-step response to MiCA. Our changes have largely been reflected in the version of the bill that was passed.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Break more things! Challenge the status quo. When you break a bone, you realise you can heal. When you break a rule, you realise that perhaps the rule was overdue to be broken. When you break away from the expectation of what you should do, you realise what you want to do. And if you can use that drive to break unfair, predatory systems — you know for certain that you’ve done work well worth doing.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

To learn more about XEROF, visit www.xerof.com, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn. I am also always happy to connect via LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for this. This was very enlightening!