How Blockchain technology and AI are revolutionizing our financial world.
Interview with Luiis Franceschi, CEO and Founder of LAPO Blockchain
While his schoolmates played hide and seek, Luiis focused his passion in front of the computer. The Swiss-Italian entrepreneur began coding when he was 13 years old, and 7 years later he founded his first company, a web agency with which he has walked on an exciting and successful path.
Four years ago, he started to explore the Blockchain technology and today, together with a group of professionals from around the world, he is working in a revolutionary project that combines artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to provides innovative solutions into the financial world.
When did you first get into Blockchain?
I started exploring the Blockchain technology with my developer friends Christian and Silvio 4 years ago. We mined our first Bitcoin and we sold it when the price was around $300 because we thought “is a great price and can’t grow more” (laughs). Then I realized the full potential of the blockchain technology, and all I have done since is focused on finding alternatives ways to get the most out of it.
How did the idea of creating your own blockchain come about?
I created a group to talk about digital currency investments and one of the hottest topics was the high volatility of cryptocurrencies. We started thinking about how we could make a stablecoin possible, and some ideas came up. But what all of us agreed was that a stable currency was necessary to break the limitations and restrictions of today’s crypto-world.
We have thousands of cryptocurrencies already on the market, why create one more?
Many of the thousands of cryptocurrencies are copies of others, and that is why they drag the same problems. Having a stable currency means overcoming the obstacles that prevent cryptos from integrating into real-world business.
Investors want their investment to grow, so with that said, what can they expect from a stable currency?
It seems controversial but the fact that the coin is a stablecoin doesn’t mean that it doesn’t grow. It could grow incrementally. What we want to avoid is to be one day +10% and the next day -30%. This means that the growth could be more organic and natural, avoiding the illegal manipulation of the market.
Have you talked with any exchanges?
We have a list of 5 exchanges with which we have already talked to. Soon we will announce them to our community, so we can get their feedback and thus have an indication and some guidance to choose the one with which we will be listed in first.
When was LAPO Blockchain AG founded?
In May of this year, we celebrated the official Foundation of the LAPO Blockchain AG in the crypto valley of Zug in Switzerland, one of the most crypto-friendly places in the world. But we started more than a year ago to develop the concept behind it and to work on several steps with the support of LUI.IS GMBH Blockchain Lab team.
What does the acronym LAPO mean?
I would like to tell you something more interesting, but the truth is that LAPO is the name of my 4 years old Yorkie, he is the official mascot of our team and my personal therapist (laughs).
Besides LAPO, the dog, who else is onboard?
A team of 17 professionals with proven expertise in their respective fields of Finance, Legal and Technology gained in globally recognized companies based in Switzerland, throughout Europe, USA, South America, and Australia, and we are currently hiring some more developers.
What is the idea behind LAPO Blockchain?
The idea is to create a safe and stable ecosystem for crypto-assets to connect crypto-finance with the traditional financial industry. This in order to facilitate the integration and broad acceptance of the Blockchain technology into the traditional finance to make daily transactions simpler, cheaper, faster and safer. This would also be useful for developing countries since we offer an alternative solution to some problems they are currently facing, such as hyperinflation and financial exclusion.
What advice do you give to those people who want to start a Blockchain project?
Think about a problem that really needs Blockchain as a solution. This because sometimes I see big projects that can be easily done without Blockchain technology or, even worse, that are impossible to develop with the Blockchain technology (scalability problems, immutable data, etc…), but they propose it only because they see it as a trend. The fact is, Blockchain has great potential, but it will not solve all the problems of the world. Blockchain solves specific problems that first must be addressed.
Where will your business be in 5 years?
In five years our entire ecosystem will be running. That means that our business will have a global presence and that our products and services will be used around the world. We see LAPO Blockchain as one of the top players into the Cryptocurrency / Payment / Banking world.
What are the keys that will lead to success?
First, innovation. We are solving a real problem with an innovative solution that will change how businesses and individuals use cryptocurrencies.
Second, accessibility. All our products and services, starting from our digital wallet, are user-friendly and that means very easy to use even for those who are not tech-savvy.
Third, passion. We love what we do and that is why we are always proactively thinking ahead and as a result that is why we are one step ahead.
