Covesting 2018 Year in Review

Dear Community,

2018 was an incredibly challenging year. This year brought extreme market volatility, an increase in regulatory oversight, and we witnessed the rise and fall of many promising projects.

For Covesting, 2018 was indeed a year of realizing of our ultimate vision of becoming the most advanced, compliant cryptocurrency trading platform across the globe. Throughout the year, we focused our efforts entirely on development, ensuring the roadmap was followed and products we committed to deliver were completed.

Looking Back at 2018

Licensing

Covesting became among the first cryptocurrency exchanges to ever receive the highly sought-after DLT license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission! Not only does the license provide Covesting customers with additional peace of mind, knowing the platform is fully compliant and has the stricter security measures, but it also allows Covesting to offer a fully legal compliant fiat gateway. Receiving the license immediately and permanently bolstered our reputation across the industry.

Product Deliveries

As we focused 100% on development throughout 2018, we were able to deliver a number of key products vital to the Covesting user experience. In 2018 we launched the following products:

• Exchange: Users are able to easily create market, limit, and quick trade orders simply using our easy to understand user interface.
• Performance Calculations: In each user dashboard, it is possible to track overall portfolio performance and view ROI.
• Referral Program: We rolled out our referral program; encouraging our users to spread the positive word about Covesting. Users are able to earn up to 40% of all fees paid from the new users they have referred. Sign up to the referral program here.
• iOS App: Covesting also launched a new iOS app for iPhone devices; allowing our customers access to the most advanced trading platform right from their fingertips from anywhere in the world! Download the app here.

New Initiatives

In addition to the product deliveries above, Covesting also worked on the following new initiatives throughout 2018.

• Token Listing: We have worked hard to establish infrastructure for listing additional tokens. Read more about this in a special chapter below.
• Corporate Onboarding: Corporate clients require additional care and setup. We provide the precise support required. We have created the necessary procedures for onboarding and agreed with the GFSC.
• Infrastructure: A platform is only as good as its infrastructure, and Covesting has spent considerable time and investment in ensuring our platform runs smoothly. We have spent a lot of time on testing, including with the involvement of the community in the framework of the competitions.
• IT Security: Keeping our customer’s assets and private information safe and secure is our most chief concern. We are constantly testing and improving our security.

2019: Product Priorities

From a development perspective, it’s important to have solid products and sound, secure infrastructure. From a business perspective, having a unique offering and appeal is necessary. We have taken the two perspectives to move Covesting from a simple API-based copy-trading platform to become a full-scale cryptocurrency service and platform, and only aim to expand from here. We firmly believe that the key to staying in demand is by becoming a one-stop shop for all cryptocurrency-related needs.

Therefore, the top priorities for product development during the first half of 2019 are:

• Fiat Gateway: We have already successfully completed the first phase of implementing a fully-compliant fiat gateway and currently it is already under internal testing. Soon we will be introducing additional deposit and withdrawal options, including credit and debit cards, as well as Skrill, Netteller, and more.
• Liquidity Optimization and Market Making: Extensive testing proves our liquidity aggregator is functioning perfectly. Covesting offers unrivaled liquidity across the digital assets we offer. However, since we are planning to begin listing tokens that aren’t commonly found on other top exchanges, we need internal market making algorithms to increase liquidity for internally matched digital assets. The algorithms we are developing will create a dynamic and attractive environment for trading internal pairs.
• Copy-trading: In 2019, we will roll out our core feature: copy-trading. Copy-trading requires thoroughly tested execution as well as a solid amount of trading pairs to work properly, hence our focus on the market making of internal pairs first. Once we have implemented safeguards to prevent abusive trading, risk of slippage, remove performance calculation discrepancies, and bolster market making, copy-trading will be made available.
• Additional Trading Features and Tools: We are also working on some additional trading features and tools we are excited to share with you in the coming months.

2019: Business Growth Priorities

Whilst it’s of utmost importance to keep rolling out new products for our customers and to continue to create the most cutting edge exchange in the world, much work is still needed to grow our business footprint.

Throughout 2019, we’ll be focusing on the following business objectives:

• Token Listing: We will begin adding new tokens for trading in the future. We will grant COV token holders with airdrops of tokens listed on Covesting exchange.
• CoinMarketCap Listing Covesting as an Exchange: We are working hard to get Covesting listed on CoinMarketCap’s list of exchanges. The process of listing is not transparent and takes time, so please be patient and do not try to approach the CoinMarketCap team on behalf of Covesting.
• Institutional Onboarding and Partnerships: Catering to our institutional client’s unique needs and expanding our reach through important key partnerships is a big focus this year.
• Marketing: This is subject to market conditions, overall demand, and conversion rates, however, we will be increasing our marketing presence on many fronts to help spread the word about Covesting.

Competition is higher, and market conditions are more challenging than ever. Many exchanges are struggling financially due to decreasing market demand, and continued price decline in the cryptocurrency space. Some exchanges have even been forced to lay off staff and are at risk of closing their doors for good whilst tapping into cash reserves to stay afloat.

Covesting CEO Dmitrij Pruglo shared the following statement to close out Covesting’s stellar year of development and product deliveries:

“2018 proved that the crypto market is extremely volatile and unpredictable. At the same time, it’s great to see that adoption is continuing, but in a much more modest way instead of the hype witnessed at the end of 2017.

We can set goals and technology development roadmaps, but there will always be some things that are out of our control, such as overall market demand, regulations, adoption, and volatility. We realistically measure such risks and act accordingly, sometimes adjusting our roadmap priorities, marketing, or other initiatives. It’s extremely important to adapt and react to such a dynamic industry, and stick to a global vision instead of short-term goals. The community must understand this.

Our team will continuously monitor the market and act accordingly in the best interests of its stakeholders.”

We wish you a Happy New Year! The New Year is always a great opportunity to strive for new heights, grow and develop further. We aim to not only keep the bar we’ve set high, but also continue to raise it and set new records together!