The Future Is Now: Yang Lan On How Fiat24’s Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

I think the issues surrounding Identity is definitely something we need to be conscious of. It can be hard to manage, as users define their identity with a cryptographic key and must keep their part secret. If someone gets a copy of the key, they can impersonate the so-called owner, a danger that has led many bitcoin users to store their bitcoin on thumb drives in old-fashioned bank vaults.

As a part of our series about cutting-edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Shidlo.

Karen Shidlo is a digital marketing native with seven years of experience in traditional advertising agencies before moving into the Web3 space. Passionate about the power of digital currencies and blockchain technology, she works for Fiat24 in Switzerland to bring seamless peer-to-peer payment experiences to the masses.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I believe that my exposure to my parents, who were both in business and innovators, was one source of inspiration for me. I have always been interested in economics and finance, and the experiences I had both during my studies and professionally at UBS really cemented my passion for the industry.

In terms of moving into crypto, blockchain and web3, it had a lot to do with my disillusion with traditional finance and seeing an opportunity to create something far more efficient and scalable using new technologies.

Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

At Fiat24, we rely on blockchain technology, NFTs and smart contracts to offer a completely new way of envisioning how banks operate. We believe that this will grant many benefits both to financial companies and retail clients, including cost-saving, faster transactions times, overall efficiency in terms of operation, and quite importantly as well, scalability.

How do you think this might change the world?

There are several ways in which blockchain technology can benefit how we deal with and handle payments. Just one example is that it has the potential to make international transfers and monetary transactions faster and more cost-effective, as well as more transparent and secure.

It can also an also help to eliminate fraud as it creates a clear audit trail, and, as said before, it has the capability to significantly reduce the cost of banking services and improve the quality of products.

It is truly a game-changer in the financial industry on many levels.

Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks of this technology that people should think more deeply about?

I think the issues surrounding Identity is definitely something we need to be conscious of. It can be hard to manage, as users define their identity with a cryptographic key and must keep their part secret. If someone gets a copy of the key, they can impersonate the so-called owner, a danger that has led many bitcoin users to store their bitcoin on thumb drives in old-fashioned bank vaults.

Impersonation, of course, is much worse if the blockchain tracks something of value, because the impersonators are usually going to steal the digital goods.

That is simply one aspect we need to think more deeply about!

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

The global financial crisis of 2009 was the final straw and the tipping point not just for me, but for many around the world, signifying that change was inevitable.

Coming from a traditional banking background, I discovered that a new digital asset class could enable us to create a new financial system that is much more efficient, scalable, and lean.

Fiat24 was born out of a desire to shape the payment landscape.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

While momentum and interest in blockchain is picking up, there are a handful of barriers which are preventing widespread adoption and which need to be addressed in order to bring the tech to the forefront.

They include an insufficient amount of blockchain developers and skilled workers specialized in the field, a lack of defined protocols and systems, with difficulties surrounding interoperability; and finally, cynicism toward the blockchain industry. I am confident that over the course of this year that we will start to tackle some of these problems and continue to take strides in the right direction.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

It is without a doubt that the Web3, blockchain and crypto sectors require a particular type of marketing strategy. Given the decentralized nature of the concepts surrounding this new technology, using traditional, web2 platforms and tactics do not work in our sector.

At the heart of Web3 is community, and everything centers around ownership, control, and even a certain level of anonymity. Shilling or “selling” a product or service looks different here — it is more based around conversations that directly speak to clients pain points and offering them solutions. The level of communication of a Web3 company with its audience far exceeds anything we have seen in Web2, with regular AMA sessions, Twitter Spaces and Telegram groups offering people a direct channel with which to converse with even high-level people in an organization. We at Fiat24 implement radical marketing strategies and are proud of our ability to innovate in this domain too.

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?

I don’t think I can single out one person — I am grateful to the entire team that works with me! It is only together that we have achieved success and I know that every person at Fiat24 not only takes their individual responsibility seriously and with pride, but is also always available to help other team members. That is something that will surely help us grow further this year and beyond.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We make a point of consistently contributing to the education and sharing of knowledge in crypto, web3 and blockchain topics. We have participated in many summits, webinars, podcasts and videos, as well as having hosted in-person meet-ups for our local community in Zurich where people can meet, learn, and expand their horizons.

It is important to us to be able to add value in this context.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

A way for people around the globe to efficiently and easily spend their digital assets. Not every country in the world or population is banked or well-served financially, something we take for granted in some western countries, and I believe that cryptocurrencies can truly change the lives of many.

With access to mobile phones and internet, we foresee a future wherein anyone can have access to funds and spend them as necessary, without being dependent on a government-issued currency which is subject to inflation and manipulation.

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

The journey of your success will always begin with the small step of taking a chance.

It was a risk to leave my job, but my partners and I were so convinced of our abilities and our vision, that we took a chance and have since achieved such great accomplishments. In business, as in life in general, I believe in taking chances.

Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Fiat24 is truly a pioneer in the Web3 banking, financial, payments universe and we are unique for many reasons.

What we offer is a seamless blockchain payment solution,, using the latest NFT technology and smart contracts. You can think of us like an “additional layer” inside your digital wallet (i.e. MetaMask) — by connecting your wallet to Fiat24 and minting our NFT, everyone can create a Swiss bank account in just minutes and all through their mobile phone.

Once a user has opened their Fiat24 account, they are able to top it up using crypto and also through bank transfer. They can then use their funds to do peer to peer payments in our ecosystem, as well as to transfer it to the bank of their choice through just a few clicks! We will soon issue a Visa card for easy, real-world spending too!

What makes us special is that we hold a Fintech License, one of only 3 granted in the whole of Switzerland. That gives us a limited banking license, and offers us regulation, but also room to experiment, be innovative, and find a new way for everyone to handle their on-chain finances and transactions.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Follow Fiat24 on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Fiat24Account and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/fiat24

Of course, we welcome everyone to visit our website and explore our Metaverse and services!

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.