Alexander Borodich: Blockchain companies are replacing SWIFT
The Russian Universa Blockchain Platform for business has been live for only 9 months. In this time the project managed to raise $28,5 mln during the Token Sale, create blockchain which is “fast and cheap” and make partnerships with Alfa-Bank and Novotrans. Alexander Borodich, the investor and the founder Universa, told us why Universa has all the chances to drive out Ripple, how blockchain technologies are going to change our lives in the next 2 years and why he did not invest in Telegram ICO.
Tokenize the Future
– Alexander, let us start from the past. You were one of the investors of the SpaceShift cryptoexchanger. What is your current role in the project?
– I was one of the early ShapeShift investors before it became a very popular cryptoasset exchanger. I participate in the project as an investor and a business angel. I will keep this role unless the company starts the IPO process, for example.
– What do you think about the future of cryptocurrency exchange in Russia and all over the world? Is cryptocurrency exchange going to be legalized?
– ShapeShift enables exchanging cryptocurrencies for cryptocurrencies without dealing with fiat money. It has nothing to do with regulations. The important thing is that if you exchange one digital asset for another digital asset the demand for such exchangers will grow with their increase in number. That is why I am sure that this market segment will grow too. The popularity of cryptocurrency exchangers will grow and they will be developing. There will be lots of various cryptocurrency exchangers. We will have them in Russia too.
– Why do you believe that the number of tokens will grow?
– Tokenization is the future. Many experts share this point of view.
– You once said that El Petro is the first cryptocurrency, which is completely secured (your quote) and Russia should follow Venezuela. Could you comment on this?
– The modern crypocurrency problem is the trust to an emtter. As you remember, blockchain is a technology which is able to solve the problem of trust. That is why the word cryptocurrency means just that the digital technologies were used to issue it. A cryptocoin is a classic banknote which was made with digital technologies. It has a number, it was issued by a Central Bank. It is not backed by the trust to a government or an institution, which has issued the cryptocurrency. The opportunity to go to an independent exchange in any other country and change it for a liquid asset is what secures this currency. Gold used to be this liquid asset. Nowadays oil might be considered an asset of this kind.
If you sell your barrel of oil in Japan, for example, people will buy it. They will do it in Africa as well. Yes, you cannot pay for big stuff with your barrel. But big companies can accept a barrel of Russian oil for payment. If it is possible, one can issue a cryptobarrel, with which you can pay in different countries, regardless of the government’s policy. It will be a reserve currency, secured with the oil of all these countries.
Oil is not the only resource which can be tokenized. But this illustration is the clearest. The other resources (diamonds or gas, for example) can be used as well
Borderless Blockchain
– Where did the idea of Universa Blockchain that you are working on now come from?
– It was the growth of ShapeShift and some other companies that made me consider development of the infrastructure of blockchain which is a popular trend nowadays. I realized I could not keep settling for the small per cent I had as a business angel I wanted to launch a “big story”. In any new market this is a story about infrastructure. All the other apps are based on it. That is why we decided to develop a new blockchain protocol. As a result, we have Universa.
– Universa managed to raise quite a large sum of money during the Token Sale and was recognized as the best blockchain startup of the year. What made the project a success, in your opinion?
– I believe we managed to catch up with a trend which is developing really fast. I have spent many years analyzing trends. I tried to catch up with them investing in startups. We just managed to introduce a product, there was market demand for.
At the end of the last year, when Bitcoin was equal to $20 000, each transaction in the blockchain network of Bitcoin cost about $10. It became impossible or even inappropriate to pay with Bitcoin for a cup of coffee, because the transaction price was higher than the price of that coffee cup. Ethereum was in a similar situation. The market needed a new type of blockchain, which is cheap and fast.
We offered the product the market and launched our project. Our product was finished, which is not typical for a Token Sale. In most cases the developers introduce their White Paper and promise to issue their product in 2–3 years.
– Where is it being used now?
– It is important to understand that blockchain is borderless. If we can implement it in Russia, we can implement it in China, India, Brazil, anywhere.
