Interview: Roger Benites, CEO of Inkapay, bitINKA
Company Description
BitInka was founded at Lima-Peru in 2013. Inka Ventures LTD owns BitInka exchange and InkaPay, a cross-border payment and remittance platform that allows users to pay locally for products or services, send funds or international payments requests, easily, quickly and safely, in their preferred currency. While BitInka is the most important cryptocurrency exchange platform in Latin America, both with a presence in +10 countries between Latin America, Europe, and Asia, it allows the user, through Blockchain technology, to buy and sell cryptos in its local currency. Inka Ventures LTD has corporate offices in Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain.
1. Would you agree with e-Commerce Giant Alibaba’s Jack Ma that said “Blockchain Is Not a Bubble, Bitcoin Is”? Given your experience in business and finance, can you give us three reasons to back up the claim.
Roger Benites: Blockchain is basically Bitcoin. Everything started with Bitcoin and Blockchain is the protocol and first cryptocurrency that ever came out. Saying that Bitcoin is a bubble is just like saying that when the bubble bursts, it will disappear. I wouldn’t say Bitcoin will disappear. It has a huge market cap that goes beyond several global banks and it’s the only digital currency that’s being adopted by mainstream users daily.
We did see a price inflation on Bitcoin due to high demand, but this year things are settling down. We’re currently looking at a more stable price; something that for some people is bad. But for mainstream users, it’s good. Because they want certainty. To refer back to your question, e-commerce giant Alibaba has a website called AliExpress, and they sell Bitcoin-based products there. If he thinks it’s a bubble, then he’s right in the bubble. From my personal perspective, Bitcoin is here to stay. It will always be the main coin in the market and it will always be the most purchased.
2.Why does the United States hate the crypto world so much? Major institutions like J.P Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley are flirting with Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Are they adopting the “adapt or die” business mantra?
Roger Benites: First of all, I don’t think it’s just the US. I think governments in general don’t like losing control of things. I think that’s one of the main reasons. Major institutions such as Goldman Sachs owns Circle, which is worth more than $1 billion right now. J.P Morgan’s CEO came out saying Bitcoin is a bubble and that it shouldn’t exist. The next day his firm buys a Bitcoin portfolio and they make a couple of millions.
Bitcoin is still in its early stages. After Bitcoin surpassed the price of gold it started hitting mainstream news. That means it will get mainstream users. These mainstream users, if they see revenue on buying a coin that doesn’t work with intermediaries or third party banks, they’re gonna get scared. They don’t want to lose their business; they want to keep on making money. You see increasingly more companies integrating Bitcoin because it’s a business, and they don’t want be left out. I would say that next year the companies you mentioned above will be working openly with cryptocurrencies.
3. Let’s assume the US finally embraces crypto and allows ICOs. If that were to happen, what would you say will happen to the “Wolves of Wall Street”?
Roger Benites: In the context of ICOs, the US is out of the equation. All startups and entrepreneurs that have started a technology company — let’s say 5 years ago — feel the need to move to the US (Silicon Valley) and start there: get investment, seed round, and lose maybe 40% of their equity, and then raise more money.
They believe that’s the only way their startup will work. Thanks to ICOs, these things won’t happen anymore. If a guy is from India, he no longer has to move to Silicon Valley. He can just as easily stay in India, create an ICO to raise money, and develop a potentially successful startup. And that’s exactly what’s happening right now. Thanks to Blockchain, everything is changing in the startup scenario.
As far as the “Wolves of Wall Street” are concerned, I have to go back to what I’ve said before. People move to the US, create their startup, they do series A, B, C, D, and then they do their IPO, and become trillionaires. But they own a little bit of the company they started. Who handles the price when it’s an IPO? the Wolves of Wall Street. Now, those wolves have to become the Wolves of Blockchain because people no longer have to move to the US to build a US-based startup. Bottom line is they’re not gonna disappear, but they will have to adapt. They have a lot of money in their funds. They just need to learn how to work in a new business environment opened to everyone. If they fail to adapt, they’ll lose the race, and instead of “wolves” they’ll become “sheeps”.
4.We’ve come to the conclusion that ICOs are surrounded by bad press because of weak regulations. Many Blockchain-based startups don’t inform investors and contributors about the risks involved; they only talk about opportunity. Would you say that the key to changing people’s minds and making them trust an ICO’s mission & vision lies in better regulations (reasonable investment rules & regulations)?
Roger Benites: More than 95% of ICOs unfortunately are a fraud. Why? Because they’re easy to do. There’s no regulation and people can raise money and then disappear. Personally, I think we need some regulations where companies have legal jurisdiction and legal employees. It is the only way to prove that a company actually exists. But they have to do it in a way where it doesn’t affect the ecosystem and how everything is developing now. Governments need to work together. They need to see that ICOs are the future of raising money for a startup. I believe that proper regulations will bring certainty and stability to investors. Given that anyone can contribute to an ICO and become an investor, some of them are not properly educated.
5. Where do you see Blockchain in 10 years?
Roger Benites: In the 1950s, Diner’s Club was one of the first credit cards issued on the market. People could pay for goods using a piece of plastic anywhere. At that time, the first people that heard about the new payment method couldn’t believe something like that was even possible. But it became reliable because increasingly more trustees were adopting credit cards. With Blockchain technology, the exact same thing happened; at its core lies a mix between credit card made by banks and the Internet revolution.
History repeats itself, so I would say that in the future, Blockchain will be used for a lot more. It’s gonna be the next use case, just like the credit card case. At some point, everything will be based on the Blockchain, particularly as far as smart contract usage is concerned. Probably in 10–15 years, something newer will enter the scene to revolutionise the world even more than Blockchain, the Internet, AI, etc. Regardless, at that point, Blockchain will be a global standard.
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