Blockchain is borderless. If we can implement it in Russia, we can implement it in China, India, Brazil, anywhere.
– Does the Universa Project meet your own expectations and ambitions? What about the further development of the project?
– The project implementation has just begun. I will be able to answer this question in 5–7 years, the average ‘life expectancy’ for a venture project.
The goal I have set is to become one of the 5 largest blockchain projects in the world, for Universa to stand next to Ripple and Ethereum in this list. We can surely become a leader of the Russian blockchain companies market.
We have opened accounts for 750 thousand people by now. In the world, there are 30 million crypto wallets created altogether. Among them, 750 thousand are those of Universa. This means that we already have the control of 2% of the world market, and this is merely a start. That is why to become one of the top five is a realistic goal, rather than an ambitious goal. We are more than capable to make it to the 5th or 6th position.
- How does this correlate with your saying that more the number of blockchain projects will keep growing? After all, this means the increasing competition, which can complicate the set task.
- How many car manufacturers are there in the world today you think? There are a lot, even despite the fact of the current consolidation and previously — diversification. There is going to be a phase, when there will be a lot of blockchains, and this is when then they will become consolidated. This is how the market works, and this is a normal state. Right now, we are in the wide blue ocean, so to say, with not many competitors present.
– What are your current operating locations?
- Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines. The market of Southeast Asia means half a billion people — it’s a huge English-speaking market, which doesn’t have such strict regulation rules as China does. As an additional plus, it has no competition. We are the first to be implementing blockchain there.
– What is it that you have already accomplished?
- We have agreed on a pilot project, in which 4.5 million people are already participating. We are launching ‘smart money’ — digital coupons, for which you can buy basic food, but no alcohol and cigarettes.
I would rather go for Unicorns
— Let’s get back to Russia. What projects are you implementing here in your homeland?
— Alfa-Bank has tested Universa blockchain and provided a feedback that we do process 20.000 transactions per second. Now Alfa-Bank is testing inrabank payments system based on Universa blockchain.
We also work with Novotrans. This project deals with tokenization of free space in freight wagons. A cargo transportation token books, let’s say, a cubic metre in a car. With 60 tokens you can get a whole car for your cargo transportation. All information on the car and goods will be stored in blockchain, it will be accessible by all participants of a deal and it will be absolutely impossible to forge it.
Blockchain is a kind of digital glue that can bond together digital systems of different companies. For now producers, logistics companies, distributers and sellers are not connected with each other. The connection should be built in a such way that all sides of a deal could access information on when goods were produced, who delivered it, when and how it was sold. Preferably with a digital record and photofixation.
–In your opinion what are the fields, where blockchain implementation can be particularly relevant? Who will follow suit in the nearest future?
SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications — Editor) is to introduce blockchain. It just has no choice. Either SWIFT succeeds in introducing blockchain solution and switching to cheap digital solutions for banking transfers on its own, or it is bound to be squeezed out by blockchain companies.Financial institutions, logistics companies, large industrial companies and companies that want to simplify the workflow. All of them are interested on blockchain technology. Insurance companies should also be taken into account. Nowadays each insurance claim requires a huge number of papers, that’s why it is vital for insurance companies to switch it to electronic form. This solution will help to save up to tens of thousands rubles per each case. Last autumn we were working on a case, which allowed to store child’s medical records in blockchain, with the possibility for an ambulance doctor to find out important data, such as blood group, chronic diseases, allergies and other features using only a photo of a child, without access to personal data. This important data might be accessible online with a smartphone. ID of a passport or a travel identity card can also be stored in blockchain. This will enable passport control services to get confirmation right after scanning a document, rather than waiting for 8 seconds for the data to be processed.
- When can this wonderful world turn into reality?
- In the upcoming years. The process will not take much time, since no fundamental changes are needed.
- As an investor, would you invest in Telegram ICO?
- No. Telegram ICO can bring 2–3 ROI. I would prefer investing in projects like “unicorns,” which can bring 10 ROI with the same risks!
This is the translation of the original article from April 6, 2018, 13:22 https://coinlife.com/%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B2%D1%8C%D1%8E/%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%87-%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8/
